I confess I was not previously familiar with this author, but was pulled in by the cover art and the general plot summary.
I am glad to say it ended up being a heck of a book - and in particular a heck of an audiobook, perfectly narrated by Louise Brealy and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. It manages to be both cerebral literature AND a cracking-good thriller - a feat almost unheard of, outside of Umberto Eco.
There is so much going on here - compelling characters and backstories, subplots, extensive references to characters and events from Greek mythology, a chilling counter-narrative from an unknown journal writer, a murder mystery, a probable but unprovable murder suspect, a mysterious cadre of unusual girls, trust issues, grief, obsession… And triumphantly it all eventually ties up neatly, in a well-crafted conclusion that will linger in your mind, well after it ends.
I received a free copy of the audiobook, in exchange for an honest review, and I’m so glad to have been given the opportunity.

I’ll be honest I was a bit underwhelmed & thought it was predictable but I also felt that way about TSP as well. I really wish we got more insight into the actual maidens & their secret society! The pacing was nice & it was a quick read but I just wish it was a bit harder to figure out the twists. If you liked The Silent Patient & that plot surprised you then you’d likely enjoy this one as well.

This book has definitely got me excited for more of Alex Michaelides' work because **WOW** that was a book.

Therapist Mariana Andros visits her niece Zoe in Cambridge when her friend is found murdered. Here she gets thrown into an investigation that includes suspecting Edward Fosca, American Greek Tragedy professor, as the main suspect. At least in her eyes. It's hard to convince other people of her theory as he is loved by all, especially his personally named Maidens, a group of girls that independently study with him. It's up to Mariana to solve the case so no one else, including herself and her family, gets hurt.

This book scratched my brain in all the best ways. I've been super into the dark academic atmospheres lately and this book gives me just that. On top of it all, it has really cool explorations of some Greek Tragedies, especially one that plays into the plot a lot. The interweaving of this tragedy with not only the investigation but also Mariana's own traumas brings a surreal feeling of damnation. Mariana's world is collapsing because she can no longer ignore what she for so long has tried to forget. The conclusion to her personal story had me SHOOK ! I didn't even know we were going in that direction.

As for the actual mystery, I was intrigued throughout and there was a point where I just had to keep listening because I was HOOKED. As a girl, most of the plot was obvious and I can confirm all my suspicions were true. But the delivery still took me and I was in shock at all the reveals in the end!

If you want to visit the campus of Cambridge and remember how icky some people can be, pick up *THE MAIDENS*.

As usual, this was absolutely brilliant. I don't usually listen to audiobooks but I wasn't approved for the ebook version. I devoured this! Pick it up when it comes out June 15th!

I loved Alex Michaelides debut novel The Silent Patient, this new novel is equally as fantastic. Mariana is a group therapist, trying to recover after losing her husband, Sebastian, in a tragic accident. One night she gets a call from her niece Zoe, whose friend has been found dead. Mariana cannot seem to let it go after discovering a secret society, The Maidens, and many Greek mythology ties to the apparent deaths. What happens next is a twisted, dark, enthralling unraveling of unbelievable tragedy and horror. Throughout this novel I repeatedly thought I knew who had killed the young members of The Maidens only to be proved wrong time and time again. Michaelides does an excellent job once again of keeping the reader engaged and on their toes.

A Greek tragedy turned psychological thriller for the modern age 🔎

I have ✨no words✨ I'm horrified and slightly miffed from that epilogue. But before we get into it let me give you a quick summary:

Grieving widow, a.k.a. Mariana Andros, is a group therapist. Mariana rushes to Cambridge to console her troubled niece after a grisly murder. She then teams up with said troubled niece to solve the murder(s). The pair begin to suspect one professor at Cambridge with a cult-like following of women called 'The Maidens' to be the prime suspect.

(I fan-casted him as Ben Barnes, not that any of you were remotely curious.)

And of course, madness, affairs, misdirections, and horrors ensue.

First of all, the narrator for this audiobook was brilliant. And the male narrator for the villain?? So thick and molasses-ey and creepy all at the same time! The story started off really strong, with a beautifully written, stream of consciousness prose showcasing the mechanics of Mariana's grief. I LOVED Fred and believe he should be protected at all costs. Mariana was so sad and so strong, and I honestly relished the inner workings of her mind, seeing the way she peeked back at the past with rose-tinted glasses.

Michaelides started to lose me around the halfway point, and had to drag me a bit the rest of the way, but that ending had my ears perked. And then I was promptly outraged, disgusted, and horrified. This was my first thriller/mystery, and it was a nice introduction. I'll be sleeping with my bedroom light on tonight!

#guppy

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for sending me an ARC of this audiobook!

Writing Quality: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
World-Building: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Characterization: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Dialogue: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Plot: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Pacing: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Enjoyment Level: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

「 Overall: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 」

THE MAIDENS by Alex Michaelides

"She was in love even though he was gone forever, gone behind the veil. Behind the veil, behind the veil. Where was that from? Tennyson probably. Behind the veil, that's how it felt. Since Sebastian died Mariana no longer saw the world in color. Life was muted and grey and faraway, behind a veil, behind a mist of sadness."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

THE MAIDENS feels like getting lost in an ancient forest. The slow, musing narrative wraps around you, abandoning you in a haze.

It's modern day, Cambridge, England, but the world and voice feels historical, perhaps Edwardian. The voice was one of my favorites in awhile: thoughtful and introspective, cultured and unhurried.

I was completely wrapped up in the story and absolutely did not see the ending coming. It's one of those where you have to sit and stare at the wall awhile, thinking, before you return to the tangible world.

Highly recommended.

Swipe for Goodreads summary.

•

NARRATOR

The narration is ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, probably aiding the ruminative voice of the text. The male narrator has a deep, hypnotic, sexy voice--not what I would have imagined for the villian. It adds a dimension to the text I probably wouldn't have gleaned.

•

WRITING CRAFT NOTES

Let 👏 your 👏 prose 👏 breathe 👏.

•

RELEASE
Pre-orders now. Pub-day is June 15.

I received the audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A big thanks to NetGally and Macmillan audio for this lovely Audiobook!!
Okay this book was so thrilling and amazing!! I love a good thriller/mystery novel. The beginning of this book was a little confusing at first and one Mariana got to Zoe’s University it’s started to get really good and clear! The book kept me guessing the whole audiobook! Marianas character really blossomed, how she used her knowledge to find out information and stay cool and collected with Edward Foscer, and the Maidens !

The ending was completely surprising but right before Zoe showed her true colors I kind of felt that she might do something to Mariana because of the sketchiness of getting on that boat alone and The urgency Zoe put on getting the knife. Because I was thinking if I was her I would wanna get the hell out of that college! But Zoe‘s reason behind my suspicion of her was not what I was expecting! Truly the ending was like the Greek tragedies mentioned throughout the book . But I thought in the epilogue it could’ve also included Mariana Saying yes to Henry’s marriage proposal. It would have put the last puzzle piece into this Beautiful story!

🎧Audio review: I thought the narrator did a great job on having different voices for each character and fit the theme of the book ! I also loved the classical music at the end of the audiobook!

Cover review: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Severed head of the Greek statue with blood dripping off of it, was brilliant! Very much fits The story of the book!

Can this new release from Alex Michaelides possibly be as good as The Silent Patient? For me, the answer was an emphatic "You betcha!" I decided to listen to the audio version (kudos to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for having the narrated version available). The narrators were fantastic. Louise Brealy is a spot on Mariana. And Kobna Holdbrook-Smith will give you goosebumps as the unknown man with the sinister diary. Michaelides combines Greek mythology with Shakespeare and 'The Duchess of Malfi' to give us a simmering stew of suspense, revenge, and regret. There is crossover action with characters from The Silent Patient cranking up the creep factor for fans of that book without excluding those who have not read it. The beauty of it is that you can read the two in any order and still love the connection. I hope the next title gives us more connections! Both are highly recommended.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

🔪The Maidens🏛️
Author: Alex Michaelides
To be published: June 14, 2021
Published by: MacMillan Audio
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was gifted this copy from @macmillan.audio and @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Alwere you ever convinced you knew something to be true, but couldn't prove it? Group therapist Marina Andros is convinced that the professor of Greek tragedy at her Alma mater, where her niece Zoe now goes to school, is a murderer. And she can't quite pin it on him in a way the convinces anyone else. One of her niece's friends ends up dead and the body count doesn't stop there. Mariana has to prove his guilt even if she must risk it all. No more girls can die.
Just like The Silent Patient, I was totally sucked in. I couldn't stop listening. Michaelides weaves such a tale that your idea of who the murderer is constantly changes. As soon as you've worked out the details, another twist throws it off. The characters were great and I loved the Greek mythology and weaving of the story of Persephone. And the narrator was PHENOMENAL! I cannot give her enough kudos.
It releases next month, so keep it on your radar. You're going to want to snag this and I cannot recommend the audiobook enough!

Audiobook Review 🎧 The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Rating: 5/10
Narrator: 🎧🎧🎧🎧/5
Publisher: Macmillan Audio / Celadon Books

This is not The Silent Patient. Perhaps this was my mistake when I approached The Maidens. The Silent Patient was one of my favorite psychological thrillers I read last year, so I had high hopes for The Maidens.

I did appreciate the references to some of the characters and locations from The Silent Patient mentioned in The Maidens. It made these two been feel connected or a side continuation. The Maidens also had a fun reference to Greek mythology with this thriller set at Cambridge University.

I encourage you to give it a read and form your own opinions. This is a f thriller, and that many may enjoy.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

After highly enjoying "The Silent Patient" I was excited to read this author's next thriller. As well as the Greek mythology aspect heighten my interest. But unfortunately this story did not work for me. I felt like it had great potential but I did not enjoy the execution or direction of the story.

I think my biggest challenge was having to believe that a psychotherapist decides to play detective and drop all her work / patients for the murder of her niece's college friend. And that she divulges all her findings to a man she literally just met.

I wish there had more interaction with the "Maidans" throughout the story as I felt they were only on the sidelines and barely the focus. The secret group seemed to be much more interesting story to explore.

I do also have a minor pet peeve I want to mention. More than once they referred to Persephone as the Goddess of death. To my knowledge this is not accurate, she is the Goddess of spring. Being wife of Hades she is Queen of the underworld. But even he was not the God of death (that would be Thanatos). I even looked it up while reading to clarify and could find no reference to Persephone being called the goddess of death. It is a small thing but as this a story that was suppose to have heavy greek mythology influence I was disappointed in the inaccuracies.

Wow!!! Alex Michaelides has another winner! Marianna is a widowed psychotherapist that receives a call from her niece, Zoey, that her friend Tara was found murdered at their school. Marianna goes to Zoey and is convinced their professor Edward Fousca is guilty. OR is he?

Marianna meets a group of young women associated with the Professor that is link to a second murder at the University.

Really enjoyed this. I could have done without all the Greek history which lost me a bit, but BOY what a twist at the end I did not expect.

From the author of the silent patient comes another edge of your seat thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end.

This is not my normal genre of book but I was hooked from the beginning and did not figure out who did it until it was revealed. I recommend this book for any fans of psychological thrillers looking for a great read.

This was not quite as good as the silent patient, but it was still a decent story line. I disliked the main character and how obsessive she was. I also found the twist a little unbelievable. While I suspected the person who was behind the murders, the reasoning for it was not really plausible to me. I think the author set the bar too high with The Silent Patient, it will be hard to live up to that book.

Well I didn’t see THAT coming. I liked this book even better than the Silent Patient. This author is really really good and keeping you guessing until the end. I listened to the audiobook version and there were two narrators and I finished this yesterday and JUST NOW realized who one of the narrators character is! Mind blown!

I really did not enjoy this title. However, that's not to say that it's not a good book. I think that Alex Michaelides is a great author, and he has garnered many fans since published "The Silent Patient." I just don't think plot-driver thrillers are for me. For this reason, I will give it four stars, and of course recommend it to patrons looking for a superb thriller.

I really enjoyed the audio performance of this story but the storyline was just okay for me. After reading The Silent Patient and loving it, I was expecting more and this one just didn't compare.

Mariana is trying to work through her grief after losing her husband, Sebastian. When her niece calls from University to say her friend has disappeared and fearing she may be dead, Mariana immediately goes to her. She is quickly engulfed in the investigation and decides Professor Fosca, surrounded by his female groupies known as The Maidens, is the murderer.

I did really enjoy the twist at the end and how it all came together but found there were too many unrelated details and stories going on as well. I look forward to whatever comes next from Alex Michaelides.

I was very happy and excited to get a chance to listen to this audio. I think having high hopes made this a big disappointment. The twist wasn't worth the deception of the title and the extra "plot lines" that had no relevance to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley for an audio-ARC of The Maidens by Alex Michaelides.
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides is a suspenseful mystery filled with links to Greek mythology that frames a serial killer in a world of tragedy. As Mariana tries to prove and convict the man she knows to be the murderer, she becomes the next target. The plot twist and red herrings add to the intrigue of the book. I enjoyed listening to the audio version of this novel. The narrator's voice added to the mystery and tone of the story. The Maidens is the first novel by Alex Michaelides I've read and have since added The Silent Patient to my list of books to read.