2.75/5 stars

that was both entertaining and frustrating...

similar to the silent patient, this was a fast read and had a twist that took me by surprise (i think i’m just slow by nature). but while the silent patient also had tons of loopholes, i brushed those off cause of how entertaining the overall story was, this one just had so much... stuff that was added that made no sense or added little to the story... some of them weren’t even red herrings, cause they didn’t feel like threats or potential suspects, they were just There.

the main character was fine, the side characters were so forgettable and one dimensional, i couldn’t remember half of them. what was the reason for introducing and going That in depth with Henry’s story? to show how the main character’s empathy is her strength and also borderline damaging to her life? it felt like such a shallow take away/reason for it, the suspense was there but it felt like the main character just forgets about it when convenient and so does the reader. (also kinda unbelievable as a single woman living by herself + away from home, come on now)

the maidens are in the title, can’t remember a single name besides tara. not single sane young woman in this book, they’re all obsessed with a man, sigh. fred is an asshole and that ending didn’t make me feel a single thing, fuck no. dude doesn’t understand basic consent, is a aggravating everytime he shows up, he’s That ‘nice guy’, but then again his only purpose in the book was to receive that stab so... like i said, one dimensional characters written for one purpose.

entertaining, fast paced story, definitely step down from the silent patient (idk why i just rmb having such a fun time w that one despite the plot holes)... also it felt like the greek references were just there to add some kind of pretend substance, the author kept teasing that there was some big reason why the main character feels so strongly about it but at the end the reveal was so underwhelming and vague...

i’ll admit it’s kinda cool how they referenced characters from the silent patient

tw: animal abuse/death, child abuse, domestic abuse, grooming, sexual assault, graphic death, self harm, gaslighting, manic episode, suicide attempt, stalking

After Mariana, a group therapist, finds out her niece’s friend Tara is murdered, we are transported onto the campus of Cambridge University. The events quickly take a turn when we are introduced to Greek Mythology professor, who seems to be our main suspect. .
The Maidens is dark, clever and tense. The events unravel slowly, but I was kept guessing all the way through. I absolutely adored being submerged onto the university campus setting, with its quirks, societies, secret passages and deepest secrets. Having read and loved The Silent Patient, I was expecting to be blindsided by the twists and turns of the story, but I certainly haven’t seen the ending coming - a measure of a great thriller in my eyes!

Read silent patient and absolutely loved it
So could not wait to get stuck into the maidens
From picking up the book you are drawn into the characters
There is so much going on, your constantly trying to piece it altogether
Knew there would be a twist at the end, but would never have guessed it

Once again brilliant writing from Alex Michaelides

Thank you netgalley, Alex Michaelides and Orion Publishing

The Maidens is Alex Michaelides highly anticipated second novel following the international success of The Silent Patient. When Mariana’s niece calls her from Cambridge university to say that she thinks her friend has been murdered, she returns to the cloisters of her old college, navigating her own ghosts while comforting her niece. When it is discovered that the murders are ritualistic in nature, Mariana’s suspicion falls upon Edward Fosca, a charming and charismatic lecturer of Greek Tragedies, with his own society of Maidens who follow him around and worship him. And, even if no one believes her, Mariana won’t stop until she finds out the truth…

With interesting literary references scattered throughout, this truly is a incredible piece of writing touching upon so many themes from grief, family, life and death. The book heaves with atmosphere and vivid, insightful descriptions of Cambridge and its university - as much a character in the book as the characters themselves. The twists are numerous, and the plot littered with red herrings that will keep you guessing and then guessing again.

The Maidens was as compulsive a page-turner for me as the author's previous novel, and just as accomplished and involving.

I was kindly sent an E-book copy from W&N to review (but I had to go and get myself a gorgeous signed hardback edition with black sprayed edges! To die for!)

Having read and enjoyed The Silent Patient, I have been really looking forward to reading The Maidens. Expectations were high which is always dangerous but I flew through and I was hooked throughout.

