The audiobook is fantastic and I greatly enjoyed the narrator. The story is haunting and chilling. Greatly executed with the writing, the pace of the story, and it was very cozy to listen to.

After reading The Silent Patient, I thought I was prepared for another Michaelides twisty, head-turning thriller. I thought I would have him ALL figured out.

Boy, was I wrong!

I kept a journal entry going throughout my reading, noting suspects and clues, to track my thinking. I analyzed and over-analyzed. It didn't matter. He still fooled me!

I liked this novel better than The Silent Patient. And that's saying something.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and Macmillan Audio for an early copy to listen and review.

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Group Therapist Mariana, still reeling and grieving from the sudden, tragic death of her husband, is thrust into even more trauma when her niece Zoe calls from Cambridge University. Her best friend has been viciously murdered and she suspects her professor, Edward Fosca, is the culprit. She is terrified.

In a game of cat and mouse, Zoe and Mariana begin investigating the murder on their own. When more victims turn up, the clues consistently point straight to the handsome, charming Fosca, but he always has an alibi provided by the Maidens. This group of female students form a protective barrier around their mentor, shielding him from questions - and outsiders. The cult-like atmosphere doesn't sit well with Mariana, and she suspects more goes on during this small group study sessions.

Mariana is on a mission to bring Fosca to justice, and save the lives of his future victim. But will it cost her her own?

I received this audiobook thanks to @NetGalley and Macmillian Audio.

I was so excited to get to read this one, but it just didn't live up to my expectations like I thought it would. I read The Silent Patient and really enjoyed that one, but something was missing for me in this book. This was definitely a slow burn with a seemingly obvious murderer. It wasn't until I was about 70% of the way through that I actually was wanting to listen to the book-the rest of the time, I had to force myself to get through it. The twist at the end wasn't all that twisty to me; I can't say I saw it coming, but it didn't have the shock factor that I was hoping to receive. I appreciated the crossover worlds of The Silent Patient and The Maidens, something I wasn't expecting but was fun.

I may have enjoyed this novel better had I read it instead of listened to it-I wasn't the biggest fan of the narrator. Her voice tended to tire me out quickly, something that I believe contributed to me not wanting to listen to this audiobook for more than 10-15 minutes at a time at first. The man's voice reading certain chapters of the book was a welcome change, and his voice fit his role perfectly.

All in all, this book was okay, but it wasn't what I was hoping it would be. Give it a try, maybe it's for you.

If you liked Alex Michaelides' previous book The Silent Patient you will enjoy The Maidens too. It's twisty, suspenseful, and sure to leave you guessing right up until the end. Centered around Greek tragedy, and specifically the story of Persephone and Demeter this book brings history into a modern day setting. The London college setting is creepy and atmospheric at times, and comforting at others. The characters are fleshed out enough to give true emotions when reading about them - some provoking sympathy, some exasperation, and others give you a creepy, slimy feeling. I especially appreciated the link to The Silent Patient, but don't worry if you haven't read that one it will not impact your understanding of this story at all. It was simply a nice Easter egg for those who had read the author's previous work.

The audiobook narrators did a great job in telling the story, and the use of two distinct voices really added to the telling. Having a gruff male voice to offset the practiced therapeutic female truly enhanced the listening.

Ultimately if you're looking for a thrilling read to get lost in this is one you should consider picking up.

As a HUGE fan of Silent Patient, I might've gone into this one with too high of expectations -- which in my experience, is never a great idea. The Maidens was a page-turning thriller that you will not be able to put down. The way that the book was written made you continually question the characters and what was happening in the plot. It truly was well-written, but in my opinion the plot fell flat during the last 25% of the book. Without giving too much detail, I wish that the book would've gone in a different direction or that there was more character development. I would recommend this book to those who like mysteries/thrillers, however, it doesn't rank high up on my list like Silent Patient.

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for this free ALC. I really enjoyed The Silent Patient and loved the twist at the end. I was very much looking forward to The Maidens but had heard mixed reviews. I enjoyed the story although I am not really familiar with the Greek myths. That didn't throw me off too much. I enjoyed the twist in this, but would have liked a little more closure in the end. Also had heard there was a tie-in to The Silent Patient, and I was worried that I would miss it since it's been a minute since I've read it. I did catch it so that made me happy! I will definitely read more Michaelides. The narrators were great and really enjoyed them both.

