3 solid -I was expecting so much more stars!

This time I’m unpopular reviewer. Yes, I disappointed! Yes, I was truly expecting something earth shattering, soul crushing, mind bending, grey cell fryer, unputdownable!

What went so wrong with me?
-one dimensional, very dislikable characterization
-too many plot holes bigger than the cracks in my head!
-Slow, flat, boring beginning
-Too much unnecessary misdirection about the identity of the murder even though it’s so obvious from the beginning
-Meeting with the one of the most useless and miserable investigation team who are always three steps behind a psychiatrist who knows nothing about murder investigation

The things I liked:
Short, easy to read chapters

Returning back to same universe where Silent Patient’s story executed( could third book be a crossover! Fingers crossed!)

Academic murder mystery premise with Greek mythology vibes

Delicious Cambridge atmosphere, detailed depictions about the surroundings which takes us virtual vacation to this epic, historical place!

Some parts of the final revelation is also well executed even though there are still so many questions in my head which are still not satisfyingly answered!

Storyline: when I read the blurb which informs us this is claustrophobic, enigmatic, mythology, dark murder mystery about young women students who were brutally killed as a part of a ritual, I was so excited about this interesting premise.

But our meeting with a group of women students called Maidens which is conducted by their narcissistic, flirting professor Edward Fosca took too long! We lost so much time with inner turmoil of heroine: her sadness, grief, her depression etc.

After being introduced to our sad, grieving heroine Mariana Andros, we observed one of her group session and met with her obsessed passion Henry who might be watching and stalking her day and night. Then we learn her tragic past: She lost everyone in her life: including her parents, sister and her beloved husband which makes her think she’s punished by the gods of wrath!

Her niece Zoe who is her only family member, a student At Cambridge calls her to inform her close friend might be missing. When Mariana decides to check on her niece by taking a trip to the university where she has been also a student and met her husband, she realizes there’s a murder investigation and her niece is right. Her close friend Tara is brutally murder.

Mariana decides to console her niece, spending more time at the place by conducting her own investigation. Her number one suspect is professor Edward Fonseca who might be the lover of the victim and he’s also finder of mysterious Maidens group. Tara was also the member of this group and unfortunately she was not the only one brutally killed! Somebody is after the maidens and he/ she is adamant to finish what he/she started!

Overall: I’m giving three , it could be so much better, but there’s still interesting and intriguing premise of the story still kept my attention intact stars!

I wish I was one of the admirers of this book but I missed the author’s claustrophobic, intense, brilliant mind games, psychological, distorted, smart twists and gripping writing style he performed at Silent Patient!

Third one is the charm! I think his next work will be so much better!

So many thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for sharing this one of the most anticipated books’ digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

Ever since I read it, I have had a mild obsession with The Silent Patient—so to say I was excitedly awaiting the release of The Maidens would be an understatement. It was important to me to judge this one completely independent of The Silent Patient, and I’m really glad I made a conscious effort to do so.

This was a slow, dark build that kept me guessing all the way through. While I typically don’t enjoy a slow build with a fast and furious ending, the modern day Greek tragedy elements of this one made it worthwhile. The wool was completely pulled over my eyes, once again. Fans of TSP will be delighted with the Easter Eggs sprinkled in. Alex Michaelides has a lifelong fan in me!

Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Alex Michaelides for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to Celadon for the copy of The Maidens, the highly anticipated sophomore novel from Alex Michaelides. I feel bad for Michaelides as his debut novel, The Silent Patient, was a hit. The ending of that book was like YESSSS. So that is what everyone will be coming to his second novel with-- the expectations to be blown away. This one, though as SP did, used psychology as part of the story, the overall story was a different one to tell.

What I Liked:
1. Michaelides used three things I am a sucker for: Greek mythology, secret societies, and college campuses. If the story includes one or more of these, I am picking it up at some point. Michaelides uses the mythology and the secret society as a way to move the plot and make you suspect multiple people. His main character Mariana, who went to this college, uses the secret society and compares it to her own group therapy sessions she runs.
2. The writing. Though I did not love this one overall, I enjoy the author's writing style. The short chapters make the book feel as if it is moving faster-- which I will talk about in a minute. Also, his prose is just well done. The story telling is what kept me hooked. As I type this, I realize who know how long I will have to wait to read his next book.
3. The tie-ins to the Silent Patient. They don't really effect the plot, and they probably were not necessary at all. I just found them to be fun.

