Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

82 reviews

katlinstirling_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

After reading and loving the silent patient I saw this and had to grab it. Great read!! Suspenseful, thrilling, twisty and the characters are well developed but creepy. Great plot and very well written, so well I had the feeling I was being watched myself and had to look to check. Unpredictable and dark, I was in shock with the twists right up until the last end page. I do wish the ending was longer, felt it was a little rushed. Couple of references to the silent patient too which I thought was clever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

maryconney's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Alcohol

samgyupsal's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

probablypsychic's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Infertility, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Suicide attempt

s4r41d's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Gaslighting

Minor: Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

ilutzer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.75

The Maidens follows a very human character — Mariana struggles deeply with many losses and subsequent grief, as well as a complicated relationship with her father. Michaelides’ ability to pull the reader into the paranoia of the protagonist is admirable, as is his knowledge of psychotherapy and Greek tragedy. However, I find his analysis of psychotherapy quite Freudian, specifically that many of the psychologist characters encourage Mariana to look at how her relationship with her father affects her life now. While this can be a helpful theory, people are more complicated, and I found myself wishing he went into the feelings of grief associated with loss rather than transference. The novel centres around a group therapist who — while each therapist practices differently — I found it odd that the group therapy scene later in the book centred more around Mariana and her own thoughts rather than the clients.

Michaelides also does a phenomenal job with red herrings, though I did suspect and correctly guess (half of) the ending. However, he managed to fool me and convince me it was someone else before the reveal. Again, Mariana’s paranoia bleeds into the reader as they try to figure out whodunnit. Perhaps that is the reason for all of the suspicious and seemingly unnecessary characters - to encourage the reader to fall into a similar sense of paranoia that Mariana experiences. 

I do wish we were given a greater explanation or depth into the Maidens and this academia-based cult of young women; it did not feel as fleshed out as it could’ve been and served mostly as part of the red herring. I also would have loved a greater resolution with most of the characters in the end, as the end feels abrupt and unfinished after the reveal (ie the epilogue). 

Overall, it was certainly a page turner. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Infertility, Sexual content, and Death of parent

It is a disturbing read at times, with many explicit descriptions of death and post-mortem bodies as well as

the grooming relationship between Sebastian and Zoe

p2rteltytar's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

niceonehros's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

The ending felt rushed and a bit more contrived than I would like. Still a compelling read, but as plot twists go, this one didn't blow my mind.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

sierrabowers's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

Honestly, I wished I typed this review out as soon as I finished this book. Four days have passed and I honestly don't remember much about it. I remember the plot and everything just fine, what I'm trying to say is that this book is very forgettable. I was really excited after reading "The Silent Patient" two years ago (around this time, funny enough) and learning that this book is centered around greek mythology (which I love). I was initially pumped and sadly underwhelmed when I finished. The best way I could describe this book is just lacking. It lacked a lot. It lacked in the plot. It lacked in intricately incorporating the Greek mythology into the story. It lacked when it came to the side characters. It lacked with the plot twists

I knew it was Zoe, but there was a lot of unnecessary misdirection with the twist that had me questioning if I was right. Also, the subtle incest twist was so unnecessary. Felt cheap.

. I just felt like things weren't as intricately woven out as he was making it seem like they were. I found certain side characters to be extremely redundant. The society plot device, underutilized. And the plot twist to be incredibly lubricious and disappointing. Not gonna lie, a little part of me wanted to dnf this book, but I trudged along because it was short, and weirdly enough I thoroughly enjoyed his writing. It is very flowery (I think "purple prose" is what it's called) which I wasn't expecting when going into a thriller. I really enjoyed his writing here, however, due to the things I listed above as well as the fact that his storytelling (he's what I call a "slow burn" thriller author; meaning he relays his stories like a mystery with a big twist at the end rather than presenting various mini-plot twists throughout the story which is my preferred method of thriller storytelling) isn't my favorite way that I'd like to consume thrillers. It just didn't make for the most enjoyable reading experience. I don't think this is the worst thing ever by any means. I just think it was mid, mediocre. Nothing crazy. (something cool though was how this book was lowkey a prequel to "The Silent Patient"; we got to see Theo which was really cool)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail