marisa_n's reviews
168 reviews

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

When I finished the book, I initially had mixed feelings. I loved all the twists and turns. That said, I felt the characters were a little two-dimensional and unbelievable. Moreover, there were some plot holes and loose threads that were never tied up. That said, the more I think about it and read other reviews (especially the complaints) the more I realize the genius of this book.

I loved the plot twist at the end, as I didn't suspect Zoey. I thought it was Henry or Fred for most of the book. That said, I was left feeling somewhat unsatisfied with the explanation, but was having trouble articulating why it didn't make sense. It wasn't until I started reading the negative reviews and all the plot holes that these astute readers were referring to that I realized the genius of this book:

all of the characters were unreliable narrators.

There was Mariana, who clearly had a blind spot when it came to recognizing the signs of toxic and/or dangerous people. From her brushing off the dangerous implications of a client stalking her. Her instance that her father was a good man, despite his neglecting her as a child. Her poor character judgment with her niece, despite others implying she was unlikeable. Her memories of Sebastian as a romantic, nurturing man, despite something nefarious happening behind the scenes. Her openness to pursuing something romantic with Fred in the end, despite his love bombing and over-stepping boundaries--which, as a therapist, she should have recognized as a red flag. Mariana clearly is a poor judge of character and has questionable judgment in general.

Then there was Sebastian, who supposedly wrote the journal entries throughout the book. His journal entries were dark, and very unlike how Mariana described him. They also left unanswered questions. Did he kill his mother, or did she just leave and never come back? It's unclear, but it's suggested that he killed her and then rewrote the memory as a dream.

Then there is Zoe, whose "motive" includes details that are clearly at odds with Mariana's recollection of events. How could Sebastian have gotten with Mariana just to get to Zoe if he didn't meet the child until well into the relationship? How could he be in love with Zoe from the moment he saw her if she was just a young child when they met? Sure, he could have been a pedophile, but pedophiles tend to have a preferred age range, and he didn't sexually abuse Zoe until she was 15. Lastly, Zoe claims Sebastian strangled Mariana's father, but Mariana said he died of a heart attack--and what medical professional would mix up the two causes of death? Not to mention the weirdness with the Maidens / Fosca viewing Zoe as one of them, despite her saying she'd only joined them one time. Basically, nothing she said could be taken at face value.

Therefore, this isn't so much of a "whodunit" so much as a web of unreliable narratives to untangle. It left me with so many questions. For starters, how much of Zoe's story about the affair (read: sexual abuse) and subsequent murder plot was real?

My interpretation was that Sebastian had a history of physical (maybe sexual?) abuse at the hands of his father. He likely murdered his mother as revenge for trying to abandon him. He grew up to be a dangerous man, repeating the cycle of abuse. Mariana was blinded by love and only saw what she wanted to see (a doting husband). Sebastian sexually abused Zoe, but it was probably opportunistic and did not start until she was older (13ish?). Zoe was a young girl who was groomed and abused by a father figure, and then created a narrative of forbidden love to make sense of the trauma. Sebastian fed into her delusions by swearing one day he would leave and/or kill Mariana so they could be together. When he died, Zoe wanted to kill Mariana, her mother figure, to get revenge for taking away Sebastian, but also for shattering her delusion of him. The Greek tragedy theme really plays in nicely here with reference to adult-minor relationships, abusive father figures, revenge, fate, sorrow, etc.

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The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America's Favorite Guilty Pleasure by Amy Kaufman

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dark lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.0

I love reality TV dating shows. The hot singles, the drama, the crushes, the potential fairy tale endings. That said, I realize these shows can have a dark underbelly.

The author made some good points, such as:

- Girls are inundated with princesses and fairy tale romance stories from a young age. Women are socialized to view love/ marriage as the most important thing in life. This can lead women to seek external validation from a love interest to maintain their own self-worth-- which is unsustainable. Men experience less of this socialization & pressure.
- Dating TV shows can be exploitative, toxic environments. Ex: participant are denied access to outside world with no contact with friends / family, no phone, no books, no movies. Theyre pressured to drink excessively. Producers lie to and manipulate them, and often twist their words from interviews.
- Reality TV can be high risk, high reward. A select few find lasting love, while most are disappointed / heart broken. Some never need to work a regular 9-5 again because they can make money from social media deals... and most risk losing a stable 9-5 due to long absences from work & the potential to gain a bad reputation (rightfully or wrongly).
- People are quick to call watching reality TV a guilty pleasure or anit-feminist. Yet they rarely say the same of shows popular with men (Ex: football & bad behavior / concussions)

I liked a lot of the topics brought up, but had a few big issues with the book:
- Lack of cohesion: the book read like a patchwork of interviews, letters, & notes that were never fully integrated. It felt more like the author was hosting a virtual focus group than synthesizing her research into a coherent book.
- So. Much. Name Dropping: Even as a fan of the show, I was often confused about who the author was talking about. The references are quick and frequent, with a lot of assumed knowledge.
- Breadth > depth: there were so many interesting points that I wanted to dig in more, but they were only ever superficially mentioned (sometimes more than once). There was so much room for nuanced conversations that was never really explored.

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