Mariana is a group therapist who lost her husband Sebastian in a tragic accident. When a friend of her niece Zoe, a student at Cambridge University, Mariana’s alma mater, is found dead, Mariana rushes to her side, Initially there for support, Mariana finds herself drawn in and begins conducting an investigation of her own - and very quickly her suspicions alight upon Edward Fosca, a charismatic, popular Professor who even appears to have his own cult following, a group of female students known as The Maidens.

There was much about this book that I absolutely loved . I enjoyed the way Michaelides weaved Greek mythology and literature through the story, the setting was atmospheric and he cleverly built the dark and slightly gothic tone to create a feeling of foreboding throughout. As the story progresses, it is clear that there are plenty of people with secrets, and the reader is certainly kept guessing as other potential suspects emerge.The short chapters kept me turning the pages to read “just a bit more” and the author creates a clever link to The Silent Patient. There were a couple of downsides for me - I think some of the supporting characters fell a little flat for and not all of them added much to the story, and the ending, whilst thrillingly unexpected, was such a surprise that I found it somewhat rushed with a few too many loose ends. But overall this did not detract from the fact that this is a well-written, captivating thriller and and I applaud Michaelides for both his originality and his skill - he has certainly become a must read author for me.

I had high expectations of this long awaited book and it did not disappoint. Creepy, sinister and clever. Had me guessing from the get go. Fast paced and even a history lesson throughout. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thank you Netgalley for my ARC in turn for my honest review.

Apologises but I was unable to get to this book prior to publication date, life got in the way. I will read at a later date and leave reviews accordingly.

This was a great beach reach. Full of intrigue and vivid characters. I imagine it will sell well, even if it is slightly more complex than his first novel.

After receiving a frantic phone call from her niece Zoe, Mariana becomes embroiled in murder and myths at her old stomping ground of Cambridge University. When she becomes fixated on the Ancient Greek professor, Edward Fosca, and his band of Maidens, she is convinced he is the mastermind behind a series of brutal killings. But truth may be stranger than fiction, and Persephone can be a vengeful Goddess.

Mariana is a difficult character to describe. She's mourning the recent loss of her husband, and is extremely melancholic and thoughtful throughout the start of the book, which leads her to be very guarded in her emotions. Her line of work as a group therapist also adds to this, as her private thoughts often counterbalance her actions. However, she's also quite rash at times and her assessment of Fosca is immediately cool, with no rational thought process behind it - which contradicts her training and personality. It leads to the question of why does she feel such a sudden, festering hatred for a man she doesn't know? I did struggle at times to really understand Mariana as a character because of this guardedness, and I couldn't really connect with her at all. You can also painfully tell that Mariana is written through a male gaze. All the male characters seem to adore her, call her beautiful and go in for a bit of casual sexual assault (the woman is kissed against her will at least twice). The whole time, Mariana runs the whole stereotypical 'I'm not like other women, I don't see myself as attractive etc.' spiel that I just can't get behind.

I found a lot of the other characters to be quite stereotypical of the dark academia/thriller genre. Professor Fosca is enigmatic, intelligent and charismatic. The control he exerts over his group of Maidens is menacing and perfectly sets the tone of a man who knows he's dominant and has these women in the palm of his hands. Unfortunately a lot of the others were not as well developed - especially the simpering and annoying Fred.

I found the writing, just like in The Silent Patient, to be hugely entertaining, captivating and fast paced. Michaelides manages to weave Greek mythology and mystery into a modern setting that still feels steeped in history. It helps that the setting is atmospheric Cambridge, where scholarly persuits sit alongside ancient traditions, but I think the inclusion of Greek mythology really helped build up the lore in the plot. As with most thrillers, I didn't see the plot twist coming - although this time I was rather let down by it. No spoilers, but I didn't enjoy the direction this took towards the end of the story and to some extent I feel the author went down this route just for shock value as opposed to crafting a conclusion that felt organic yet still thrilling. It fell a bit flat.

I enjoy Alex Michaelides writing a lot, and I really like that he takes inspiration from the Greek mythology he's learnt growing up in Cyprus and put it into his stories. However, I was expecting something more from this.

