Book 14/30.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
The Silent Patient was my second of six 5 star reads in 2021 and to this day I am still blown away by that incredible twist 🤯 I went into The Maidens wary that it might not be as good as the author’s debut novel judging by the rating and reviews on Goodreads, but hopeful it would still be worth my while given it was the first runner-up in the 2021 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Mystery & Thriller.
Dear reader, it was a severely underwhelming 2 star read that was NOT worth my while 🙄
The first couple of chapters did not immediately grasp my attention and that set the tone for the rest of my reading experience as there was zero thrill in this “thriller”.
The story is narrated by Mariana Andros, a brilliant but troubled group therapist who almost all the men in this story are into 😐 She becomes fixated on The Maidens, a secret society of female students when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge. Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, the handsome and charismatic Greek Tragedy professor Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder.
The premise of a secret society of Maidens was intriguing, as well as the intersection between psychology and Greek mythology, but the execution left a lot to be desired. This read like the early draft of a novel rather than a finished product as the plot never felt fully fleshed out, the characters felt contrived and stereotypical, the second half was a mess of obvious red herrings and the plot twist at the end was designed to shock.
Kare says The Fury is even worse than the author’s sophomore showing, so I definitely will not be reading it. In fact, I do not think I will read any more books by Alex Michaelides as it seems he has one good book in him and he published it in 2019 🥴
View all my reviews
** A guide to ratings **
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
Lwile the Leo 