Reviews with content warning for Violence - 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.

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h4n3lle's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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jazzrivetti's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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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

samgyupsal's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

Since it was Alex Michaelides, I already expected a plot twist but I still didn't see it coming. I just don't understand why the FMC was so nosy in the first place, I get that she was protective of her niece and her psychologist background made her really invested but, she was so nosy???

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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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danielleeejames's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I have waited about twelve hours after finishing this book to write this because I still really don’t know how I feel? I didn’t see the twist coming; however; the last thirty pages were a total blur and I still really don’t understand how or why things wrapped up. I felt icky after finishing this book. There were good starts at exploring grief and the effect parents can have on adult psychosis. But everything felt very one dimensional. And you could definitely tell these were women written by men.

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leweylibrary'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? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I read this for a book club and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. I'm normally not a big "there was a murder and now the MC is investigating it before it's too late" premise, but maybe I'm alright with it in an audiobook?

It also helps that I just finished Pandora's Jar, so my mind was very much in a Greek myth mindset, and there was a TON of that going on. I feel like if I was more knowledgeable on Greek myths, there would be so much more to unpack in this book and connections I'm just not seeing immediately. This will definitely be a good one to discuss in book club I think, especially if someone there does know Greek myths well.

I knew there was going to be a twist near the end, but I was absolutely wrong about what it was 😅 I thought for sure

Fred was going to be the killer but yeah no definitely not lol

. When it was revealed, I was on the train on my way to work and I audibly gasped. Mouth wide open and everything, the people sitting across from me were startled lol.

The twist is the part I'm most excited to talk about because there are so many aspects of it that I don't understand or have questions about. For example,

did Sebastian intentionally kill himself? I don't believe his plan was as genius and foolproof as the author makes it seem. The MC should be way more fucked up afterwards than she seems. How the fuck did she not notice they were "in love" sooner?? He was having sex with her since she was FIFTEEN and grooming her that whole time?? Wtf, how do you not get any vibes at all. She must have been incredibly oblivious which I guess tracks since she also said they never talked about their pasts and she was just okay with that??

My biggest issues with the book were the ending, particularly how quickly it was "resolved."

It makes no sense that the cops all of a sudden are so eager and willing to believe her when they do recently we're sure she was crazy and needed help.

I also just don't think the characters, especially the MC. She's not the worst male-written character I've read, but she does still fall flat for me. And why is she surrounded by creepy dudes who want to hurt her or get into her pants? And idk how to feel about her

relationship with Freddy/Fred/whatever lol and his whole prophecy thing, that aspect rubbed me the wrong way for some reason.

All of that aside, I did enjoy reading it in the moment, and that's the biggest thing that matters to me.

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