I received the audio book of The Maidens free via NetGalley. The Maidens was a highly anticipated read after the roller coaster that was the Silent Patient, so admittedly, I went in with higher expectations and was disappointed at the end. I thought the narration was done very well, but the content of this book, with all the Greek and the mythology did make this one a bit harder for me to follow along with. There were times I struggled to keep track of some of the characters, but I don't fault the narrator of the audio for this. Most of the book left me feeling underwhelmed, though I did not see the twist coming AT ALL. I can see this being a hit with lovers of mythology that would have a better background context and understanding. Overall, entertaining, but not as memorable as The Silent Patient!

This book kept me wondering who the killer is. Once I figure out the killer in a murder mystery the book starts to become dull and predictable to me. This book, on the other hand, had me keep guessing. I thought I had it figured out and then I started wondering about a different person. I never did guess the killer and was very impressed with this book and the authors writing. I am looking forward to reading more of Alex's books.

This was all the way unexpected. I had at least 7 different theories when reading and they were all wrong. With so many characters and all the red herrings, I had a bit of trouble remembering who was who at first mention throughout the book. I found the storyline pretty fascinating and though I’m not particularly interested in Greek tragedy and other classic literature, I did feel like I gained some perspective on the stories mentioned in the book.

I enjoyed Mariana’s character development in particular. While the therapy speak may be off-putting for some, I found it fascinating. She was portrayed in a positive light as a group therapist who sought out supervision when needed and maintained proper boundaries. In the end, she didn’t sacrifice her own healing for others. She only took steps towards forgiveness and the healing of others involved when she was ready.

The Maidens was another good, interesting read from Alex Michaelides. Maintaining the level of praise from The Silent Patient will be a challenge but I still felt this book had some good aspects of mystery, suspense, and twists. I enjoyed the subtle connection to The Silent Patient and I hope his next book does the same with The Maidens. This author’s characters really tell the story of his books and I look forward to his next one.

The narrator of the audiobook was ok but I preferred to read the ebook more.

I completely enjoyed this audiobook. Well narrated and fast paced twisty plot. Perfect for commuter listening.

There must be so much pressure for your second book, when your debut was as huge as The Silent Patient. I know as a reader I have desperately been waiting for the author’s next book....it’s impossible to not compare it to the first and I have tried to separate them for this review.

Unfortunately, this book was a huge letdown for me. The premise sounded intriguing, the author’s previous blow my mind writing had me all sorts of excited for this one. The plot had so many loopholes and was just not realistic. I’m saddened that the writing was sloppy.

I did have one jaw dropping moment with this book, but after a couple minutes the shock wore off and even the big twist didn’t work for me.

The cameo from The Silent Patient was neat, but I will admit I missed it - until I heard about it from someone else. Whether I just didn’t clue in, or I was just too checked out to care, I’m not sure.

What makes a thriller so enjoyable is the little sprinkling of clues - some may be red herrings but others are small slivers of truth. If you are astute enough, you can weed out the real clues and figure everything out before the end (or things may become obvious in hindsight after a big reveal, which in many ways is just as fun). The Maidens doesn’t give you that chance. There are “clues” galore, but when the story reaches its conclusion, the resolution is completely out of left field. It’s a clever enough twist, but a lazy one since it’s easy to create a “wait what?!” moment when you never even hinted at a suspect. The story had a chance to be great, I love the concept of a mystery steeped in ancient history and mythology, but it fell flat.

Plus, I knocked an entire star off for the heavy handed references to The Silent Patient. One allusion/parallel with a similar creepy stalking scene was great. But when you bring in actual characters from your unrelated novel not once but TWICE in scenes that added exactly zero to the story, it felt desperate. “Hey remember me, I wrote a great book! Please like this one too.” Ick.

Thank you NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

After the infamous “ The Silent Patient”, Alex Michaelides comes up with a brand new novel this year.

The Maidens has a lot of parallels with the silent patient. A psychotherapist as a protagonist , the Greek mythology references, the emphasis on childhood. It feels like Alex was very hesitant to deviate farther away from his debut. Still , The Maidens felt different.

Mariana, a psychotherapist rushes to Cambridge to support her niece Zoey, whose friend Tara is brutally murdered on the campus. On arriving there , she suspects the American professor Edward Fosca is the murderer. Edward Fosca is always surrounded by his secret society female students, called the Maidens and Tara is one of them. What starts as a suspicion, becomes a bit of an obsession for Mariana as the other members of the maidens get murdered as well. Was Mariana able to prove that he was the killer ?

