The Maidens is the most recent release from author Alex Michaelides known for his popular novel, The Silent Patient. With The Maidens, Michaelides has created an intelligent work of psychological suspense that left me guessing. I enjoyed this one even more than The Silent Patient. The narration was expertly executed and suspenseful. Silent Patient die-hard fans beware, this book only vaguely resembles its predecessor.

Thank you to NetGalley, author, publisher, and narrator for the opportunity to listen to this advance audiobook. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

Like with his other book, Michaelides kept me on my toes with The Maidens. I knew that things would take a twist, but I wasn't sure how it was going to play out. Rich with history and lore, I realized that I was not only listening to a good book, but I was also getting a history lesson. I don't think fans of his will be disappointed.

I was provided an Audio ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This is my first book by the author, and when I discovered that this might have ties to to Greek mythology and it was a thriller it really peaked my interest. I love both Greek mythology and a good thriller. Let's just say that those two aspects are not as connected as I would have liked.

I really didn't enjoy this book. I found the characters unlikable and the plot to be kind of ridiculous. I didn't particularly enjoy the narrator's performance either. All of the female characters were poorly portrayed and all of the male characters suffered from the same troubled childhoods making them all suspects. For a thriller, I was never once thrilled or surprised. The reveal was a huge let down and completely underwhelming.

There were several plot lines meant to mislead the reader and make you think "maybe that person is the killer", when really those parts of the story could have been completely left out and you wouldn't have missed them. The aspect of Mariana inserting herself into a murder investigation was so unrealistic. I also did not like the use of mental health and the treatment of those struggling with mental health issues in this book. Much like our main character, I felt like it was unnecessarily crossing boundaries.

I think this is going to be a book you either really love or really don't like at all. While I didn't particularly enjoy this, I think there are going to be plenty of people who really do enjoy this. I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed this more had I read it on the page vs listening to the audio, but this didn't work for me.

I wish I had been more invested in this book as I was with Michaelides first novel, The Silent Patient. I so badly wanted to LOVE this story, but the main character really REALLY got on my nerves. She made me not want to read any more. I know....grief is HORRID and I expect no less when I lose a close loved one, but reading about her and her grief for more than half the book, just killed it for me.

THAT being said, it definitely plays a part and comes full circle as to why it is so important so I don't feel like it was a total waste of time. I found myself not really having to push to read this book but it wasn't calling for me. I never got to a point of the book calling for me to pick it up and read.

I never try to guess the killer in stories like this but you can't help thinking many times "Is that him/her? Or is THAT him/her?" and trying to connect some dots. I will say I suspected the real killer but I couldn't put together the pieces for it to work out. I was definitely surprised by the ending.

The audio was well done but not the best I've heard. I did enjoy having it to read when I couldn't sit down with the e-arc.

The Silent Patient was an amazing book so I wanted to read this book because of the author. While it’s not The Silent Patient good, it’s still a really good book. I listened to the audiobook version and was interested from the beginning to the end. I definitely recommend this one and look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to listen to this audiobook. Reading the description, I was so excited to dive into this novel, and it did not disappoint! The story centers around Mariana Andros, who is a grieving widow and group therapist. When a murder happens at Cambridge, her alma mater, she goes to soothe her niece, as the victim was her niece's close friend. Very quickly, Mariana gets the feeling that the girls' Greek tragedy professor, Edward Fosca, knows more about the murder than he is letting on. And of course, the murders keep happening, all Fosca's students and all with a macabre, mythological twist.
The story twists and turns from there, and I don't want to give too much away. Needless to say, there were abundant red herrings and the real story behind the murders was definitely not what I expected! It was a true jaw-dropping reveal!
The narrators were brilliant with smooth, melodic voices that really captured the tense, dark atmosphere.
I highly recommend this novel, and I kept thinking of how it would pair nicely with Donna Tartt's The Secret History.

First off, thank you to Netgalley for an advanced listening copy of this title. Like many readers that will be drawn to The Maidens, I also very much enjoyed this author's previous title The Silent Wife. While this book is quite different from The Silent Wife, once again the author measures up to what readers have come to expect from Michaelides. This title is considered a thriller, but I would say it is more of a literary thriller....and that is a good thing. There is a constant background of Greek History and the Greek Tragedies that we have all studied. They are almost a character unto themselves. While this title will deliver the twisty turns that readers expect from Michaelides, I think he has stepped up his game in this title. I listened to the audiobook version and was immediately captivated. I think this is one of those titles that plays better on audio than print. This will be a title that readers flock to.....and for good reason. (Look for the wink toward the end that ties this book to The SIlent Wife---very clever).