Excellent book, quite an intense read. I loved the storyline and you can tell so much research went into the writing of this story.
Great characters too.
I haven't read The Silent Patient yet but I do love this authors style of writing..

(I am on the blog tour for this one so I will post up my review and link to it shortly)

There’s probably a word for the weird combination of trepidation and excitement a bookworm feels when they see a second book coming. You see they loved the first one. It was different. With an incredible twist that no one saw coming! It was like seeing The Sixth Sense for the first time, being blown away, then wondering what M. Night Shymalan could possibly do to follow it? The writer’s fear in following such a smash hit as Alex Michaelides’s The Silent Patient, must have been incredible. So I approached The Maidens as if it was a piñata filled with bees!

The premise sounded interesting. Psychologist Mariana Andros is summoned to Cambridge University by her niece Zoe. It’s a place filled with memories for Mariana, because it’s where she met her late husband Sebastian. For Zoe it is now the place where her best friend Tara has been murdered. Zoe is very special to her aunt, because they are each other’s only family. They have been closer since the death of Sebastian, who drowned on a romantic holiday in the Greek Islands only a year ago. Mariana knows how desperate Zoe must feel, so cancels her group therapy clients , in order to meet her in Cambridge, where she stays in university lodgings. Here she meets the charismatic and Byronic Professor Fosca who teaches Classical Philology. Mariana is disturbed by him and his habit of gathering around special scholars who receive group tuition from him. They are called The Maidens - although whether this is Fosca’s invention or the girls we are never sure. Of course each one of them is incredibly beautiful, including their missing member, Tara.

Zoe is convinced Fosca is behind the murder, but with no evidence except a strange feeling and dislike of his odd circle of academic groupies, nothing can be done. I had the feeling that this tutor was perhaps a genius in his field, but was socially awkward and unaware of societal norms. Did he think his maidens gave him an air of eccentricity perhaps? However, he was too obvious to be the real villain of the piece. Yet, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t guess the answer. Thankfully the book had a great pace and once it had it me hooked, I just couldn’t leave it alone. I read it in my car on the way to out holiday cottage, in the bath, and in the park. However, I still couldn’t possibly have guessed the incredibly tense showdown at the end.

. There were some negatives. I had difficulty connecting to the characters emotionally, especially Mariana who never fully came to life for me. The Greek tragedy element was clever, as quotes on postcards sent to the victims felt like clues to the killer’s identity. I was taught classics at school so these references were familiar to me and I wondered how it would be received for someone without any knowledge of Greek myths. I also felt that how Mariana inserted herself into the investigation was highly unlikely. However, I did enjoy the academic setting and I felt the author captured that sense of importance academics can have about their subject. I thought the author showed us how academia can be like living in a bubble, living and breathing your chosen subject. The murders punctured their way through this protective layer, bringing the real world into a rarefied way of life. The passing connection to The Silent Patient wasn’t needed, but did add an interesting aspect to the ending; I now have my own epilogue running in my head, following certain characters into that other fictional world.

I was disturbed by the visitation of a swan, described as having black eyes that bored right through Mariana. I wondered what this represented and thought of the famous Greek myth of Leda and the swan - where Zeus disguises himself as a swan in order to rape/seduce Leda who has no knowledge of the swan’s true identity. For me this conjured up ideas around love or infatuation being blind, or someone who isn’t what they seem. What I loved most of all though, was perhaps linked to the swan. The author has created a therapist with all the skills of perception and understanding in her toolbox, but an inability to apply them in her own life. I thought the novel was part psychological suspense, part crime fiction, and part gothic novel, but it was definitely all thriller.

This will appear on my blog after the blog tour.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

I struggled to get into this one despite loving The Silent Patient. Sorry!

The author’s debut novel, The Silent Patient, was one of my favourite in 2019 and I was really excited when his new book was announced and I couldn’t wait to read The Maidens. I loved the university setting of Cambridge, the complex characters, the murder mystery, the Greek mythology, and the surprising and unexpected resolution.

