Welcome to Litsy!

It started off good. But as it went on all the men characters were the same (vaguely menacing/obsessed with Mariana) all the female students act similarly. Mariana is sticking her nose in things & it makes no sense that it would go largely unquestioned & the ending was super preposterous.

“I sometimes hold it half a sin
To put in words the grief I feel; For words, like Nature, half reveal And half conceal
the Soul within.”

#Mythical

#ItTakesAllKinds

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I like this authors writing style. I love the shorter chapters. It made for a quick read.
The story kept me interested, and I definitely didn‘t see the end coming. But this book confirmed what I already knew. I‘m really not into thrillers. I didn‘t find any of the characters likable. I did find the setting fascinating. I love reading about the old schools in England. All in all, find book was just middle of the road for me.

All I can say is wow…if you like thriller read The Silent Patient first….then read The Maidens. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another thrilling mystery! I enjoyed this one, it kept me guessing, and I didn‘t see the twist coming. That‘s not saying much, though, bc I never do 😅 I didn‘t think it was as good as The Silent Patient—there were more plot holes and unnecessary characters—but I still liked it. The main character is a little clueless, but for whatever reason it didn‘t bother me that much, I just enjoyed the mystery.

The first half of the book, I wasn‘t feeling all the mythology and was feeling overall meh about the book. But I am not one to DNF. All the good stuff happens at the end right?
I had to pick my jaw up off the ground at this ending. I really thought I had the right suspects but woooo Nelly was I WRONG! Stayed up late to finish so I could start The Fury by the same author tomorrow.

The jury is very much out for me with Dark Academia but it is #99ponkindle in the UK today so picked this up.

I loved the silent patient so I wanted to love this one too. I did enjoy it, but it‘s very long and drawn out.

Another great book by this author. I felt that there could be more to the ending but overall I loved this book and it kept me guessing until the end.

Having previously been disappointed by The Silent Patient, I went into this not expecting much, but I thought this one was better. Michaelides repeats several of the flaws of his previous book here - notably, several underdeveloped supporting characters that serve only as blatant red herrings. Plus the twist was a bit of a cheat, as it relied on Mariana being not just an unreliable narrator, but possibly the world‘s thickest psychologist.

Ending wasn‘t horrible. Writing wasn‘t great. Didn‘t like the characters. There were characters that felt very useless. There were plot points that were useless. Pacing was…..weird? Felt like this book could have been half the length.

This was silly, but good fun.

If you fancy an extra slice of dark academia and aren't too fussy about the quality, this certainly has the vibes.

Short chapters make this eminently snarfable, so even if you can't suspend your disbelief, it'll be over before you can say "slimy professor" ?

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was so good 🖤🩸😱

#DarkAcademia

#BookBinge

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

3.9/5 🌟

Not as good as his first book but it was entertaining and interesting enough.

I ended up really enjoying The Maidens despite it being a bit harder to get into. Once the story got moving I found it hard to put down. Alex Michaelides does a good job of hiding the direction of the book making it unpredictable. I enjoyed the process of unraveling the murders with her as she unravelled her past. Complaints: short chapters made the pace feel rushed while simultaneously making it hard to get into

I did not like this. At all.

About halfway through, I already knew I wasn't feeling it, not the same as The Silent Patient. But I still read it, hoping. Sigh.

Book #34
3/5
I was really disappointed by this one. Michaelides' novel, The Silent Patient, was one of my favourites a few years back. The resolution to this one was just too contrived for my liking. Too many questions left unanswered.

DNF. Not for me I'm afraid. The writing style and also the characters, mostly.

The writing is good. The story is interesting. I didn‘t like the end twist it was a little much. I guess I should say the twist of the twist was a bit much for me.
I preferred The Silent Patient over this one.
3.8 ⭐️ if you like dark twisty
Soft pick.

Up next in audio

Nope. So much nope.

This book had me transfixed from the start. A modern spin, I would say, on The Secret History. I enjoyed everything about this book. Twist ending. #themaidens #mystery #whodunnit

Very Freudian. I knew this wasn‘t rly dark academia but was still hoping for vibes…there weren‘t many 🤷🏽‍♀️ quick paced quick read, finished in 3 days so it was def good, but not rly ground breaking or anything.

One of our books to giveaway!! Have you read it?!

#LitsyLove

I enjoyed this, But I had it partially figured out so the ending wasn't a shock and awe feeling. I feel think his other book, The Silent Patient was a much better book overall.

This was very disappointing. The characters were very detached and not individualized. The dialogue was choppy and weird mostly. The tension/suspense effect was lost due to the execution being so poor and the author trying to throw too many curve balls that didn‘t make sense. The final twist applied to the rest of the story in a way that was too far fetched and flimsily put together; it made me roll my eyes in frustration. ⭐️⭐️

I‘m taking a break from the monotony of the series I‘ve been reading and giving this book a shot! I‘ve heard so much hype about this author ever since The Silent Patient became so popular, so I‘m super excited to see if this book is just as good! This is also the start of my hopefully dedicated attempt at reading more books off my physical TBR instead of constantly buying new ones. I got this one from BOTM a while ago so I hope it‘s a good start!

