Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

216 reviews

sarahkate333's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Veryyyyy slow until it's not. The last 50 pages are crazy but it's a slow road to that. I almost dnf but im glad I did. I do like that it is connected to his other book. Not sure I'd read it again though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Self harm, and Blood

marissaeng's review

dark fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Mental illness

Minor: Blood and Domestic abuse

alexismoodie's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Moderate: Death, Blood, Murder, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

blyndwolf's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

review soon

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

irene_g08's review

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

 I recommend searching for TRIGGER WARNINGS before reading this book. 

It's been a while since a book has been able to captivate me in the way The Maidens did. It felt like each new page added to the strange and chilling mystery our MC was trying to solve. I thought I knew what was happening, but when the plot twist was revealed, I could never have imagined it even in my craziest guesses. This story is creepy, twisted, and downright disturbing at times but I'm glad I read it. It opened my eyes to a world I was unfamiliar with. It was a bit too much for me resulting in half a star lost but I was genuinely impressed. Now, I need to go and read The Silent Patient.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Sexual content, and Pedophilia

Minor: Death of parent and Drug use

daybreakreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I finished this book in a day and a half. It was impossible to put down. I haven’t read his other book — I find it interesting that most of the negative reviews simply say that this one isn’t as good as The Silent Patient (makes me wonder how great that one is if I loved this one so much) — but I’m happy I read this one first because there’s a subtle connection between the two.

I actually suspected the right person early on (ultimately for the wrong reason), but mostly dismissed it because of a very powerful red herring (even though I at one point suspected the red herring as being such). I would say the true ending would be very difficult if not impossible to guess the first time through; I almost want to re-read it again now that I know how it ends.

The audiobook was fascinating to listen to; they used a different voice actor for the alternate perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Murder, and Death

Minor: Infertility, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual violence, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization

paulinevb's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Blood

miggyfool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Torture, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

ekclar's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death, Murder, Child abuse, and Stalking

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

erin_robbins19's review

fast-paced

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

3.0

This book started so strongly; the mystery was intriguing, I enjoyed the MC, and I loved all of the Greek plays and mythology references. But then around the halfway mark it all started falling apart for me. The characters all started to feel very flat, and the twists had no buildup at all so it felt like they came out of nowhere. The ending felt really rushed, and the big reveal was definitely... a choice. In general, there was a lot left to be wrapped up, and what was wrapped up felt very unsatisfying. Had this book ended in the same way it started, I would easily give it a 4/5, but I just can't. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Toxic relationship