I was recommended to read this author by one of my dearest bookish friends, but I was glad to get this chapter sampler of this book since I don't tend to read Psychological Thrillers. I tend to get scared while reading these type of books. I will not finish reading this book. This isn't an author that I will be reading more books from in the future.

Wow…the twist! I really enjoyed this book, but probably unfairly judged it against the Silent Patient often while reading it. It started with a lot of character/plot development at the beginning which was different from what I was expecting. Overall, great read and kept me guessing!

I love the silent patient and I was happy to read this other novel but I didn't appreciate like the previous one.

I enjoyed this sampler and I am excited for the book in full! After reading the Silent Patient, I am excited for Alex Michaelides' future novels, including this one based on Greek mythology, a personal favorite topic of mine. I like that there is character overlap between this novel and The Silent Patient as well,

Another intriguing and mysterious who done it plot from Alex Michaelides. It was dark in places and kept me guessing the whole time. I loved how it all unravelled and ended.

This is just too violent for high school, but I enjoyed the novel overall. The preview was slightly confusing, as it cut off just after a character was introduced and it was hard to figure out what pronouns were referring to.

This was slow paced for me compared to The Silent Patient. While certain parts did spark my interest, I had a hard time getting into his book.

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
4⭐️

AM is KILLING IT WITH THESE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS
I’ve seen some mixed reviews and thoughts on Michaelides newest, but I’m here to say I was PLEASANTLY surprised.

We follow Mariana, a group therapist struggling with her own grief. When she receives a call from her niece at Cambridge, she immediately travels to her alma-mater. Once there, Mariana insinuates herself into the active murder investigation of one the students. She sets her sights on Edward Fosca- the handsome, and incredibly suave Greek Tragedy professor. He is revered and almost ‘God-like’ on the campus-he has a devout following among a small group of female students labeled The Maidens. When another murder is committed, Mariana becomes fixated on attempting to solve the case and prove Fosca had a hand in it. What follows is an unraveling of secrets, lies, and deception that Mariana finds herself twisted in.

While I was STOKED about this book, I did put it off for a while because I have no interest in Greek Mythology. Those parts did bore me and I didn’t find them pertinent to the plot. I enjoyed the short chapters- they always leave you wanting more and saying ‘just one more chapter’ as it’s so achievable. Before you know it you’ve hit the last page and AM has DONE. IT. AGAIN. I’m hard to please when it comes to thrillers and BOTH of his books threw me backwards, sideways and into the next room. I did not see either of the endings coming and I thought they were brilliant. I read thrillers for that very aspect- to be thrilled, shocked and upended. I think Michaelides really nailed it and I can’t wait to see what’s to come!

The first five chapters of The Maidens introduces us to our main character: Mariana. She’s a group therapist and we get to see her in action. One member of the group is very mysterious: Henry. Henry is not well liked by the other group members and constantly is criticized by them. Mariana finds Henry very interesting which is why he continues to stay in the group. Henry wants individual counseling from Mariana but she refuses. She also says she saw him stalking her. Finally, we hear from Mariana’s niece, Zoey. She is very worried about a news story about a dead girl that was found near her university. Zoey believes it is her friend Tara.

These first few chapters are wild and exciting! It left me wanting more.

I end up getting the book and have recently finished it. Compared to the first book, this one is a bit of a disappointment. The plot was somewhat predictable, but the narration was still pretty good.

Thank you Netgally and Celadon Books for the chance to read the chapter sampler of The Maidens.

I have read Alex Michaelides previous mystery thriller, The Silent Patient, which was an amazing yet somewhat unbelievable read---The Maidens did not invoke the same feeling.

The initial mystery as to what was happening with Mariana after the loss of her husband becomes a spiraling mess with each chapter. Young women are getting murdered on Cambridge campus and Mariana is certain that it's one of the magnetic college professors surrounded by young women. However her suspensions, while believable at first begin to feel like a stretch as her own feelings of grief drive her further into searching for clues that may or may not connect.

I honestly wanted more from this novel and at the end, even the murderer wasn't a huge surprise.

3/5 stars

I absolutely loved this atmospheric dark academia tale. The start of the story had me wanting the read the whole book, which I will be doing soon. It definy hooked me right away.

The Maidens is the follow-up novel to The Silent Patient which I really enjoyed. I had high expectations coming into this book but unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the same mark for me.
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I enjoyed the dark academia atmosphere of the novel being set in a university but I didn’t like any of the characters and found Mariana to be quite annoying. The twist at the end felt far fetched and left me feeling disappointed.
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While the book had short chapters making it a quick easy read it just ended up being an ok read for me.

I, an absolute fan of Alex Michaelides' work, found myself extremely disappointed with this book. Everything was...just mediocre. I couldn't feel like I was reading a different book that the usual couch thrillers that exist out there and I felt like it wasn't worth it.

I love this sampler so much I had to go out and buy myself a final copy! I couldn’t put it down! The ending had me completely surprised!

It’s difficult to tell from a sampler but I do believe I will enjoy this book far more than I did The Silent Patient. The twist to this story and the plot just seems far more interesting and there are people you actually like in the sampler but didn’t have at all in the Silent Patient.

Definitely going to read the rest of this story now.

This is a review for the sample version of this book (first five chapters)

After reading (and loving) The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides I was excited when I found out that he released another book! Not to mention that I heard it had ‘dark academia’ vibes.

The first 5 chapter made a very interesting start to the book.
It follows Mariana, who lost her husband Sebastian and has difficulty coping with grieving. She is also a therapist that conducted group therapy, and has trouble maintaining proper distance with one of her patients. Later on she received a phone call from her niece Zoe telling her to watch the news, which showed a recent murder of a woman brutally stabbed multiple times. Zoe suspects it’s her friend Tara.

So far it’s seems intriguing, however it has a similar setting to The Silent Patient (both have similar occupations). I’m not sure why some said it had dark academia vibes to it but it’s too early in the story so will see.

Since downloading this I have read the complete book and here is my review.

I haven’t read The Silent Patient so this is my first book by this author. This book was mesmerizing. I loved the setting and premise. I have to admit I am not very knowledgeable about Greek mythology but that didn’t alter my enjoyment of the book. This one had me guessing until the end. Now I have to go read The Silent Patient!

This was a great start. I am excited to see where it goes. I will be picking up the book immediately.

Some author's second books fail to stand up to the powerhouse of their first runaway novel but Alex Michaelides didn't suffer from this! The Maidens is full of twists and surprises. Wonderful writing and a trapdoor of a plot drops you in and doesn't let go until the final page.