What I Didn't:
1. This one the twist is not a twist. I felt it was quite obvious and though I did not figure it out all together, I figured it out enough to not be overly thrilled with the ending.
2. Mariana was not a great protagonist. She was not confident in anything she ever did. Her grief at times seemed forced and she honestly just was not likable to me.
-
Overall: I enjoyed this one. There is no doubt, I will pick up anything Alex Michaelides writes. Though this one did not blow me away like The Silent Patient did, this was a solid sophomore book and I feel many will enjoy it as I did and even more in most cases!

Book Review for The Maidens
Full review for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

Mariana is a group therapist, and attended Cambridge, that Her niece Zoe now attends! At the beginning, you'll read about Marianas husband Sebastian's death and how devastated she is. Then Mariana gets a phone call from Zoe telling her that her friend has turned up brutally murdered.

Edward Fosca is the greek history teacher at Cambridge, and he has a select group of students they call "The Maidens". After clues are put together, it must be him that's the murderer, and as more bodies start showing up, Mariana wants to help Zoe prove who the murderer is!!

The story weaves through Marianas life with her husband, and the investigation at Cambridge. The writing was good, and the plot sounded right up my alley, but parts of the story just seemed a little bit cliche and unbelievable. Not a bad thriller, but just nothing extraordinary. I did guess who the killer was pretty early on, BUT I did not guess the end twist, which had my jaw dropped! Lol! So that's a good thing!! I do think it's worth the read, especially if you enjoyed "The Silent Patient" which I really did!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own!

Edward Fosca is a murderer. Mariana knows this even though no one else does. The handsome and charismatic Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students especially by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens.

Mariana Andros is a brilliant group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.

Mariana, once a student, knows underneath the beautiful campus lies something evil. She knows Edward is guilty even with his alibi. Why would the professor target one of his students?

When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her life.

Everyone’s most anticipated read! I am so fortunate to be able to read it. This book is filled with a ton of Greek mythology. Now if that’s not your jam, you probably won’t like this as much. It was a slow builder relying more on character development until the very very end and then Alex Michaelides slaps you in the face with his twist. His writing is so intelligent. I also appreciated the cameo by Theo in this book. It was a fun tie in. I enjoyed this even though I can see how some people would like it less than The Silent Patient. Both equally psychological but in different ways.

Alex Michaelides is back with his second book, and it is a psychological thriller like his first, The Silent Patient. Readers even run into the main character from The Silent Patient over the course of the novel. In this one,

Mariana is a group therapist who is still mourning the drowning death of her husband. She is called back to Cambridge, where she and her husband studied, when her niece calls to tell her that her roommate has been murdered. What unfolds is a series of murders connected to literature, Greek myth, and Mariana's dark and sad past.

While I enjoyed this book because I just LOVE books that are set in Oxford or Cambridge, it did not live up to the suspense of Michaelides's first book. I found the twist at the end to be a little bit unbelievable and unsatisfying.

Not the best, not the worst, Alex Michaelides sophomore novel The Maidens ended up being a middling read for me. Following up a mega-success like The Silent Patient was always going to be an uphill battle, but I just don’t think this one had the style or substance of Michaelides’ previous work.

The premise here was undeniably compelling. I’m always game for a good academia murder-mystery! Mariana is a therapist in London, who receives a frantic phone call from her niece after a friend of hers has been found murdered at Cambridge. Mariana rushes over to help console her niece, Zoe, and eventually starts investigating the death herself. A strange group of female students, known as The Maidens, draw Mariana’s focus, not least of all because at the center of their cohort is an unsettling professor, who seems to have a strange hold over the young women.

I think my biggest complaint while reading would have to be that I was just bored for so much of it. Michaelides writes in a very readable style, with easily consumable, short chapters, but I kept waiting to be swept away by a plot wave that never came. In order for a slow burn to be pulled off successfully there needs to be a good amount of tension simmering throughout, and I just never felt on the edge of my seat in that way. Did I want to know what would happen next? Sure, but did I tear through the pages to try to find out? Not really.

