I was a bit sceptical to pick The Maidens because of all the mixed reviews, but when I finished the book I realised that people are comparing it with The Silent Patient, however, both are different and should not be compared at all. The Silent Patient is one of my favourites. The Maidens were an interesting and well written psychological thriller that kept me hanging on from the start to finish. A quick page-turner for sure. This will make you eager to know how things go. I finished it one sitting. I found the twisted plot to end unexpectedly.

Dark academia is a sub-genre that I simply cannot get enough of! So, when Michaelides announces he has a new psychological thriller set in the grounds of Cambridge University I was here ready with my basket of stars.

That being said…high expectation can often be rewarded with extreme disappointment, so I entered this world with caution, hoping I hadn’t overindulged in the synopsis prematurely. I am however, pleased to say, that this new addition to Michaelides work, did not disappoint and is truly worth all the stars!!

‘The Maidens’ is a psychological thriller housed in an academic world where murder, secret societies and Greek mythology rule.

All The Stars – Highly Recommend!

Thank you to #NetGalley, #OrionPublishing, #OrionCrime and #AlexMichaelides for an ARC of #TheMaidens in exchange for an honest review.

After reading the Silent Patient, I didn't think Alex could outdo it, but wow, with this book I was proven wrong! I enjoyed the book, and can't wait to see what is next! Recommended.

Unfortunately I have to say that I struggled with this read. I finished it but have to say I was glad to get to the end.

This was my first Alex Michaelides book and I definitely enjoyed the journey, but ultimately, it was all a bit too predictable for me. It tells the story of Marina, a recently widowed therapist who is called to Cambridge to her niece's aid when a murder takes place. What I enjoyed a lot was the exploration of Cambridge as a university town. I thought that the author did a really good job of putting us into the cloistered world of the colleges and he imbued the narrative with a real sense of place, which I appreciated. I also enjoyed the references to Classical Greek poets, such as Euripides and thought that this was the best part of the plot. Unfortunately, it was also the smallest part of the plot. For me, I would have preferred much more exploration of 'The Maidens' as a group but instead, there was much more focus on Marina and her investigations into the murders, which left me a little cold. I thought some of the relationships were a bit unbelievable and that the characters were a bit one-dimensional. Overall, I did enjoy the read, but it won't stick with me for any length of time.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Maidens--and I know I'm in the minority here!--is so much better than The Silent Patient. It's a thriller, a look at friendships and how tangled they can be and how they can tangle us, and a look at academia. I loved it, and if you liked The Secret History you'll definitely enjoy this! Highly recommended

I really enjoyed the silent patient and so I was looking forward to reading this. I am so sorry but I didn’t enjoy it. It felt a bit like wading through mud. I had to force myself to finish it.
However, I liked the setting of the novel and the premise was great. Some of the narrative is beautifully written, although at times it felt a little bit melodramatic.
What put me off? I felt the characterisation was a bit flat, and the characters felt wooden and undimensional. The story seemed contrived, like a series of convenient coincidences and the dialogue was unconvincing and clunky. In saying all of that, I am sure there are many readers who will love this book, but sadly it wasn’t for me.
Thank you so much to Netgalley, the publisher and the writer for my Arc.

I'd requested The Maidens as I had enjoyed The Silent Patient and was interested to see what was next from Alex Michaelides. It arrived and I realised it was based on Greek mythology and I was honestly dreading reading it.

First of all, don't be put off by the Greek mythology aspect. While it is there running throughout the storyline there is enough to the main storyline that the mythology doesn't take over and become a bore.

In saying that, I found this book to be an average enough read. There are a some interesting twists at the end however I felt overall it was a little bit too much of a slow burner for me and I wasn't overly invested in the characters.

If you enjoy a slow burning whodunnit and you're put off by the mythology side I would say give the book a chance as I am glad I didn't prejudge the book and gave it a go.

This just wasn’t for me. I really didn’t gel with the writing style and just found the reveals to be completely pointless. There was no foreshadowing so there was no way the reader could figure out the mystery for themselves. The Cambridge setting was also completely unbelievable and I felt there wasn’t enough mythology for a book that was marketed so heavily on that basis.

