The Maidens

Gets alla the stars for keeping me reading, though I could do without the psyco-babble. Not sure I got the point, if there was one, but it was fairly entertaining.

This was by far better than his other book the silent patient. I loved the symbolism and the easter eggs throughout with this one. Definitely a page turner for me

Everyone has been praising this book up and down to the point I had, from simple curiosity, to read it. I have to say it's well written, it's clear the author had a lot to think about while writing so it came out really well. The unfortunate thing about the book is maybe the fact that everyone creates huge expectations about it so when you pick it up you will expect a plot twist so huge that your jaw will literally drop. Unfortunately for me I kind of expected the ending everything was set up to go in that direction. The peak for me was achieved when it made the connection to The silent patient. I was expecting something really big because of the above mentioned book. Unfortunately it's not that close. Even so a very good book. Would deserve 5 stars if the ending wasn't so rushed and it wouldn't make everything obvious from the beginning.

This book is amazing! It definitely left me staring at my wall and I couldn't put it down for hours! It's written in such an interesting way and the psychological aspects are really engaging.

Ugh. The twist in this book is so sleazy and gratuitous it honestly made me feel a little gross. (And on top of that, it's absolutely nonsensical.) My mom recommended this author to me, and I'll read anything she suggests... but ugh.

DNF @ 15%
I don't know if it was just too slow or that the writing didn't engage me but I could not get interested in this book.

This follow up to his twisty and superb debut novel actually feels a little more straight forward and may have distinctly failed to live up to its predecessor. This tale seems a little more of a cookie-cutter vigilante story of someone trying to solve a string of murder with cultish elements and while the big reveal at the end is decent (if not rushed), it might not be worth the journey down a beaten path. While it is written in the same style of his other book and still has great flow, you could find yourself waiting for the other shoe to drop the entire time and potentially struggling with what appears to be various different tones throughout.

this one was hard to get through. such a let down compared to the silent patient

3,5/5⭐️
Was een goed boek. Leuk dat er een crossplay was tussen dit boek en The silent patient. Het einde vond ik zowel vergezocht als voorspelbaar. Ik had het zelf nooit kunnen raden, maar ik snap ook als mensen vanaf bladzijde 10 al wisten hoe het zat.

Murder mystery with a big emphasis on grief.

I felt the connection to The Silent Patient to be a bit unnecessary. Or if it had to stay in, just that Zoe ended up in the Grove too ┐⁠(⁠´⁠ー⁠｀⁠)⁠┌

Still really liked the mystery!

The Maidens was a fun read--mystery and intrigue intertwined with ivy-covered historic places and rich literary references. This author loves reading and it shows.

The juicy red herrings were plentiful, but half of the final reveal was heavy-handed and off putting. There's no guessing the full reveal because the motives didn't even happen within the current storyline.

This book could have been so much better had the reveal not come from the other side of the world.

I was having a fine time with it, it was a quick and easy read. But the ending disappointed me. I was debating where it would fall between three and four stars as I was reading, but the last 50 pages really didn't do it any favors so this where we ended up. The twist was bad. 
Side note: One of the blurbs said “the twist blew my mind” which I can see why someone would feel that way but it's not for a good reason. Because it wasn't foreshadowed at all. It didn't give the book more depth. It was just shock value and it didn't make me feel like I should have known all along. There was no way to know. The hints were not there.

Seorang gadis muda ditemukan terbunuh di Cambridge. Zoe menduga itu jasad sahabatnya, Tara. Dengan dicekam kekhawatiran, Zoe menelepon bibinya, satu-satunya orang yang bisa dia andalkan. Demi keponakannya, Mariana Andros langsung mengunjungi Universitas Cambridge meski terasa berat. Mariana harus melawan kerinduan selagi menyusuri tempat-tempat kenangan bersama suaminya, Sebastian. Ternyata Tara salah satu anggota Para Perawan, kelompok istimewa yang dipimpin oleh profesor kelas Greek Tragedy, Edward Fosca. Namun alibi Edward sempurna, sehingga dia lolos dari penyelidikan polisi. Ketika mayat gadis lain ditemukan, Mariana semakin mencurigai sang profesor. Dengan tekad untuk menyerat kembali Edward ke dalam penyelidikan, Mariana justru menemukan fakta yang meruntuhkan segala yang dia yakini selama bertahun-tahun.
Salah satu buku terjemahan yang kunantikan, setelah debut penulis ini dengan The Silent Patient. Namun entah kenapa, vibe buku ini begitu berbeda. Tokoh utmanya, Mariana sangat sulit untuk disukai, jadi teringat tokoh-tokoh utama di buku-buku Ruth Ware. Plot twist agak mudah ditebak, terlebih dengan cerita dalam buku yang agak memaksa pembaca untuk setuju dengan teori-teori Mariana.
Secara keseluruhan menurutku cukup layak dicoba untuk penyuka cerita misteri.

this is BETTER than the silent patient I enjoyed it a lot and I read the last half in one sitting. This book is beautifully written as well and i loved the greek mythology in this one and i usually don't really like that kind of stuff. I didnt see the plot twist coming or the motive I thought it was paced perfectly and the atmosphere was so good too! I highly recommend this one!