This book is definitely a slow burn , it takes its time establishing the characters and moves rather slowly on the first half. Once it picks up , the story keeps you intrigued.Mariana is an interesting character who is struggling to be there for her niece while dealing with her own grief. What i liked about the maidens is it’s Greek tragedy references and how it plays into the whole story. This was the case with the silent patient as well.

However, I felt there were lots of things just written as a deviation and they weren’t completely tied up at the end. In a whodunnit, it feels like a bit of cheating. And I did not guess the ending at all, which was good .

Though it’s not as good as it’s predecessor, The Maidens is definitely a solid thriller.

Thanks to McMillan Audio for the ARC of the audiobook. I think it was brilliantly produced and the narrator was great .

"The Maidens" by Alex Michaelides is a psychological thriller with dark-academia vibes that follows Mariana Andros, a psychotherapist who specializes in group therapy, as she investigates a string of related murders in Cambridge. Drawn to the murders by the relationship of her niece Zoe to one of the victims, Mariana begins to suspect Edward Fosca, a charismatic professor of Greek Tragedy who has a loyal following of female students he calls "The Maidens."

While I read Alex Michaelides's debut novel "The Silent Patient" last year, I wasn't much impressed. I thought the book was very readable but overall bland and predictable. Therefore, I wasn't expecting to pick up this one. That was before I saw the gorgeous cover and read the synopsis, which both got me hooked. Since I was auto-approved on NetGalley for the ALC, I decided to give it a shot.

What Michaelides does very well is writing short chapters that are very readable, making his books very quick reads. This was also true of my experience reading "The Silent Patient." I think this a quality of his writing since I read "The Silent Patient" in print and "The Maidens" on audio and finish them both in about a day of reading. I liked the incorporation of Greek mythology elements, particularly since I've been binging Greek mythology retellings this year.

I also quite enjoyed the narrator, particularly the female voice. I thought her voice was pleasant and contributed to the development of the story, and she was very easy to listen to.

However, while it had an interesting premise and was a fast read, this book was a bit bland and, at times, underdeveloped. I also didn't quite care for any of the characters, and their motivations were either too superficial or too contrived. Many of the male characters seemed very cartoony, and the instances of actual predator and stalker behavior were never fully discussed as they were just glossed over by the main character. Many side characters were also introduced as red herrings, and I thought there were too many red herrings in this book that didn't really serve their intended purpose as my initial inkling proved to be correct.

Nevertheless, while I don't think this book was for me, I'm sure I will be in the minority. I would also probably recommend this book for fans of Greek mythology retellings who want to start getting into the thriller genre.

"Childhood is a reactive experience. Meaning that in order to experience empathy for another human being, we must first be shown empathy by our parents and caregivers."
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An invincible Greek Tragedy professor, mysterious ritualistic murders, and an obsessed therapist with a troubling past of her own? Count me in!

This was my first novel by Alex Michaelides and certainly will not be my last. I thought I knew who the murderer was, but Alex Michaelides included so many twists and turns that I never truly saw it coming when the true murderer was revealed. The chapters were short and switched between various POVs adding another aspect that kept me engaged and wanting to read on. I don't typically read thrillers, but I truly enjoyed the suspense and the mystery that this one brought and look forward to reading more from him!

The female narrator, Louise Brealey, was really engaging and did a great job. The male narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, was truly phenomenal. Kobna's narration was so powerful and eerie it really added to the layers of suspense that were building. Throughout the entire novel I was easily able to transition from advanced listening copy to the physical review copy I had received which was a huge plus. Together the two narrators truly brought the story to life sweeping me away to Cambridge making this such an enjoyable listening experience.

Thank you Macmillan Audio, Celadon Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review this book in return for an honest review!
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Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(4)/5

Intriguing tale, with excellent pacing and good mystery vibes. Twists were unexpected which I love. Found it hard sometimes to sympathise with main character which made it a four star read for me. Loved the connections to the previous story, very well done. Audio narration was excellent.

Alex Michaelides has done it again with "The Maidens." The story follows Mariana, a group therapist who travels to Cambridge where her niece Zoe is attending school. There have been a series of murders and Mariana uses her skills to help assist in solving them.

I won't give anything away aside from saying I couldn't have guessed the ending in a million years. Some truly brilliant, twisted turns in the story.

The first section drags a bit but I still couldn't put it down.

Remember how we all absolutely lost our minds when we read “The Silent Patient?” It was pretty much the best thing, reading-wise, that happened to us during the pandemic.

So earlier this year, I was thrilled to find out that Alex Michaelides’s next psychological thriller comes out on my birthday, June 1. As soon as the advanced reader copy of “The Maidens” was available, I put in my request to the publisher. And lo and behold, the audiobook became available, too. I was a double-download winner!