Once again, the protagonist of the novel is a psychiatrist, a group therapist, to be precise. Mariana has a lots on her plate when she receives a call for help by her niece in Cambridge: she is struggling with the grief of losing her husband a year earlier and one of her patient is becoming obsessed with her, but a body has been found in Cambridge and her niece Zoe thinks it may be the body of a friend, so Mariana packs her things and travels to her former university to support her. However, she would never have imagined to find herself entangled in the investigation as she suspect the murderer is Edward Fosca, a Greek tragedy professor with his own group of Maidens who follow him around and worship him. And, even if no one believes her, Mariana won’t stop until she finds out the truth…

Slow-paced and suspenseful, The Maidens is a great read. The plot is intricate, and I loved how the author combines murder and Greek tragedy together. But, my favourite thing about The Maidens is the character of Mariana. Flawed, intricate, and driven, her story, her secrets, her family are slowly unraveled. She is haunted by the many losses she has suffered through her life, the latest one her husband who died suddenly a year earlier during a holiday and that she is so deeply grieving that she still hasn’t packed away his things. Also, she has to face daddy issue, regrets, and secrets that once uncovered, will change her life.

Once again, Alex Michaelides took me completely by surprise with shocking revelations and twists that I didn’t see coming and kept me engaged for hours with this compulsive new novel that it is out now.

Mariana is a therapist who has a load of her own issues lurking in the background. Her closest relative , Zoe, on whom she dotes is at Cambridge and contacts her aunt when one of her friends is found dead
Presumably murdered. A further two girls are also found murdered . A calling card with Greek quotations is always sent prior to their deaths. Mariana believes a professor is responsible as the girls are part of his following known as The Maidens. She has difficulty convincing the police but sets out on her own to solve the riddle. Full of twists and turns leading you in different directions then it culminates in a huge sting in the tail.
A story of love , anger, angst and deceit.

Mariana is a therapist intent on getting justice for her niece’s friend who was murdered. She is convinced that it was Edward, a professor of Greek Tragedy literature, and the story follows the path this takes,

The silent patient was incredible and this book is good, It just didn’t have the same build up.

The characters are well observed and the red herrings are plenty but it just isn’t a 5 star.

Having read and loving the Silent Patient, I was really excited about the author’s new book. The plot twist I didn’t see coming at all! This was yet another story where I couldn’t guess the main mystery. I loved the story overall and i am gobsmacked with the ending! Always looking forward to read the authors book. Definitely added to be an auto buy author for me from now on. Thankyou Netgalley for the e-arc.

I had high hopes for this one, having loved The Silent Patient, but I tried to go into this one with a fresh perspective and no preconceptions.

I was completely drawn in and I had tonnes of theories about this one which I enjoyed, but the ending wasn’t what I was expecting which was a bit of a let down. That might be just what some people want from this so don’t let that put you off, but I found the ending a little implausible and couldn’t get my head around it - it was a bit of a cop out ending for me that made me more uncomfortable and had me cringing, rather than relieved to find out what had happened.

I was also a little disappointed with some of the wrap ups and found the main cast of characters to be a little annoying. I don’t like a loose end or a ‘not full explained’ end, so some felt a bit lacklustre.

Positively, the characters all drawn suspicion and you are left guessing throughout, which was good. This allowed there to be some mystery coming through from the pages and kept you invested in uncovering what was going on.

All in all, an intriguing read that most people will probably enjoy, but the ending just wasn’t for me and let down the rest of the book. 3 1/2 stars rounded down to 3.

Great thriller crime fiction - just as good as the Silent Patient. One I will be definitely recommend to customers in my local bookstore. Worth checking out!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Orion Publishing and Alex Michaelides for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Alex Michaelides has an exceptional talent for writing psychological thrillers. I was gripped from the first page. I was unable to guess the ending which is unusual for me. The plot is fascinating and the characters are intriguing. I couldn’t have loved this anymore. I can’t wait to read more by Alex.

I thought I'd see what all the hype was about but unfortunately this wasn't for me.

I couldn't properly invest in the characters and for me, without caring about them means I find it hard to engage in the plot.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.