oooh, goodreads choice awards finalist for best mystery & thriller 2021! WHAT WILL HAPPEN LET’S FIND OUT!i have put off writing this review since reading the ARC back in MARCH because i didn't want to poop on anyone else's pre-release anticipation with my less-than-glowing reaction, but now that it's been out for a bit, i'm gonna let my poop out, too. stand back.i didn't get around to reading The Silent Patient until The Great Lockdown of 2020, and it was just the twistyfun distraction i needed

Mariana Andros is a dedicated Group Therapist who knows first-hand how difficult recovering from trauma can be. Therefore, she exhibits a great deal of empathy towards her many clients.Due to a large inheritance, Mariana doesn't need to work, however she continues her practice because she enjoys helping others.Sadly, Mariana has lost almost everyone she has ever loved. In fact, the only family she has left is her niece, Zoe, currently a student at Cambridge University.That's why when Zoe calls h...

2.5 stars: ta ta ta ta here comes my unpopular review alert! Yes, I disappointed! Yes, I was truly expecting something earth shattering, soul crushing, mind bending, grey cell fryer, unputdownable! What went so wrong with me?-one dimensional, very dislikable characterization -too many plot holes bigger than the cracks in my head!-Slow, flat, boring beginning-Too much unnecessary misdirection about the identity of the murder even though it’s so obvious from the beginning -Meeting with the one of...

I need to start by saying Michaelides's The Silent Patient was totally my thing a couple of years back. I know the author didn't exactly do anything unique with that book, but I found it an impossible-to-put-down kind of psychological thriller. The writing kept me on the edge of my seat and I enjoyed the twists and turns.And, to be fair, for a while The Maidens gave me a similar feeling. Maybe not quite as compelling as the author's debut, but I've discovered I really like the way Michaelides we...

5/30/2019 This could literally be IKEA assembly instructions written in Swahili using the Vivaldi font and I'd still read it.

When I'm reading a mystery, there is no feeling more satisfying than having the wool pulled over my eyes. I'm always looking for that special story to misdirect me, throw red herrings my way, make me feel confident that I've got it all figured out, and then prove me dead wrong. And The Maidens did exactly that.Mariana is called to Cambridge when her niece Zoe's closest friend is brutally murdered. Mariana soon realizes that this idyllic campus of higher learning conceals something sinister lurki...

Where do I begin.... It may only be April, but put this down as the biggest letdown of the year for me. This simply did not work for me almost from the get-go and features so many problems that I'm shocked this is coming from the same author as The Silent Patient. While this will no doubt be a bestseller due to TSP's momentum and fandom, proceed with caution and severely tempered expectations if you're diving into this one. The premise of a secret society of Maidens was intriguing. The intersect...

i see dark academia and i come running. this is one of my most anticipated releases for the year and im so relieved it didnt let me down. i honestly inhaled this. AM is the master of short chapters. he truly understands how to get readers to say, ‘just one more and then i will go to bed.’ and then all of the sudden the story is over in the blink of an eye - thats how much the content and pacing hooked me. i loved the greek mythology and poetry, i loved the old-fashioned cambridge vibes, and i lo...

No thriller novel has a right to be this boring. I enjoyed The Silent Patient. God knows what happened with this book though. There was nothing compelling about this story even though it tried to be. There were no thrilling aspect. The mystery was boring. I could not care less that these women were dying nor did I want to figure out who the killer was.The characters in here felt contrived and stereotypical. Basically, you can tell a man wrote it. I did not understand what compelled the main char...

4.5 starsI’m so glad this lived up to the hype! 😍https://youtu.be/-Vgds8Hv5mM

The Maidens by Alex MichaelidesHoly mackerel with a huge pile of red herrings!  The Maidens is set in the same world as The Silent Patient, even allowing us to see a couple of The Silent Patient's characters. Whereas the big twist in The Silent Patient got me, which is very hard to do, The Maidens throws so many suspicious people our way that I suspected everyone of being a murderer. Still, this was an enjoyable story, even as I rolled my eyes throughout the book, as the main character made one

"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear."-C.S. Lewis, A Grief ObservedI've decided to round my rating up a star, if for no reason other than I cannot stop thinking about this book and it got me out of a major reading slump. I wasn't as dazzled by The Silent Patient as most readers, yet as a debut it was undeniably entertaining and well crafted. The author has completely changed courses with his sophomore novel, The Maidens, and traded the world of flashy psychological thrillers for a l...

I’ve felt more tension between me and a ringing phone. It really took the “thrill” out of thriller and left me just with “…errr…?”

Wow: I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook version of The Maidens, read by Louise Brealey and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Brealey's dramatic reading tone injected a mesmerizing sense of dread and suspense into the narrative, and Holdbrook-Smith's husky tone did an excellent job of creeping me out!Mariana Andros is in deep mourning: her beloved husband, Sebastian, died a year ago while they were on vacation in Greece. We watch as Mariana struggles to move on with her life, but one day she receives a pan...

This could possibly be my last book review ever....This book review is being written from a bed at Mayo Clinic. If you follow me, I have been plagued with a mysterious condition this last year and finally have discovered that I have a very dangerous heart problem. The excellent medical team here at Mayo Clinic is struggling to control my erratic heart rhythm, and I experienced a very serious cardiac incident tonight where the red lights were flashing, the alarm was blaring, and every medical pro...

