Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Excellent, captivating and has twisty plot. I find listening to audio much different then reading the book. I am uncertain why I still have the book and am reading it, but went to listen to the audio tonight and can not. Possibly, there was an error in processing this. So, I still have the book to read and really am enjoying the intrigue.

I think this will definitely be a heart pounding best seller, just like The Silent Patient.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this Audio Book. I really appreciate it.

There were many dark academia elements that you would expect from a book like this: an academic setting, characters navigating crimes and dark secrets.

The story begins with death, and it was a great way to set a melancholy tone for the rest of the novel. Grief was so palpable and so realistic from the start, I felt I was grieving right along with Mariana. I felt so sad, because I could imagine having the same exact feelings to losing a loved one. With what happens next, I can understand that her motivations come from a place of caring and empathy.

Overall this was a great mystery, and kept me engaged until the end!

In addition to having an active Audible membership, I also borrow audiobooks from the library. Oftentimes, it’s much easier for me to listen to a book rather than read it. I have written reviews of books I have listened to before, but this is the first time I have received an ARC of an audiobook.

The Secret History is one of my all-time favorite books, so I was very excited about the opportunity to listen to a new entry in the dark academia genre.

Rather than focus on the members of The Maidens, the narrative unfolds from the perspective of Marina, the aunt of the students. This removal makes it less of the dark academia I was expecting and more of a general psychological thriller that happens to be set at an elite university.

Louise Brealey provides the main narration, and Marina is both genteel and determined. She knows something is wrong, and she needs to unmask the killer before her niece becomes the next victim. Brealey also does several regional accents to voice minor characters.

There are interludes between the chapters with commentary from an anonymous man. This is where having an audiobook is a big advantage; there’s actually a second narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, whose flat accent carefully masks any geographic indicators. This lack of emotion also provides insight into the cold and detached nature of the speaker.

To say I was shocked by the reveal would be an understatement. The denouement came out of nowhere, and I can’t say anything more, but I found myself doubting its veracity. Surely, there must be some mistake—a delusional character, perhaps—but as the epilogue reveals, it was all completely true.

I would recommend The Maidens. The narration brought the story to life by adding layers of depth and nuance, heightening the tension; leads prove fruitless and a killer roams free. I am going to have to keep an eye out for more from the author and both narrators in the future.



I received a digital audiobook from Macmillan Audio/NetGalley.

Gripping, punishing, twisting, and shocking are the words I'd use to succinctly describe any of Alex Michaelides's books, but especially with The Maidens.
Alex Michaelides is redefining what it takes for a novel to truly be considered a psychological thriller. With nuanced and complicated characters, intricate plot, intense inner monologuing of main characters, and just enough terror to make the premise utterly believable, The Maidens is sure to cement Michaelides in the realm of the greats.

With his sophomore novel, Michaelides has secured himself in my "autobuy" category and I'll follow this master of darkness anywhere his twisted plots lead me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan for the early access to the audiobook! These narrators are by far my favorites so far that I've encountered.

I was not such a fan of Alex Michaelides' novel The Silent Patient but decided to give this one a try. While I found the spooky element to be deeper in this novel, it still felt predictable to be and I found myself getting lost on the plot from time to time. However the story is interesting, unique, and I respect the work the author put in to perfect the story.

I'm not really sure how I would rate this book. It didn't go where I thought it would so the end was different than I thought. I was very interested in the book and then went through some slow spots... It was up and down but overall, I liked it. It's a bit of a twisty whodunit that I think you will enjoy.

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides is receiving so much buzz that my opinion doesn't matter in the grand scheme, but I'm sharing it anyway. As an occasional thriller reader, I thought it was "fine." I haven't read The Silent Patient (the cover freaked me out) and I'm not knowledgeable of Greek tragedies so that likely impacted my enjoyment.

The most obvious suspect isn't likely to be guilty, so I speculated about the murderer's identity and was very wrong. Also, several things about student life at Cambridge (late night tutoring sessions in private chambers, employees who make students' beds and take out their trash, etc.) took me out of the "reality" of the story. I won't share more to avoid spoilers.

I liked the short chapters that propelled me through the story, and really appreciated the atmosphere created by audiobook narrators Louise Brealey and Kobna Holdbrook-Simith. The ending was intriguing as I occasionally enjoy a novel that leaves me with questions.