DNF at 20%. I found it dull and didn't care about the story, plus there were lots of characters to keep track of. The audiobook narration was decent, it didn't cause me to quit or compelled me to keep going. Fans of the author's previous novel may want to give this one a try. I didn't love that one either (Although I did finish it on audio.)

I absolutely loved The Silent Patient, and was curious if Alex Michaelides would be able to pull off another amazing novel. He did not disappoint!

This cat and mouse storyline mixed with Greek mythology had me engaged by the first page. Much like The Silent Patient I was on the edge of my seat and I did not see the ending coming.

In my opinion, Alex Michaelides has proven that he is not a one trick pony. I plan on reading anything he writes!

If I could have given more then 5 stars… I would have.

Thank you to @netgalley, @celadonbooks, and @macmillan.audio for this advanced listening copy in exchange for my honest review!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Amidst the eerie backdrop of Cambridge, Mariana finds herself attempting to solve the murder of her niece's friend. Mariana is determined to catch the killer and Edward Fosca is Mariana's top suspect. An arrogant, yet brilliant Greek Tragedy professor, Fosca has wooed his female students with his charm and begun a secret society of intellectuals called the Maidens. A group of individuals who just happen to be all female. A group of individuals who just happen to keep showing up murdered...⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I really enjoyed The Maidens. There were pieces that didn't feel well executed IMO, but honestly it's hard to read thrillers that surprise and shock, while also maintaining a believability in every piece of info. So I'm not overly upset about some of the pitfalls in this read. I don't want to say too much, just that there were some detail reveals that weren't super satisfying.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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After seeing a bunch of “meh” reviews about this one, I was a bit nervous about what I was getting myself into, but I felt engaged and curious throughout this whole book. It doesn't have the same shock factor as The Silent Patient, but I enjoyed the entirety of this read even a bit more. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The setting was awesome, which definitely helped! I'm very into the creepy academia, but make it historic, vibe that I've been seeing in books lately. The characters weren't my favorite, but honestly characters in thrillers never are for me because they all end up being suspicious and creepy so that you doubt them throughout the story 😂 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Overall, some of the shock factor was a let down, but the plot engaged me, I kept guessing what would come next, and the setting added to the spookiness of the story! I liked this one.

I'll start off this review by saying that I enjoyed Michaelides' Silent Patient, even though I figured it out still having half of the book left. I also listened to the audio of that one. I listened to The Maidens in just a day and a half, I always listen at 1.25x speed or 1.50x speed. I was very excited for this book and also very let down.
The book felt meandering. Looking back now, I wish the blurb did not tease a secret society. We did not really get one, not really. I was bored with the Fosca character, as well as the increasing paranoia of Mariana. I think more background and information on the big twist at the end would be much more interesting than a paranoid woman (who works in psychiatry and should know better!!) jumping to conclusions with next to no information.

Alex Michaelides crafts an atmospheric thriller like few others, and that skill is used to terrific effect here. He sets this story in Cambridge, behind locked gates, in apartments and crowded pubs, and in standing room only lecture halls. Even the air feels oppressive at times, either dank or so thick with mist that you can bite it.

Still grieving the death of her husband a year ago, Mariana, a group therapist in London, leaves her patients to hurry to Cambridge to be with her niece Zoe, the only family member she has left. Zoe's best friend at school has been murdered, and Zoe is distraught. Before too long, Mariana becomes convinced that a mesmerizing and brilliant American professor, Edward Fosca, is the killer. She believes the detectives are pursuing the wrong suspects, so she begins her own investigation.

Michaelides populates his book with red herrings galore. Will you be shocked by the perpetrator? As with most crimes, it isn't necessarily the who so much as the why. The why shocked me. I listened to the audiobook first (narrator Kobna Holbrook-Smith does a fantastic job bringing Mariana and the other characters to life) and then read the ebook, needing to go back to find the clues I missed. I had suspected the culprit but couldn't parse why their motive.

All along, Michaelides drew me in with his descriptions of Cambridge. Some of the characters are a little too straight out of Central Casting, and the motive for our murderer was a HUGE bombshell that I'm not quite sure works, if only because you have to buy into something critical about another character (or two).

What I did like, though, was how Michaelides plays with the idea of memory and how our memories affect what we see now. When we use our past experiences--what we remember of them--as the lens through which we view and experience our present, how accurate are our assumptions? How accurate are our new experiences?

What did you think of this book? Hit up the comments and let me know.

4.5 🌟

I loved The Silent Patient, so I had high expectations for this one. Luckily it lived up to the hype!