I loved The Silent Patient, so couldn't wait to dive in.
I had reservations after seeing the mixed reviews, and I have to say they were pretty spot on. An intriguing opening, but I soon realised Marianna was driving me crazy- her inkling that the professor was a murderer just seemed bizarre and unfounded, and I hate characters that feel they hate to get involved in an investigation that is irrelevant to them. (I do, however, like it when characters are already involved and they support the investigation with their knowledge) Plus, her career as a therapist was just odd to me, as she didn't seem to have any of the necessary qualities.
I was never fully invested in the story, annoying characters, and Greek mythology that went over my head.

A tight and elegant thriller that kept me in its thrall! Once again the mind is at the forefront of Michaelides writing, this time a group therapist is drawn into a series of murders at Cambridge University. Devilish twists and turns and a fair few red herrings kept me guessing, and I enjoyed the nods to Greek tragedy and Tennyson. A curious insight into the lives and loves of those who travel through the corridors of power.

I got the arc of this book but it was completely messed up and I couldn't read it. I had to wait until release date to get the ebook and read it, in a way it was better than I expected but still not great. Since there are many reviews of this book already, I will keep this one short.

I enjoyed reading the Silent Patient last year, it was a real page-turner and I couldn't put the book down. Although the start was close in the Maidens, I found myself engrossed in the story and finished it in a single sitting once things were in motion. That was the most fun about this book, its addicting quality.

The characters were not memorable nor that interesting. I questioned many of their decisions and I didn't find them relatable. While Marianne isn't a bad main character, I couldn't fathom a logical reason for involvement in the case, where's the police?? She has no training in this department and being a group therapist on its own isn't enough reason for me. The way she dealt with her grief was at least well-handled (apart from those *inserts supposedly relevant psychology fact*)

As for the mystery itself, the motives were BS. They weren't believable at all nor there were any hints about them. While I didn't guess the culprit and I can see why it's them, the whole mystery reveal was very farfetched and underwhelming.

It might sound like a negative review but when I read this book, I needed something quick and fun to read and this book was exactly that. Don't expect an innovative story nor very developed characters or even a satisfying resolution. Yet, if you want an entertaining & fast mystery read (the short chapters definitely helped), you can give this book a try.

I really enjoyed this new novel by Alwx Michaelides! I was a big fan of The Silent Patient and this didn’t disappoint, I especially enjoyed the crossovers between the two that we saw.

Michaelides has an incredible way of building up the suspense throughout, his characters are always so well fleshed out that you feel fully immersed into the story. I was definitely shocked by the twist and didnt see it coming so thats a tick for any thriller!!

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in return for an honest review. This review is based entirely on my own thoughts and feelings.

Overall rating : 3*
Writing skill : 4*
Plot: 4*
Characters: 2*
Twist: 2*

I had really high hopes for this after absolutely loving The Silent Patient, but I have been left slightly deflated. I thought the pace and the plot were excellent but there wasn't that WOW factor for me and the twist didn't amount to anything. The author is a great writer and sets the scenes very well but the characters were a little flakey and unrememberable. However, I will definitely read anything else by this author, this one just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

Contains spoilers!!!!!!

I was debating what to rate this book so in the end I settled for a three star middle of the road rating.

This book starts with our main protagonist who has recently lost her husband and has been contacted by her niece with some scary news that there is a killer on her university campus and that she suspects it to be a professor whom teaches geek mythology. This professor has a selected group of young women who follow him around known as the Maidens and their strange behaviour along with his only makes our protagonist suspect him more of guilt from the moment she arrives.

OK now down to what i didn't like about this book, why did every single male character she encounter give her the creeps or creepy vibes or make her feel uneasy? That part made no sense to me, I get you want to keep us guessing but it's unrealistic that all the characters would be '' creepy''

Then there is the pointless plot of Henry her patient, I don't know why this was added it truly added nothing to the story at all and I knew it was not him from the beginning.