Thank you to Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the review copies; all thoughts are my own.

Suspenseful and mysterious. I enjoyed this audiobook. 
Thank you to Macmillan / Celadon Books and NetGalley for the arc by Alex Michaelides in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, Alex Mechaelides does it again! This twisty turny mystery kept me on my toes the entire time. I adored all the Greek mythology and the nods to his previous book the Silent Patient. He ending took me by surprise, in a good way, and was sad to see it end.

The audiobook narration for it was lovely and I even had it sped up to 1.75 and it was easy to listen and enjoy.

Thanks to Netgally and Macmillion Audio for the ARC

i don't typically read books like this so I was hesitant at the beginning and felt like maybe I'd end up liking it. That was until the last 30 mins. The twist was super unbelievable and I really don’t get it ...... wondering if there will be a sequel based off the way it ended, not sure if i’d read a sequel tho to be honest. Did not have pay off I was hoping for,

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides is a fascinating, atmospheric mystery about strange, ritualistic murders on the campus of Cambridge University. The story follows Mariana Andros, a group therapist in London, who returns to her alma mater, when her niece’s close friend is savagely murdered in a ritualistic way. She initially stays in Cambridge to support her niece, but begins to investigate the murder. Mariana learns that the murdered girl was part of a secret society of a handsome, charismatic professor of Greek tragedy, and begins to obsess over him as the murderer I was immediately enthralled when I started this book, the middle was a little slow, but really picked up in the last third of the book. I loved the inclusion of Greek tragedies and the brief epistolary chapters by an unnamed man. The book comes to an unexpected and intriguing conclusion that I didn’t guess. I loved how some of the main characters in The Maidens are secondary characters in The Silent Patient and vice versa. Both stories appear to take place in the same universe around the same time. I listened to the audiobook, which is masterfully narrated by Louise Brealey and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.

Thank you so much Macmillan Audio for providing this audiobook ARC.

Although I like Alex Michaelides’ writing I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. The silent patient was amazing so maybe I was expecting too much. I think the premise of the story was good but a lot of it felt unrealistic. I found I didn’t like Mariana much. I can appreciate her being a concerned aunt and coming to the college to see Zoe but being so involved in a police investigation didn’t make sense. And what detective is actually that stupid and would let her? I wanted to see more of the maidens group especially since it is the title. The last third of the book picked up for me. I loved the references to characters from the silent patient. The writing read like a movie where I could really picture what was happening. The twist in the end was unexpected but felt a little weird after the constant misdirection where almost every character was looking suspicious at some point in the story. Having the ARC audiobook from NetGalley was great and allowed me to read through this story in just a few days.

I really enjoyed listening to this audio book. It was a gripping pyschothriller that kept me engaged the whole time! It even has a crossover with The Silent Patient. I would recommend this audiobook to friends. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this opportunity!

The Silent Patient is a book that got me into psychological thrillers so I was highly anticipating this book. Before I start on the Maidens, I want to say I loved the Easter eggs of characters from the Silent Patient showing up here; That was a fun addition to this!

From the first chapters, I was hooked. To the point where I read this all day (luckily I had both a physical book and audiobook so I was able to do that). This started as a bit of a slow burn, but a very engaging slow burn that had me intrigued from the beginning. I went into this one blind, so I had not idea what was coming and loved slowly getting to know this book, the characters and form my opinions as I was reading. There were a few surprises, and the big twist at the end definitely caught me off guard! I thought the addition of Greek mythology was interesting and done well. It definitely added another layer to the story.

There were a few characters I did not think were necessary and confused me because I couldn’t keep track of them, but they also may have been there to throw me off (in which case the distraction worked).

As for the audio, the male narrator was incredible. He did the creepy voice so well! The female narrator was also great and the production was done well! It

Thank you to Celadon Books and Macmillan audio for the advanced copies of this book.

The Maidens sold me as an intrigue involving Greek god worship and it let me down. I felt like the story was too scattered and the big reveal was so far out of left field it was another game entirely. Characters are introduced in the hopes to create misdirected and mystery, but really don't add anything to the story other than fluff. The MC is supposed to me a therapist, but has so many of her own problems and narrowed views, that I found it hard to believe.