This book was a joy to listen to! It was narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Louise Brealey, both of whom are wonderful. The book is about widow Mariana, who lost her husband Sebastian a little over a year ago to an accident. She is deep in grief and quite lost without him. Her only family left is her college-aged niece, Zoe, whom she and Sebastian raised from childhood after Mariana's sister and her husband died. One day Zoe called Mariana from college at Cambridge to tell Mariana that the body of a young woman was found and Zoe is quite certain it is her friend who was also a member of the all woman secret society called the Maidens, founded by skeezy American professor Edward Foska. Mariana travels to Cambridge to comfort Zoe, and quickly decides that Foska is the murderer. When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility.
This book had me totally invested pretty quickly. Mariana is easy to empathize with and I was rooting for her from the beginning. There is a really good twist that took me by surprise, and a fun connection with The Silent Patient came up.

Thanks to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for an advanced copy of this book. It’s really good!
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The book is a thriller/mystery with a little visit from some Ancient Greek Gods. The principle character is Mariana. She lives in London and works as group therapist. She has been recently widowed and is stuck in her grief. Her niece, Zoe, is a college student and Zoe’s best friend is savagely murdered. Mariana races to her niece to lend moral support. As details emerge of the murder, Mariana finds Zoe and a few other young women oddly enmeshed in a group with a professor. The mystery deepens as more victims turn up. The ending was unexpected!
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The book is engaging and little creepy without actually being scary. Definitely would recommend for a poolside read!

I received a complimentary copy of THE MAIDENS by Alex Michaelides. Thank you to Celadon Books!

THE MAIDENS follows Mariana, a young woman who runs group therapy groups, but is herself struggling with depression and grief following the death of her husband. His niece Zoe is attending the university in Cambridge that Mariana once attended. As she is the only real family left for Zoe, she immediately responds to Zoe’s distressed call when a friend has been murdered.

Poking around a bit into the story behind this young woman’s death, Mariana discovers a lot of secrets wrapped up with the school’s traditions. Clues keep circling back to the story of Persephone in ancient Greek mythology and Mariana is determined to help unravel how this relates to the present day.

This book was such a highly anticipated read with an author I knew I liked, a dark academia setting, and issues of mental health and therapy. Thankfully I wound up really enjoying this one! This takes some pretty dark twists (the main trigger warning in this case would be a major spoiler, so feel free to message me privately if you want that). The book kept up a good dark atmosphere throughout!

I found the mystery to be engaging. Having seen the twist in THE SILENT PATIENT coming, I was pleasantly surprised that this book did manage to catch me unaware with some of the ending. There were a few things I expected, but I was never sure. Mariana was an interesting character to follow, wrapped up as she was in her grief with her husband and her intrigue with the murder.

I would recommend this one for the thriller fans! THE MAIDENS is out on June 15!

This book was entertaining. I won't say this is as good as The Silent Patient, but it is thoughtful and brings an ambiance like no other book I've read before. As a recipe for "who did it," the reader (or, in my case, listener), consistently was unsettled by how the events occurred and had difficulty in pointing the finger at the killer.

Going into this blind is what I think is best. No synopsis required. If you've read The Silent Patient, then you know Michaelides will have something intriguing for you. As a quick overview, however, Mariana returns to her alma matter where things go sideways.

I wholeheartedly anticipate this book be nabbed as one of the top 10 thrillers of 2021. Looking forward to Michaelides' next book!

Thanks to Netgalley for approving me to listen to this book.

It's hard not to hold books to higher expectations when you love an author's previous books and this was no different. I try to mindful, I really do but it still gets the best of me sometimes. I was really excited to get my hands on this one, my expectations were high but I only gave it 3 stars, which isn't a bad review, it means I liked it but it wasn't a 4 or 5 like I hoped it would be.

Mariana's niece, Zoe, goes to Cambridge University and when one of her friends is found murdered, Mariana rushes to be by her side. While she is there, Marian, also a group therapist, is made aware of a group of girls called, The Maidens, headed by Edward Fosca. The more she learns, the more she's convinced that he's guilty and she won't stop until she proves just that.

Amazing audio book, please Alex Michaelides keep your female narrator FOREVER. The emotion that was had was to die for. I felt everything they felt, I was excited and scared when they were it was just phenomenal. I also loved having the toggle between male and female narrators to break up those pieces of the book.

Mariana is a struggling widow that works as a group therapist in London. Navigating through her loss she is jolted into an episode of panic when her niece Zoe calls her to inform that a student in Cambridge (where Zoe attends) has been murdered. Mariana rushes to the university to be by Zoe's side and encounters a number of characters that raise suspicion. First is Fred, a clumsy man that takes an instant liking to her and then Professor Fosca who has an elite group of students called "The Maidens." Mariana takes on the role as amateur detective and tries to navigate who is murdering students while also supporting Zoe through the loss.

I read this book in less than a week and wanted to have more of it when it was finished. I cannot state how much I loved that there was a crossover of characters from "The Silent Patient" (what's up Theo?). It gave me a familiarity and excitement on seeing that character in a new light.