The characters were also a little underdeveloped for me as well. Most were pretty one-dimensional, so it was difficult to connect with them or even get a read on their motivations. And in my opinion, the author majorly over-used red herrings. There were so many that it started to feel like a coi herring pond full of them. Every single male character was creepy and weird. Every single female character was malicious or helpless. Additionally, Michaelides has a background in psychology and Greek mythology, so it wasn’t a huge surprise to see those topics included in both of his books. But something about Mariana’s psychology credibility here felt insincere, so any time she used those credentials to glean access to crucial information, I had trouble buying into it.

There were a couple of twists that I didn’t necessarily think were the most likely outcomes, but I still had considered possibilities. So I don’t think I can claim that I truly ‘guessed the ending’, though I still didn’t feel thoroughly surprised in the way I assume the author was going for. I was completely blindsided while reading The Silent Patient at multiple points in the story, and for me The Maidens just didn’t deliver in the same way.

The pacing nearing the end picked up significantly, which I liked, even if the ending itself felt a little rushed. I don’t know, I’m seeing reviews all over the place for this one, so I get the feeling this is going to be a book most people are going to want to experience for themselves. And while I’m not going to put this on any must-read lists of 2021, I think it’s still going to be an entertaining enough thriller for a lot of readers.

Super quick synopsis: Mariana, a group therapist, gets a frantic call from her niece, Zoe, who's in school at Cambridge, about a crime that's occurred. I went into this book blind and definitely recommend doing the same!

This is a book I really savored recently. Super short chapters with a nice, slow build that makes the reader feel more and more uneasy definitely makes this bingeable. However, after loving The Silent Patient when I read it in 2019, there was no way I wasn't going to savor this one and take my time with it. Without giving away too much of the fun stuff, this was dark and mysterious, without being in your face gruesome or disturbing. I'm also a sucker for a solid campus setting, which added to the ominous atmosphere and had me on edge with several shady campus dwellers. I was determined not to be completely caught off guard by the ending like I was with The Silent Patient; I did guess the killer, but the motive was really unexpected - still a great ending.

The Silent Patient is my favorite thriller of all-times. Hands-down. While The Maidens didn't top it for me, it was great and lived up to the hype - no sophomore slump for the author. Definitely an auto-buy author for me!

Thank you to @celadonbooks for the #gifted physical copy and the additional e-copy via @netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Mariana Andros, a dedicated Group Therapist, knows first-hand how difficult recovering from trauma can be. Therefore she exhibits a great deal of empathy and patience towards her many clients. She doesn't even need to work, due to a large inheritance, however she continues her practice because she enjoys being able to help others.

Sadly, Mariana has lost almost everyone she has ever loved. In fact, the only family she has left is her niece, Zoe, currently a student at Cambridge University. That's why when Zoe calls her one night, extremely distraught, Mariana boards a train the next morning to go to her; she must help.

Arriving in Cambridge stirs up a lot of memories for Mariana. She attended school there as well and wasn't prepared for the emotional repercussions of being back on campus. Mariana tries to push her own emotions aside, however, in order to better focus on Zoe. Apparently, a dead body found the previous evening has been identified as Zoe's good friend. It is obvious the girl has been murdered.

After conversations with Zoe about the girl, Mariana begins to suspect Edward Fosca, a popular and captivating Greek Tragedy Professor, may be the culprit. He has an alibi, but not one that Mariana considers to be reliable; his secret society of young women students, known as The Maidens, could easily be persuaded to lie for him.

Mariana successfully inserts herself, through various connections, into the investigation, putting herself on a collision course with the undeniably charming, Professor Fosca. The Maidens is compulsively readable. Once I started it, I could not put it down! I loved how Michaelides wove together all of the different aspects of this story. I thought it was wonderfully crafted. I was so engaged throughout, I had to remind myself to come up for air.

The setting of Cambridge was extremely vivid. It starts as this beautiful, pristine and exclusive place. Then over the course of the narrative, a dark underbelly becomes exposed as Mariana digs further into the mystery. I absolutely loved that. So is life, am I right?

Additionally, Mariana had such depth of character. I loved learning about her and watching her try to push past her own anxieties and fears to try and help Zoe. She became laser-focused in her search for the truth and I was cheering her on the whole way. I wouldn't say she is overly likable, in the traditional sense, but I certainly found her to be believable.