Wow. What is it with Michaelides and writing books about british, broken psychotherapists who can't seem to mind their fcking business? Do you have something to tell us, Alex?I should've read this before the Silent Patient. Anyways.This book was stupid. I couldn't handle it. I wanted to enjoy and appreciate the greek tragedy theme going on. It was cute. But i couldn't shake the truth of Marianna not minding her damn business! Like girl, are you serious? Why are you doing ALL OF THIS???Anyways. There's a lot of gaps and stupidness going on. Here's a few. Spoilers ahead be warned.First problem: Henry. What happened to him? What was the point of all of this? Why was he such a man baby in the beginning, and a constant looming threat over the whole book, just to be ignored? Are you serious? Wtf????Second problem: The Second Voice. I listened to this book, so I'm considering it a voice. I always assumed it was Henry, or maybe even Fosker at some points. Is it supposed to be Sebastian? If so, why???? This literally had NO reason to be in the book. It's probably just filler, since Michaelides can't write a damn thing to stand it's own ground.Third problem: That stupid plot twist. Am I really supposed to deal with this stupid plot twist? You're telling me you made all of this, just for it to end like that? And with NONE of it having to do with Henry? Really? Really... Ok... cool....Fourth problem: Fred. Talk about a fcking plot device. Or maybe even the opposite of such. This dude played absolutely 0 part in any of the story, but also it seemed to revolve around him. Why did he coincidentally LOVE to swim at the place Sebastian died? Why was he “psychic” and have these “premonitions” Why??? Literally there was no point or realism to ANY of that other than for shits and giggles.


Any pros? Well, the dark academia setting was fun and nice. I don't hate Michaelides style of writing. And although it was dumb and cringe, the whole greek tragedy motif was kind of cute. When i THOUGHT it was Fosker that did it all. So you're telling me that the greek tragedy professor, with his greek tragedy maidens, was just a ruse so Sebastian and Zoey could get it on and stab Marianna in the back? You're joking. That's dumb as HELL.

All of the pros go down the damn drain when you consider all of the negatives. This was so lame. Michaelides, do better.

I found this book to be quite fantastic, but a little long winded and at times almost predictable. The concept is very good and I really enjoyed the plot twist. I literally had to put my book down and my jaw dropped. I think many of the characters were slightly flat, and some plot lines were unresolved but overall it was a good thriller and an engaging read

One thing I loved about this book was the ending I never would have ever in a million years guessed the ending that reveal left me speechless. 2.5 stars I honestly had to force myself to finish it and I didn't like the characters at all.

This book feels like a high school project of someone who reads a lot of mystery books and then tried to write one.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed it–the setting, the story, the characters–but I occasionally felt there were bum notes, things that didn't ring true or feel authentic. And I sometimes felt the main character needed a smack. It somewhat damaged my enjoyment of the book, but not completely, and I would have given it a rave but for those moments where the facade slipped. I cautiously recommend it to those who are good at suspending disbelief. It should be 3.5 stars.

Meh. I was a huge fan of the Silent Patient, but this felt sloppy. The creepy professor, the creepy stalkers, the creepy fan girls, and the creepy dead husband. No thanks. I'm not a fan of mysteries where the mc is trying the whole book to solve it and none of their investigating has anything to do with the actual mystery. Like it's cool that she caught the professor sleeping with his acolytes, but she didn't get any sort of feelings from her murderous pedophilic dead husband as a psychotherapist and she claims to have loved him? Bruh. The logic is missing.

Thriller tropes I'm learning to hate:
- When the main character inserts themselves into investigations with absolutely no experience in crime scenes and murder investigations.
- When the main investigator distrusts the main character because they continue to get involved in ongoing crimes and then the main character solves the crime and isn't believed.
- The main character continuously puts themselves in mortal danger for seemingly no good reason other than their own stubborn pride.

Ugh, it's so boring and cliché. The characters just aren't realistic and not very fleshed out. Say it with me “trauma

3.5/5 It was soooo good up until the ending.

Well, I finished it, and I wanted to know how everything would work out, so the book had that going for it. However, I didn't particularly like any of the characters, and none of them felt particularly well fleshed out. The twist was, frankly disturbing, and not in the way the author was going for, I don't think, and at the same time it was a bit of a let down, sort of a “Oh, this the direction we're going in?” The trauma was not handled respectfully, or at all in some cases. The ending felt rushed. And there were so many unanswered questions. It was evident, fairly early on who the “villain” was not, and while I am glad there was ultimately another responsible, there is no explanation for the supposed villain's behavior. On a related note, why are all the men (sans maybe one) such terrible humans in this book?! 

Oh well, I've wanted to read this book for a while, and now I can say that I have. On to the next one...

2.75/5

The writing was dull, boring and lazy. I understand they are practically synonyms of each other but the extensive greek mythology and words was a piece of work, the killer was kind of predictable if you pay attention closely from the start (i suspected the killer is an accomplice of some sort already when introduced) and spoiler the relationship between sebastian and zoe, god that disgusted me and was completely unnecessary making this whole book useless and waste of breath. I liked his other book, the silent patient, a lot more because it was gripping and made my spine chill. This one felt too obvious that it was written by man.