This was such a quick read! I was hesitant to read this novel because the description didn’t appeal to me. I’m so happy that I didn’t listen to myself because this book was wonderful! This was written in a way that made me think multiple people could be to blame and I elated that the book ended that way! There were some unexpected twists (and that’s exactly what I’m looking for when reading mysteries). Alex Michaelides does a fantastic job of setting up the reveal.

The audiobook is also really well done. I especially enjoyed the male narrator for the few chapters that he appeared.

Possible Spoilers Below:
Those that read The Silent Patient will also be in for a surprise. One character from that novel makes an appearance in this book. It’s so great when authors put their books in the same universe as the rest. It makes me want to go back a read The Silent Patient again.

The Maidens is a murder mystery/psychological thriller set in Cambridge. The main character, Mariana, is grieving the loss of her husband while trying to maintain her group therapy practice when she gets a frantic call from her niece Zoe. A young woman has been gruesomely murdered and Zoe fears it is her friend Tara who said something frightening to Zoe shortly before her disappearance. Mariana drops everything and heads to Cambridge to comfort Zoe, who is like a surrogate daughter to her.

Mariana is sure that the killer is a charismatic professor named Edward Fosca and she becomes obsessed with proving that he is the killer. Of course, no one believes her and the surly police chief tells her on no uncertain terms to get lost. But she persists and spends the rest of the book collecting clues and investigating Fosca.

There are a lot of links to Greek mythology (Mariana herself is Greek) and the book deals with a lot of psychological concepts, including how we cope with trauma and grief.

Following up a book like The Silent Patient would be a challenge so I tried to put all expectations aside and enjoy this without comparison. There is also a nice link to the Silent Patient that readers will appreciate.

I think I enjoyed this on audio more than I would have in print because the narrator was very good and had a crisp British accent that fit the Cambridge setting of the book perfectly. However, despite my overall enjoyment, there were a few things that annoyed me. For example, Mariana deciding to play armchair detective went against everything we knew about her nature, and she took risks that seemed downright stupid in contrast to her cautious personality. My other peeve was the same one I have for most books of this genre: the ending and “showdown” tend to be so melodramatic, cliched, and over the top that I end up rolling my eyes a little. Having said that, this audiobook was a nice diversion to my day and I mostly enjoyed my time with it.

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan for an advance audiobook!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First, I have to write that I absolutely loved the casting of the narrators. They did a fantastic job embodying the characters. And, their voices drew me in from the very beginning and made the book “unputdownable.”

I love that this suspense novel was a blend of British dark academia and Ancient Greek mythology. A slow burn, it was a delicious mix. And, the ending brought a big twist!

Overall, a very enjoyable listening experience!

I would label The Maidens as a psychological murder mystery. Most of the book takes place at Cambridge University and I found it extremely atmospheric. I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll keep this short. I actually enjoyed The Maidens more than The Silent Patient; the chapters are short and the plot moves along at a nice pace. It was never a chore and I binged this in one day. I don’t know anything about Greek Mythology and this book is heavily influenced by the story Persephone but I didn’t have any trouble following along. My only real issue with this book is this: in order to keep the readers guessing, the author has created a lot of red herrings & misdirections with several subplots. Many of those just die off with no resolution or mention again. It ended up feeling a bit disjointed. Overall, I really enjoyed this and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from this author in the future. I think readers who don’t read a lot of psychological suspense will love this book. I’m extremely grateful to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to The Maidens in exchange for an honest review. Current publication date is 6/15/21!

I had very high hopes for this one, as I loved The Silent Patient. The Maidens is more of a dark academia (sort of) with elements of Greek Mythology so off the bat it reminded me of things I’ve read before. I wasn’t hooked and sometimes felt like I wanted to skim through it to get it over with. SO MANY RED HERRINGS, that it felt excessive and started to get difficult to keep track of all of them. The ending was just okay, not mind-blowing. Also, I would’ve preferred less of a supernatural element, but that’s just me. One thing I really loved though, is the little subtle nods to Silent Patient that the author worked in. That was pretty clever. I will still pick up more Michaelides in the future, and I’d probably still recommend this book to some people but it wasn’t for me.

Right from the opening chords of the audiobook, The Maidens is a fantastically haunting thriller. The story begins with Mariana, a group therapist with with a tragic history. Mariana begins investigating the killing of her niece's friend from an exclusive Cambridge study group called The Maidens, which is based on the rites of Persephone. She suspects the Greek tragedy professor who leads this group, but there are many other suspicious people lurking in the darkness as well.

Louise Brealey's cool, detached narration of the audiobook is interspersed with chilling fragments from the unknown killer narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, which makes the story feel almost like live theatre.

I have read The Silent Patient, so I knew that the author would write an ending I could never predict, but even so, I couldn't help trying to figure out what was really going on and who was the killer! I found The Maidens to be a compulsively readable, thoroughly entertaining story.

There’s a justifiable amount of buzz swirling around Alex Michaelides’s sophomore novel, The Maidens, given the success of his 2019 debut, The Silent Patient. Said buzz (and early reviews) made me wonder a few things before I even cracked it open, so as an act of public service I’m sharing my pre-read Q’s with my post-read A’s.

Q: Do you have to read The Silent Patient beforehand? Or in my case, if you have read it, do you need to remember anything about it?
A: Not really, though you’ll miss out on some things if you don’t. I'd suggest at least reviewing a plot summary of TSP to bring yourself up to speed.

Q: Do you need to be familiar with Greek mythology beforehand, since it plays a central role in the storyline?
A: Nope! Everything is explained (maybe even in a little too much detail for those who already know Persephone, “The Maiden,” is Queen of the Underworld).

