Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Maidens

I did not get on with this book. I think it was trying to do too much.

It felt to me like the author had a really interesting concept in mind but struggled to execute it fully. Alternatively, the original manuscript was about twice as long and the author had to pare it down (and if this is the case, I think it was done poorly). There were also some aspects that I feel like "other" the reader: the Cambridge setting feels very surreal and elitist, as does the Greek tragedy... theme?

My biggest issue, though, is that the MC keeps sticking her nose into a police investigation very obviously and everyone just lets her. She is very clearly unwell and crossing so many professional lines and she doesn't try to hide her actions... but she just isn't called on it

until, just a little, and then it doesn't come up again

. This really prevented me from buying in to other aspects of the story.

Content Warnings

devlev7's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Honestly I was very into this book right up until the ending. It was definitely scary and creepy, and kept me on my toes wanting to know what would happen next. I would still maybe recommend it if you like spooky thrillers. But the ending was a bit of a let down. *SPOILERS AHEAD*

I started to have an inkling that Zoe had something to do with the murders about midway through the book, but the way this was revealed was just bizarre and felt surprisingly unnuanced compared to the rest of the book. It felt like a lot of the buildup about the Maidens and Fosca was for nothing since it didn’t end up having anything to do with the actual murders. I will also say that listening to the audiobook caused a bit of a spoiler since the villains narration wasn’t in an American accent so I knew it couldn’t be Fosca from the beginning. Speaking of the villain portions, I was left with some confusion about Sebastian and his past, and why he was doing all that writing, what crimes he was referring to, etc. I don’t feel that was wrapped up or explained very well, nor was Fred’s “book” he was writing, nor who was following Mariana earlier on in the story (I guess it’s implied that it was Henry?). In general, I was left with a lot of loose ends, and one of the satisfying joys of a mystery novel is seeing them tied up. I also felt there was just so much that wasn’t believable or explained, like how the school kept allowing Mariana to talk to their students unsupervised, or how no one had suspected Fosca of any weirdness with his students before. Mariana was such an unprofessional and irresponsible therapist time and time again, putting herself and others in danger. Maybe this was part of the point, but it wasn’t really acknowledged as her main flaw. Lastly, I thought the themes of childhood sexual abuse were hit a little too hard. Not that this doesn’t happen in real life, but was it really necessary to make so many different characters have this in their past to explain their poor actions? I’m not sure.

Definitely check the content warnings for this one!

Content Warnings

probablypsychic's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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s4r41d's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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im_basil's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

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

author served up the double grooming special, maybe the real issue isn’t childhood trauma but PROTECTING YOUR KIDS FROM P3DOPHILES

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sierrabowers's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I thought it was an okay story, but mostly it was very slow. The mystery itself was not that compelling, but I thought the ending left me with more questions than anything. If you haven’t read the silent patient, I would recommend reading this book first, because one character is linked to that book. I have already read the silent patient, so now I feel as if I need to reread it in order to understand it better or in a new light.

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jailynxpaige's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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mfmccoy0216's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Overall this book kept me interested, I really enjoyed many of the twists and turns but ultimately felt let down by the final twist.

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