As far as audio, I enjoyed the narrator and reading style. The audiobook probably kept me involved enough to finish where as I might have just put it down while reading.

I loved The Silent Patient but this book didn't keep my interest at all and was hard to finish. I really wanted to like it but I found it too slow.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of the audio book. I was absolutely thrilled to receive this selection and couldn’t wait to banish myself to my deck no press play. The Maidens takes the reader on a journey to Cambridge where the niece of psychotherapist Mariana is enrolled. Mariana comes to her niece’s aid when a a young woman is found murdered. It just so happens that this young woman is Tara’s ( the niece) best friend. Soon a number of other female students are found murdered and a professor is the target of Marianna’s investigation.

Intertwined within the plot is a secret society called ‘The Maidens”, a group of students who study Greek tragedies and who loyal to their professor. For good measure Michaelides throws in characters whose mental illness abounds, the recent loss of Marianna’s husband, and shady characters who seemly enter the plot for no reason… and so goes the plot of ‘whodunnit”.

Michaelides is an excellent writer, there is no doubt of this, however unlike his earlier novel “The Silent Patient”, I was able to discern early on who was behind the hideous murders. The surprise ending was not so much a surprise. Furthermore, I found the development of Zoey’s character and actions to be contrived. Someone who is so obviously mentally ill could not conduct herself in the manner that she did for so long. A young impressionable girl does not handle grief or loss well and for her to continue to carry out the ‘plan’ was just not plausible. It was as if another character was introduced in the last chapters. I just couldn’t get over the ending. It is akin to writing ‘ she woke up and found it was all a dream. THE END”

I wanted so much more from this book than I got, but here are the positives: Alex Michaelides definitely knows how to situate his readers. I felt like I was in Cambridge-from the local haunts to the geography of the colleges, the culture of the halls and the rooms, the sense of privilege. He gave plenty of details to ensure that the reader didn't feel like they were in some unnamed anonymous university somewhere, but in a very specific place. As far as the characters though ... I gotta say, I'm not sure he pulled off a fully three-dimensional female protagonist. Despite having a very detailed backstory, the main character, Mariana didn't feel like a flesh-and-blood human being, but a vessel through which stuff is being made to happen.

And the mystery itself was a little half-baked. The motive for the crimes, the heroine's fixation on the main suspect and what ultimately happens to him all felt very contrived, and the resolution rushed. There was also something different about the writing in this one--lots of summarization and telling, particularly when it came to occurrences, which was jarring since the setting was so lovingly described that you could picture it. The chapters were short, which can work to move the action along, but in this case some of them were plain ol' unnecessary. An entire very short chapter was dedicated to the heroine leaving her rooms and walking to a pub, for instance. Other significant segments were dedicated to describing meals, and yet the conversations and plot developments were basically told to us, rather than shown as evolving. And the police investigation, led by the appropriately non-white chief inspector (because it's the new millennium after all and we gotta show non-white people in leadership positions) was so thinly drawn it was almost non-existent.

Finally, the end of the book ... it was definitely consistent with the kind of ending we saw in 'The Silent Patient' but in this instance, it felt like one of those fireworks that screech loudly as they ascend, only to offer a lackluster sputter of sparks that are quickly extinguished. I think this author is going to produce much better work in the future. He definitely knocked it out of the park with his debut. But this one barely connected for me. If I had to say why, it would be for all the reasons above, but the fatal flow for me was the inadequate use of the main hook-The Maidens were little more than window-dressing. He never quite delivered on the promise of an exciting novel featuring the weird goings on with an insular, mysterious group of beautiful acolytes of a charismatic professor. By the end of the book, you'll barely remember their names and know little of their personalities. I'll await and read his next one, but this one I'm sure will not be remembered as a favorite.

Audiobook Note: I got the audiobook from Netgalley. The narrator is very good. Moody, well-modulated for the main character, and very measured with male voices which is a must for female narrators.

The Maidens is a psychological thriller with many twist and turns. This is my first book by Alex Michaelides, his storytelling did not disappoint. The story had me guessing all the way until the end. I listen to the audiobook and the narrators did an excellent job. Thank you @NetGalley, @MacmillionAudio and @AlexMichaelides for the advance audiobook for my honest review.