But, alas, my hopes were dashed. This is a Greek tragedy that I just couldn’t get behind. This murder mystery started off really slow and finally picked up until about two-thirds in. For me, there were way too many references to the underworld, the rites of Persephone, and yes, the maidens. It just wasn’t my thing. And, while the ending left me surprised, I felt let down instead of shocked (as I had last year).

As for the audiobook production, Louise Brealey did a fine job narrating the majority of the book. Then Kobna Holdbrook-Smith read the super-creepy chapters from the pages of the killer’s journal. It was ok. Not great. I did enjoy the short chapters so it was easy to get through fairly quickly.

Special thanks to Celadon and Macmillan Audio for advanced copies. This is my honest review.

I believe I have over hyped this one to myself. I was more a fan of The Silent Patient but this was not terrible, for me it just didn't feel as good.

✨Book Review✨
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
3.5
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This book follows Mariana Andros as she gets a call that her niece Zoe's best friend has been murdered. As Mariana goes to help investigate, she becomes quickly convinced that Edward Fosca, the university's Greek tragedy professor, is the man responsible. As more and more bodies keep turning up, Mariana is more and more sure about who has killed them. She just needs to convince everyone of what she so clearly sees.
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It took me a while to figure out how I felt about this book. While reading the first half of the book, I didn't find myself wanting to keep picking it up. I didn't NOT like it, but I wasn't fully invested. At about the halfway point, things started to pick up for me. I definitely became more invested at that point and didn't want to stop reading. In fact, I read the second half of this book extremely quickly. But alas, the ending just didn't do it for me.
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I will say, I was NOT a big fan of The Silent Patient. Everyone was obsessed, and I just didn't get it. I was definitely less lost during the ending of this book, but it wasn't what I expected, and not in a good way. I will leave it at that and let you decide for yourselves.
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If you were a fan of The Silent Patient and/or are fascinated by Greek Mythology, I think you will really love, and should read, this book.
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I both read the hard copy and listened to the audiobook. The main narrator was difficult for me to listen to at first, but about halfway through she grew on me. :p

** Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion. **

I think this book was written really well however it did not keep my interest throughout the book. I thought the storyline was okay but I was also bored at times. I’m still giving it three stars based on the fact that I was shocked at the outcome.

Alex Michaelides delivers another amazing read with the Maidens. A slow burn but intriguing mystery that had me genuinely guessing until the end, I thoroughly enjoyed this read. The audio narration was excellent as well. Highly recommend.

When I saw Alex Michaelides had another book coming out I knew I had to read it. The Silent Patient was of my favorite reads of 2019. This book definitely didn’t disappoint.

I thought I had the twist figured out about halfway through but I was very, very wrong.

I received an advanced audiobook copy and really enjoyed the narrator. I also liked how there was a second voice that narrated parts of a letter that we don’t know who wrote until the end. Definitely upped the creep factor.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the advanced copy for my honest review.

Pros: I really wanted to like this book because it contains some of my favorite literary tropes--a campus setting and a secret society. Also, I didn't guess the twist, which I always appreciate.

Cons: This book was not for me. Some parts of the book felt forced and heavy handed (e.g., the connections to the author's other book, The Silent Patient), and others felt underdeveloped (e.g., the main character's motivations and her suspicion of the professor). An unreliable main character as a trope feels very overdone in this genre. Also, I do not know anything about the ethics of being a therapist, but I think the main character broke all ethical guidelines in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read this book!

Well, this one kept me entertained the whole way through. I loved the easter eggs I caught from The Silent Patient and the tie in as well.
Mariana is a group therapist who lost her husband the year before and is unable to get over his death. She floats through her days in sadness and grief, holding onto the love she had. Her "niece" Zoe calls her one night because her best friend has gone missing and she fears that the body they just found could be her. The next morning, Mariana sets off to be with Zoe and try to find out the truth of what is happening there. As soon as she arrives, Zoe tells her about a professor that teaches Greek Philosophy that everyone loves, but she suspects there is more to him than meets the eye. She said her friend was scared of him before her death and suspects he has something to do with it. As Mariana learns more about Edward Fosca and the secret group of girls he tutored, the more she is convinced he is the murderer, but can she prove it?
As more and more bodies pile up and he continues to evade blame and is smug about it, Mariana becomes increasingly frustrated and no one believes her.
You can tell something is off with pretty much everyone in this book from the beginning, but it also kept me guessing because literally everyone was a suspect in my mind. There was a huge twist I wasn't aware of, but I should have caught on honestly and I am upset with myself for not. Other small twists I did see coming, but I did enjoy this book. The narrators did a fantastic job and I have listened to them before. They kept me fully engaged in the story the whole time. Thank you to Macmillian audio, Netgalley and the author for an early audio copy.