Mariana just knew that Edward Fosca was a murderer. Edward Tosca was guilty but she just couldn't prove it and she might never be able to prove it. She thought he was a monster and she didn't want him to walk free. He thinks he got away with it, she thought. He thought he had won but Mariana was determined to outsmart him and she will catch him. Zoe's phone call after the Monday Evening Group was how it all started. That is how the nightmare began. Zoe was her niece and Mariana is a group therap...

rtc 10/31i really really hated this tho sorry to spoil ya

There’s a justifiable amount of buzz swirling around Alex Michaelides’s sophomore novel, The Maidens, given the success of his 2019 debut, The Silent Patient. Said buzz (and early reviews) made me wonder a few things before I even cracked it open, so as an act of public service I’m sharing my pre-read Q’s with my post-read A’s. Q: Do you have to read The Silent Patient beforehand? Or in my case, if you have read it, do you need to remember anything about it? A: Not really, though you’ll miss out...

In "The Silent Patient", artist Alicia Berenson stopped speaking after shooting her husband in the face 5 times. Her only explanation, a self portrait, titled Alcestis-after the tragic heroine of the Greek Tragedy, by Euripides.Author Alex Michaelides, revisits the Greek Tragedies again, with his sophomore novel, "The Maidens".The nightmare begins with a phone call. Mariana Andros is a brilliant, but troubled group therapist, grieving the loss of her beloved husband, Sebastian, when her niece, Z...

Maybe a 2.5 / Some will enjoy it more than me, I'm sure. Thanks to the publisher for my advanced copy! OUT on June 15, 2021A handsome Greek Tragedy professor at Cambridge University forms a special group of students he calls "The Maidens". When one of the girls is murdered, all fingers point to Professor Fosca. This is Alex Michaelide's sophomore book, and I had some high expectations. I have to say this one never "took off" for me. A rather gruesome murder mystery, with dramatic characters that...

Alex Michaelides follows the success of The Silent Patient with this chillingly atmospheric story that draws on Greek mythology and tragedies set in the beautiful city of Cambridge and the sinister and menacing events that occur at the fictional St Christopher's College with its ancient buildings, rituals and traditions. 36 year old Mariana Andros is a brilliant group therapist laid low by the continuing grief at the loss of her husband, Sebastian. She travels to Cambridge to be with her niece,

Mariana Andros, a group therapist, receives a phone call from her niece, Zoe informing her that her friend, Tara is missing, and her fears that Tara may have been murdered. Mariana goes to Cambridge to be with her worried niece, to provide support and comfort. When Tara's body is found, Mariana who is still reeling from the death of her husband, becomes convinced that Edward Fosca, the Greek Tragedy professor is responsible. But Fosca is untouchable. He is one of the most popular professors at C...

This is one of those books riding the coattails of its betters. Recently, there have been a ton of fictional books aiming to incorporate or rework some part of the Ancient world, from Natalie Haynes to Pat Barker to Kamila Shamsie and more. However, this is something else entirely. It certainly has neither the power of Greek myth nor the quality of Secret History. It doesn’t even hit the acceptable levels for a decent modern thriller. In fact, it is PAINFULLY bad. The plodding, simplistic style....

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY! Cambridge University is a prestigious one that excels at churning out successful students. It also has some of the most well-respected professors...except that one might be a murderer.That is what Mariana thinks. She is a group therapist living in London, and drops everything when her niece, Zoe, calls her. Zoe’s best friend has been murdered on campus where they are both Cambridge students. Mariana makes her way to the University, where she herself attended years prior.Wi...

Not sure what’s up with my reading habits lately, but my last three have been The Mix-Up, The Marriage and now The Maidens. Apparently I have a type. Moving on ...Recently widowed Mariana is a psychotherapist whose niece Zoe goes to St. Christopher’s College in Cambridge - the same college she and her beloved deceased husband Sebastian attended. When Zoe’s friend Tara, who is part of charismatic professor Edward Fosca’s mysterious exclusive study group The Maidens is found murdered, Mariana retu...

I enjoyed quite a bit about this book - more than I was expecting to after a couple of my friends gave it a low rating. Plus, I was one of the few who wasn’t particularly ‘wow-taken’ with “The Silent Patient”.In “The Maidens” what I enjoyed most wasn’t actually the suspense.It wasn’t a spellbinding psychological thriller for me (yet not a problem either). Books don’t need to have any suspense for me to enjoy them- I’m not a die-hard-thriller seeking twist & turn reader [I enjoy them - but I woul...

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides is a 2021 Celadon Books publication. Sophomore Jitters? A group therapist, Mariana Andros, still grieving the tragic loss of her husband, gets a desperate call from her niece, Zoe, who is frantic and distraught over the disappearance of her college roommate. Mariana leaves immediately to join Zoe at Cambridge University to offer her support. Mariana is immediately suspicious of a popular Greek tragedy professor, Edward Fosca, and his elite group of female student...

Mixed reviews, along with an unappealing cover, kept my expectations low, but I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mariana, a psychologist, is still in mourning over her husband’s untimely death. She’s truly all alone in the world, having also lost her parents and sister. Zoe, the niece she took in after her sister’s death, is all she has left. When Zoe calls with news of her friend’s murder, Mariana travels to Cambridge, where Zoe is a student. A professional colleague of Maria...

Holy mackerel with a huge pile of red herrings!  The Maidens is set in the same world as The Silent Patient, even allowing us to see a couple of The Silent Patient's characters. Whereas the big twist in The Silent Patient got me, which is very hard to do, The Maidens throws so many suspicious people our way that I suspected everyone of being a murderer. Still, this was an enjoyable story, even as I rolled my eyes throughout the book, as the main character made one irrational decision after anoth...

going into this book i thought it was just “okay” i thought it was going to be predictable and it was like reading a dark academia book but instead of following a student it followed an outsider, i thought i already knew what was going to happen but the book kind of plays on that. if you read dark academia a lot, you think that you know what’s going to happen in this book but honestly you don’t and that’s the best part. the plot twist in this book was so great. it literally made me gasp out loud...