I could swoon about this for days, but will spare you that and wrap it up by saying, I loved this book! I thought it was so fun, super entertaining and memorable. The setting, the characters, the twists and turns; it is WICKED!!!

I actually think I enjoyed this more than The Silent Patient, and that's saying a lot. I already cannot wait to see what Michaelides comes up with next.

Thank you so, so, so much to the publisher, Celadon Books, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I appreciate it more than I can say. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and I cannot wait for it to be released!!!

Mariana Andros visits her niece attending Cambridge University after the discovery of a grisly murder on campus in this interesting adult mystery.

Alex Michaelides’ first novel, The Silent Patient, took me by surprise with how completely and totally it entertained me. The author’s second foray into the mystery genre is a tad less riveting. The story focuses on Mariana as she investigates the murder of her niece’s friend on campus. Mariana is a vulnerable and sympathetic character…until her actions are shoehorned into the story make the plot work. Her ability to insert herself into an active investigation, particularly one with so much attention, was unrealistic. Characterization was often sacrificed for plot in order to strengthen the twist at the end.

All that said, this book is a quick and entertaining read. It kept me hooked from beginning to end – I read it in one sitting (unheard of for me with a four-year-old, two puppies, and a hubby in the house). The Greek mythology added a fun mysterious element to the story. It also had a surprising amount of cameos from The Silent Patient. I typically dislike when authors feature previous characters or reference plot points from books outside of a traditional series, but it was well done here. Honestly, it made me want to re-read the first book again.

Content warnings: abuse, toxic relationships, loss of a loved one

tl;dr While characterization is sacrificed for plot for much of the novel, the story itself is a quick and entertaining read.

I loved the Silent Patient and this book didn't let me down. In fact, this book takes place in the same timeline as the first book which was interesting. It kept me guessing the whole time!

When Mariana receives a distressed call from her niece Zoe, she knows she needs to get to her as soon as possible. Zoe’s best friend Tara has been murdered, and suddenly the rest of the Maidens are dropping like flies. Mariana is so certain that Edward is the killer and she is willing to put herself at risk to prove it.

Well shit hell can Alex Michaelides write a twist. I knew the answer, I knew who the killer was. I was so certain throughout almost the entire book. I was wrong. So, so, so wrong. I will say some of the Greek mythology stuff had me wanting to jump ahead, but damn when this book came together it was just perfection. If you loved The Silent Patient, you want to read this book! I won’t say anything else, because really you just need to read it yourself!

A dark psychological thriller sculpted in the image of Greek mythology. The narrator is as unreliable as our best guess. Fast paced with an unexpected nod to The Silent Patient.

Thank you NetGalley & Celadon Books for this eARC and the chance to read & review this book.
Read the Silent Patient? Loved it??? If you said yes to both, then you will absolutely love this book! I read this in a day, finding myself not able to stop. I absolutely loved the setting, speed & characters... I did however, predict the way MOST of this story would go... but then BAM.. of course something happens and it was nothing at all what I had expected. I also lovvved that we got a small little glimpse at a few characters from Michaelides first novel. This book will be published on June 14th. You don’t wanna miss it!

Mariana's niece Zoe calls from Cambridge afraid that her closest friend Tara has been murdered. Mariana rushes to her beloved Cambridge to support Zoe who reveals that Tara had been afraid of their Greek Tragedy professor and is sure he is the murderer. Much like "The Silent Patient" we are treated to twists and turns at an amazing rate.The reader suspects everyone as back stories are revealed and tension mounts. In my opinion a better read than "The Silent Patient" a cannot put down read that I had to finish in one sitting. Great read for those who love mystery and psychological thrillers.Thanks to Net Galley and MacMillan/Celadon for the electronic ARC.
#TheMaidens#AlexMichaelides#MacMillanCeladon#NetGalley

The Maidens is a tense new thriller with touches of The Secret History -- one by one, the students of a brilliant, charismatic Cambridge classics professor are found dead. Grieving therapist Mariana receives a panicked call from her niece Zoe, whose friend and classmate is the first to show up brutally murdered in the woods off campus. Rushing to Cambridge -- a place imbued with memories, as she recalls meeting her recently deceased husband when they were young students there -- Mariana comforts Zoe and starts to pick apart the threads of the mystery unraveling before her.