The plot twist seemed really predictable but there I was with a *gasp* anyway. The ending faltered but overall I really liked this.

A clever thriller with some plot twists. I liked The Silent Patient more but still enjoyed The Maidens.

Suspense ✔️
Unreliable narrator ✔️
Murder mystery ✔️

I‘m in!

My #roll100 is set also. Looking forward to all of these. @PuddleJumper

“
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding tale of psychological suspense, weaving together Greek mythology, murder, and obsession, that further cements “Michaelides as a major player in the field” (Publishers Weekly).”

Despite feeling somewhat meh about the ending, I enjoyed this novel. The setting is a place I want to visit every time I read about it, and there are some interesting issues of classism and xenophobia mixed in with the mystery and frustration and almost universally cringey male characters.

(Photo is from my walk to work this afternoon while listening to the end of this audiobook.)

Cartoonish mystery/thriller with the requisite pile of young female bodies. Bailed but skipped to the end to confirm I had indeed guessed the killer 1/4 of the way in, though not the extra salacious details. 2021

Maybe this book gets better, but I can't get into it. Some of the literary references come off as pretentious, especially since at least one early on (comparing Mariana and her dad to Petruchio and Kate) doesn't even make sense. Also, I am pretty sure the murderer has multiple personality disorder. Really, that old trope that is either extremely rare or non-existent in reality? Bailing now.

I really liked their first book so I was excited to read this one. The twist was really good and I didn‘t see it coming but the main character annoyed me a lot. It‘s probably my own personal bias but the main characters grief from the start seemed unrealistic and that‘s why I rated 3 stars

October 10 - The Daily Photo Challenge - Prompt: crime

#scarathlondailyprompts #crimefiction #scarathlon22 #teammonstermash #scarathlon #crime #dailyphotochallenge #themaidens

6th and last book read during #SuperSeptember Readathon. I only read 147 pages within this time frame. Mixed feeling here. There were parts I really liked, like the integration of classic Greek mythology to describe characters and actions. There is something in the tone of this author writing style that I really like. Also, the mystery was good, interesting. But who did it and why, well, that was a little bit disappointed. 3.5/3.75⭐️⬇️

Another win for Michaelides. While I'm still puzzling out Persephone being seen as a vengeful goddess, I appreciated the rest of the interwoven myths. There is much trauma packed into this novel, though handled, how should I say, discreetly? I wasn't entirely shocked by the end, I had guessed that it might be an option.

I‘m not mad, I‘m just disappointed! With myself, for not listening to the negative reviews. This is as bad as everyone says! I can‘t believe it was written by the same guy who wrote The Silent Patient. This was so predictable and daft with cardboard characters and even worse dialogue. Meh.

#currentlyreading | A former student becomes obsessed with a secret group at her alma mater and their idol Professor Fosca‘s interest in the Eleusinian Mysteries when a family friend ends up dead. | 337 pages | 2021 | fast-paced | fiction, thriller | dark, mysterious, tense | possibly for fans of: The Secret History (Donna Tartt) #barnesandnoblenook

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really loved this book. I couldn‘t put it down. A quaint British college with a mysterious professor and even more mysterious followers? Sign me up. I thought I had the twist all figured out and still I was shocked by the ending. I just wish there was a little more finality to the end. After reading the whole book you still feel like you‘re missing the end of the story.

I read this last November. I really liked the way in which Michaelides refers to the doctor in his previous book. Subtle, but nice. This novel is somewhat formulaic but it is a good read. I remember not putting it down and reading it in a weekend. I won‘t give anything away but it‘s about a secret society. That‘s all. If there‘s a negative it would be the depiction of women is borderline misogynistic. Otherwise a good summer novel.

Book 97

I listened to The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. Mariana's a therapist and recent widow. When her niece's best friend is murdered, Mariana rushes to Cambridge to help. A lot of characters seemed fishy, and I didn't predict the ending. With ritualistic killings, this thriller is unique. Four stars

Sadly this authors work will always be compared to his first book The Silent Patient. Was this as good? No, but it was good in its own way. It almost came off as completely predictable as I was able to guess the ending but the author threw in a twist that I did not guess or expect and that redeemed the story! Easy, quick read, with short chapters that beg you to read just one more 😃

The ending just didn't feel satisfying or cathartic. It was well written but I guess it just didn't give me what I wanted.

I found this book to be okay. The author did did Dona good job of completely throwing me off the trail of the bad guy until the very end. But the main character Mariana is so annoying. Now that I‘m reviewing it there is also unanswered questions in the plot.

#20in4Readathon @Andrew65

My goal was to catch up on BOTMs by reading a few from the last 8 months…Breathless, The Lies I Tell, and The Maidens were all solid 5 ⭐️ thrillers; and Tweak was a compelling NF. I hope to read 1 more book tomorrow.

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It was very good !! I was trying to predict the end but got caught off guard haha....we also see an appearance of Theo from the silent patient