The fact she could walk into crime scenes and yet she was not a police officer or a forriensic and even without gloves or anything covering her feet was a little unbelievable.

Unanswered questions, I had several and still do.

The big reveal, I saw who the killer could have been but the over all twist I did not see coming but was it handled well? Not really. Yes the killer did kill innocent people but I feel our protagonist should have had more empathy for her given what had happened and more should have been discussed on this topic.

What I did like about this book?
The fast pacing
The short chapters
The Greek mythology
The creepy old university setting

I have yet to read the silent patient and I will do so to see if I like it better than this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group, W&N for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I tried to read the ebook provided before the release of the book and had to give up around 25% of the way through because I wasn't enjoying the book and I thought I'd wait until the audiobook was available as I absolutely loved Alex Michaelides previous book 'The Silent Patient' which I listened to via audiobook and gave a 5 star rating. However, when I finally got the audiobook and listened through the book I had the exact same feeling as when reading the ebook, I was bored and didn't feel like there was any real suspense and just felt incredibly disappointed and deflated by this book. I wouldn't say that the ending was predictable, but by the end of the book I didn't really care who'd done it, I just wanted it to be over with.

When a female student is murdered at Cambridge University, group therapist Mariana gets involved in the investigation. The murdered girl was a friend of Mariana’s niece, and Mariana suspects that the Greek Tragedy professor has something to do with the killing. Death is no stranger to Mariana, but she is soon in over her head.

After reading and loving «The Silent Patient», I had high expectations for this one. «The Maidens» is more of a mystery than a thriller, and infused with greek mythology - as has become the trademark of Michaelides’ books. The story has a slower built up than his debut, even though the chapters are kept short. The first part of the book is too talkative and uninteresting. When the suspense finally grips, there are too many logical errors. I also had a hard time understanding Mariana’s motivation for some of the things she does.

Whilst reading, I kept thinking than the author wrote this novel under huge pressure, following the success of «The Silent Patient». You could sense it in a way. I liked the premise of the story, but sadly it lacked the thrilling aspect for me. What I did enjoy, was the link to «The Silent Patient». I will not spoil anything, just say that I found it very satysfying.

Ps: I bought this novel before reading it. My review is based on the physical book.

I wanted to love The Maidens because I really enjoyed The Silent Patient. It was not to be. I found this book to be unbelievable in the extreme with the central character making decisions that were ridiculous at times. The Maidens was not for me.

Although I guessed who the killer was early on, I really enjoyed The Silent Patient. I thought it was interesting, smart, exciting. And it was everything The Maidens is not.
This novel is just a jumble mess of a little bit of everything, it doesn't seem to be finished, edited, like it needed much more work, time and logic. At times it even gives a very amateurish feel, sentences are sometimes too simple, too superficial, as if written by a child.
I liked the dark academia vibes, but it felt a bit too much as a The Secret History wannabe. Elements I liked: the Greek mythology, Greek tragedy, detective story, mystery, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, a secret society, the connection to Michaelides' previous novel.
In theory all of this could have been amazing, but was the opposite, all of it felt implausible, unbelievable and too much. Starting from the main character, who, a therapist herself, had absolutely no idea people closest to her were deeply disturbed and psychotic.
I think I don't need to say more. But, I might read Michaelides' next book, hoping it will be more like The Silent Patient.

Edward Fosca is a brilliant and charismatic Classics professor at Cambridge University--and Mariana is completely certain that he is a murderer. But trying to find evidence brings her closer and closer to the case, and as more girls are found dead, she herself is suddenly on the killer's radar...

I finished most of this book in a single day, completely unable to put the book down. Alex Michaelides is a brilliant writer, and I saw none of the twists and turns towards the end of the book coming. If you are looking for a fast-paced, unpredictable book with incredible characters, I cannot recommend this one enough.

I'll add one small thing at the end: I've seen many people getting really excited about this book, expecting it to be similar to Donna Tartt's Secret History. As amazing as it is, that it is not. This is very much an (almost psychological) thriller, focussed on action. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fast-paced, action-based thrillers, and not so much to anyone looking for their next Dark Academia read!