I enjoyed The Maidens more than Michaelides' first novel, The Silent Patient. The atmosphere was spooky and evocative, and I felt uneasy the entire time with anticipation for a pay-off. I was enjoying it until the conclusion, which fell flat for me. But overall, it is a quick and exciting read with a strong sense of place.

3.5/5: I couldn't put it down while reading! However, once the dust settled, I was disappointed by some of the one-dimensional characters (everyone was so blatantly suspicious!) and the ending. I think fans of his first book will definitely want to read this one, as there is a slight crossover (the books are set in the same universe/social sphere), but anyone new to Michaelides' work can read this as a standalone with ease. Anyone who loves the new trend of dark academia will want to read this!

I liked Mr Michaelides’ previous novel, The Silent Patient, but not nearly as much as many people did - apparently it was the biggest selling debut novel in the world in 2020, though maybe that says more about the marketing than the novel? I also liked this second novel and I’m sure it will be equally successful but, for me, it didn’t distinguish itself from the pack of psychological twisty thrillers that I’ve read this year.

Mariana is still grieving from the death of her husband over a year ago, but she keeps on with her work as a group therapist despite a rather threatening and obsessive patient called Henry. When her niece Zoe, a student at Cambridge, calls one night after Zoe’s close friend Tara has been murdered, Mariana races up there to support her.

Zoe is suspicious of a charismatic American classics lecturer who has a close-knit inner circle of students, all beautiful young women, called the Maidens which Tara was a member of. As Mariana delves into the psychology of the murderer and a variety of suspects show up, a second narrative from the murderer is woven in with hints and clues about his identity. But though I was caught out by the author’s wily twist in The Silent Patient (and there’s a nifty shout out to that novel in this one), I wasn’t so gullible this time.

There is a peculiar stiff quality about the writing which made the novel feel a little amateurish - I’m not sure if this is meant to be a deliberate reflection of the Greek tragedies that are often referenced or if it’s just stilted. I felt many of the characters were so broadly sketched as to be virtually caricatures: their delivery of information and behavior all seem designed to give us as many suspects as possible and it feels clunky rather than subtle.

I didn’t feel I’d wasted my time reading The Maidens, but wouldn’t suggest you need to do anything more than wait for it to be available at your local library.

Thanks to Celadon and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

"The Maidens" was a good mystery/suspense thriller, however after reading so many in the genre, it was pretty easy to see the "twist" coming quite a bit ahead of the big reveal.

4.5 stars

It starts, as all good mysteries, with a murder. A body is discovered on the grounds of Cambridge University. After conducting her group therapy, Mariana Andros receives a call from her niece, Zoe, fearing the worst: that the body found belongs to her best friend, Tara. Mariana goes to visit her niece, but when the body is identified as Tara’s, Mariana gets drawn into a rabbit hole of secret societies and duplicitous players. No matter where she looks, the same questions afflict her: Could Tara’s professor, Edward Tosca, be the murderer? And what is she to make of The Maidens, a group of young female students who seem to accompany the professor wherever he goes? Mariana is certain that, in pursuing these questions, she will find the answers she is seeking.

With the massive success of The Silent Patient in 2019, it’s a wonder that this is my first encounter with Michaelides’ writing. A fan of all things Greek myth, I adored the nods to Persephone and Demeter (among others) woven through the story. Coming from an academic background, this book was very easy to love: with ample references, a university setting, and the atmospheric descriptions of England and Greece, I felt very much immersed in Mariana’s world and struggle. Once I finished I was motivated to do some researching, which is always a sign of good writing for me.

The accessible pace coupled with the intrigue of this story propelled me to start and finish this novel in a day, not a common feat for me! I’m not the most frequent mystery-thriller reader, but the short chapters seemed like an appropriate choice and were hugely encouraging throughout, even in the less climactic turns. Although there were a few debatable misses (loose-end/superfluous characters), I definitely felt more of the strengths in this novel, particularly the care Michaelides puts in to lead the reader to certain conclusions, only for the ending to be quite impactful in it’s reveal. The nuances of the main characters’ histories were also very well considered and informative to their motivations from start to end.

All in all, Michaelides’ most recent endeavour was well worth the read, and has definitely inspired me to give The Silent Patient a read in the near future. I will definitely be recommending this book when it comes out this summer.

Thank you to Netgalley Celadon Books for this engrossing read.