Thank you Alex Michaelides, MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Blog posting link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPlYWJsrHJu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

A gothic dark academia classics forward murdery mystery of a book? SIGN ME UP, I AM IN. I've been chasing the high of reading The Secret History for the first time my entire adult career, and this is the closest I've come. Michaelides weaves in mythology, keeps you guessing, and reels you right in. A delicious novel, and so, so well narrated by both Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Louise Brealey.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio & NetGalley for sending me a copy of The Maidens on audio in exchange for my honest review. To be honest, I was a little nervous about this one. It’s been all over Bookstagram and it has had mixed reviews. It’s hard to follow such a smash hit as The Silent Patient. I am here to tell you, it is phenomenal! It was very slow for the first 30-40% of the book. It was very… sleepy? However, once you get past the early background story and character development, it is a page turner! Alex Michaeledes writes so beautifully and I loved learning about Greek mythology in the process. There were so many twists and turns and I did not guess what happened in the end. There’s also a connection to The Silent Patient world at one point which I LOVED. Yes this book is worth the hype, and yes you should buy it. Thank you for listening to my TED Talk. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Rating: 4.5 stars

Having enjoyed The Silent Patient, I was eager to read this one -- and I enjoyed it even more! Mariana, a recent widow, gets a call from her niece, Zoe, who is a student at Cambridge. Zoe's best friend has been brutally murdered. Once Mariana goes to Cambridge to support and comfort Zoe, several more students are murdered, so she starts to investigate why these murders are happening and who could be culprit. All the twists and turns make this one hard to put down. At one point or another, I suspected almost every one of being involved. I did not seeing the ending coming, which is they best way to end a thriller. You will definitely want to add this to your must-read list!

A dark academia novel that kept me guessing. I stayed up way too late reading this then couldn't sleep because the plot was so chilling. Louise Brealey is excellent!

I loved The Silent Patient, so I obviously picked up The Maidens with a fervent hope that it would be just as twisty and fun. The Maidens delivers on the fun and provides a great deal of twists, but as with most sophomore novels by domestic thriller writers, it’s hard to overcome the hype of your first book. Things I liked: the narration of the audiobook was lovely, the book was fast-paced and didn’t idle. The touches of Greek lore was interesting. I liked the main character. Things I shrugged at: Though the final chapters will bug your eyes out, it left me lukewarm. Without giving too much away, I really wish we had time to develop the villain’s motivation a little bit more. The Maidens feels like Part 2 of a novel, and we’re missing all the craziest plot points off page. Still certain I’ll read anything Michaelides deigns for write from here on out.

This is a book about idiots. I was upset that Mariana was the main character, because it meant that her stupidity probably wouldn't kill her. I feel like she was so obtuse and narrowed in judgement, that she was missing stuff that was right in front of her face. This isn't to say that I knew exactly how the story was going to play out - while I did know who was involved, I don't think I could have ever guessed the why. Thought this entire story was a very, very slow build and the payoff never felt super satisfying to me. It's a story that meanders and takes it's time setting an atmosphere - and while I enjoyed that, it wasn't enough to boost the entire experience.

I also think this book isn't really what I expected it to be. I thought this would be much more focused on The Maidens and Fosca - the secret society, Fosca's (supposed) charisma but we really only see them through Mariana's eyes as a psychotherapist and her analysist of the group not really the members themselves. And while I always enjoy a callback to some classic Greek literature and mythology, and I know that grief can help you make really illogical things seem plausible, I thought that her feelings around her late husbands death were a choice.

So while this wasn't the standout dark academia vibes I was hoping for, it was a solid read, and I enjoyed the audiobook (besides the switching accents on the (very few) male POV chapters).

I received a copy of the audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Last week I listened to The Maidens by Alex Michaelides thanks to @netgalley ! I was really excited to read it after enjoyed The Silent Patient back in back in 2019.

The Maidens follows Mariana, a group therapist, as she tries to solve a murder at her niece’s university. All signs point to the Greek Tragedy professor. There’s also a group of girls called the Maidens that seem to be a part of a secret society.

❤️Review❤️

I loved that this was set in the same world as The Silent Patient and it was definitely had a poetic writing style. I wasn’t a huge fan of the narrators chosen to tell this story. With the chapters being as short as they were the story felt disjointed at times. I couldn’t understand Mariana’s investment into solving this murder. I understood she was coming from a fragile place after losing her husband and that she wanted to help her niece, but she went way far in my opinion. Most of the book was spent just talking to a variety of people with not a ton of events taking place. So when the twist ultimately came it was just unsatisfying and not what I wanted at all. Unfortunately I’m definitely the unpopular opinion with this one since most reviews I’ve seen love it. If it was something you were interested in, I still highly recommend you give it a go. I wonder if I would have thought differently if I physically read it, instead of listening to it on audio.

2 stars! ⭐️⭐️

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