Q: What’s this I hear about animals being harmed?
A: There are separate scenes of sheep and a family dog being slaughtered.

Q: Will I like it more than The Silent Patient?
A: Probably not. It stands pretty well on its own, but the odds of it exceeding high expectations aren’t great. As with any thriller, your overall enjoyment will come down to if you see the twists coming and find the ending satisfying. I personally was surprised by the big reveals and thus appreciated the novel’s conclusion. I’m looking forward to seeing what this author does next.

I received an advance copy of the audiobook courtesy of Macmillan Audio via NetGalley. The narration is well done, and this format is recommended. The Maidens is slated for US publication on June 15th.

A solid sophomore effort from Alex Michaelides. I really enjoyed The Silent Patient and I think I liked The Maidens even more! Things I loved: the gothic vibes, the Cambridge setting, the atmosphere, and the tiny nods to TSP throughout (I squealed when I first came across one). Things I did not love: the constant gaslight of our main character, Mariana, with regards to her mental health and trauma and in relation to her role as a therapist. I can't decide if this was used as a plot device or if the author was really reflecting on this character this way, as I think it could easily be classified as both. Avid thriller readers will likely guess the plot twists here, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the novel, which I read in one day. Definitely a great page turner for your summer!

Thank you to Celadon Books for the arc and MacMillan audio for the advanced audiobook of Alex Michaelides newest novel The Maidens. I really loved The Silent Patient so I was really anticipating this second novel. I loved the narrator of the audiobook - she had the perfect voice and accent for telling this story and I found her quite soothing to listen to. This was a fairly quick book to get through although sadly I didn't love this one as much as The Silent Patient. Personally for me I didn't enjoy the greek mythology woven into the story although it did add to the atmospheric writing. I did like the surprise ending - it kind of redeemed the book for me as I was just in a place of - didn't love it and didn't hate it. I know a lot of people will love this book - I quite possibly had set the bar a bit high going in to this one The chapters in The Maidens were short which I liked and I think that the cover fits the book perfectly.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this arc of Alex Michaelides’ second book.
I had to listen to this audiobook twice because it was confusing for me the first go around. Maybe if I had it in print, I would’ve been able to understand it better. Luckily, I liked it more the second time I listened to it. Though The Maidens isn’t as good as The Silent Patient (in my opinion), it can still hold its own.

I can see that this novel piggy backs on to The Silent Patient. I havent read the first title yet. So I think I will go back and give that one a go before I delve more so into this one.

So far though I enjoyed the tone and style of the narrator she was a good choice. I plan to come back to review this after I get caught up with The Silent Patient.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for this ALC in exchange fort honest review.

I loved Michaelide's first book. This book had all the goodies of that book. It had the feel of an Agatha Christy mystery but with a grittier spin. This book did not disappoint. I also am obsessed with the fact that this book spoofed The Silent Patient characters. Tying that in was a really good move.

Alex Michaelides has done it again!
Solid 4 stars, there are some things in this that I find a little questionable, such as some of the motivations, and some things that I wish we could have expanded on, but the entertainment value was A+.
It kept me guessing, going back and forth on who might be the culprit as the story unraveled. I also enjoyed how the Greek tragedies were woven into the narrative and the parallels that ran through them. I just read several stories surround some of the players in those tragedies so I think that enriched the story, but I think that even someone who wasn’t familiar with them would still be able to get what the author was going after easily.
As I said, I really liked this! And the reveal made me actually yell, so that’s always a plus. Oh, and the nod to The Silent Patient was also a great touch. Quickly becoming one of my favorite thriller authors, already looking forward to what he comes out with next!

Wonderfully narrated! I love to listen to the audiobook as I am reading. I was just finishing up reading the book when the audiobook became available, so I had to request it! I highly recommend listening and reading to this book!
Thank you to Netgalley for the audiobook!

This is a story about charismatic men & flawed certainties.

I’m torn on how to rate this. On the one hand, I loved the twists & didn’t predict the end. On the other hand, there was a fair amount of telling instead of showing, and as a therapist I didn’t love the exposition about this topic. I would absolutely love to see this filmed though- I think it would make for a really visual project.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. 💫 /5 rounded to 4.

I requested this one because it might be a 2021 title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book is not my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one rather than push myself to finish it only to give it a poor review.

First, I want to thank Alex Michaelides not only for the amazing ARC I received but for the exciting invitation to The Maidens Society! What an amazing way to showcase a new release. I was on the edge of my seat as I received the secret messages in the mail which brings me to this Awesome Book! This book definitely made it to my 2021 Favorites List! The story will keep you guessing from the beginning and the ending is an "OMG" moment! The book follows Mariana, a group therapist who is going through the loss of her husband. She is called to Cambridge after her niece, Zoe, finds out her friend has been murdered. It is in Cambridge where Mariana finds The Maidens. I am not going into the story more as to not spoil it but I can not recommend it enough for all mystery lovers like me! I also want to Thank #netgalley for auto approval for the audio book!

The Maidens, by Alex Michaelides, was an enjoyable novel that I had the opportunity to listen to an audiobook version of. The reader's voice and accent were a joy to listen to and the story moved at a fast pace. I hated to turn it off.
While I would rate the reading a 5, I am rating the book a solid 4 stars. While it was a good read, it didn't leave me wowed. If you liked his earlier book, The Silent Patient, you will enjoy this one!

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan for an advanced copy of the audiobook.

This book was just ok for me. I had figured out "who done it" pretty early on, just not why. It was a good read,I just wasn't blown away

This was so good! I loved the 2 different readers that brought this story to life. I was addicted to the story and had to know what was going on. Just like The Silent Patient the author has a talent of keeping you invested and guessing who is the bad person. Looking for a good thriller? Look no further. Check out this one.