I loved the dark academia vibe of The Maidens. Alex Michaelides did a fantastic job of painting the picture for this novel. I was drawn in from the start. The twists well-written and there were many red herrings that kept me guessing. The Easter eggs from The Silent Patient were an awesome addition to The Maidens as well. I also really enjoyed the Greek mythology throughout. The audiobook was a great way to consume this thriller, I highly recommend!

Alex set a high standard with The Silent Patient and I was curious to see what he will come up with after that. Frankly, he did not disappoint, but somehow it felt the story needed more.

Recently widowed Marianna Andros has lost everybody she has ever loved - everybody but her niece, Zoe, a student at Cambridge. When Zoe's friend Tara is savagely murdered on campus, psychotherapist Marianna is convinced the police nabbed the wrong guy. She becomes more and more involved, and more and more convinced the murderer is charismatic professor of Greek Classics, Edward Fosca. The first victim is one of "the Maidens" - a group of Fosca's favorite students, all pretty young girls. So is the second, and the third...

The novel is interspersed with the diary entries from an unnamed man, which really drives up the creepy factor. We know early on that someone is involved here who is really damaged and deranged. As Marianna becomes closer and closer to the truth - and more obsessed - she puts herself in more and more dangerous situations that had me very frustrated with her, but also very tense and unable to stop reading.

The novel is very atmospheric and suspenseful, and I enjoyed the forays into the psychology and Greek tragedy. Besides being interesting, Michaelides uses them to set up plenty of red herrings and plenty of clues. The effects of trauma and abuse are the main subjects here, and they don't just point us in the direction of the killer, but make us wonder if Marianna is really seeing things clearly.

I actually enjoyed this more than the Silent Patient. Cambridge is a more interesting setting, and even though Marianna is obsessed with Fosca, the focus here isn't just on him. Some characters and places from The Silent Patient make some appearances in the Maidens, which was a cool surprise. I hope the author does that again with Marianna, because I honestly find myself wondering how she manages to go on after the events in the story.

Some reviewers might find the book - and it's big twist - unrealistic. For instance, no college today would allow the kind of relationship Fosca had with his students. The twist was actually something wondered about and then wondered about myself for even thinking it. I was in the mood for a thriller and was totally able to just go with it and enjoy the ride.

I listened to the audio version, and the narration was excellent. Thanks to Macmillan Audio for an advance review copy of The Maidens in exchange for my honest review.

Michaelides has done it again.

I read The Silent Patient back in 2019. It was shocking and engrossing, so I had high expectations for Michaelides’ latest work.

They were most certainly met.

The mix of psychology, murder mystery, and Greek mythology is the perfect blend for a thriller, especially when written with such crisp, vivid prose.

Docking a star because occasionally, I couldn’t suspend my disbelief — I don’t think any police investigation would tolerate a random psychotherapist playing detective. The book was also bit slow at times (but ended with a bang). Short chapters kept it moving most of the time, though.

Very rarely does a book make me gasp out loud — this one did. If you love mysteries and thrillers, this is a must-read!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The Maidens is the follow-up novel to Alex’s 2019 debut and bestseller, The Silent Patient, another brilliant thriller! I wasn’t sure The Maidens could live up to that one, but it met the high expectations! I also enjoyed that we got a bit of character overlap from The Silent Patient!

Mariana is a group therapist who is still struggling with the loss of her husband a year prior. She gets a startling call from niece Zoe at Cambridge University saying a student and possible friend of hers has been murdered. To support Zoe, Mariana returns to Cambridge, bringing up painful memories from where she and her husband first met.

When another student is found dead, Mariana has no choice but to stay and assist with the investigation. From there, she meets Edward Fosca, a Greek Tragedy professor whom Maria is convinced is guilty. Mariana becomes obsessed with proving his guilt and, in the process, puts herself in danger…

Louise Brealey did most of the narration for the audiobook, and I found her voice so captivating! Also, this book had super short chapters, which are my FAVORITE. Highly recommend this one, a haunting novel, and another great release from Celadon Books. Alex Michaelides is absolutely a must-read author for me now!

Ever since I read The Silent Patient I have been waiting for Alex Michaelides to written another book. The Maidens, his second book, did not live up to the first. Maybe it was a high bar. It was OK. It was not as entrancing and encompassing as his first. I could not like the characters. The Who in The Who Done It was pretty obvious and most of the details seemed an homage to his college. Sure, I liked college, but it was a long time ago. I did like the call back to the first book. I kept hoping for more. Perhaps that is why I was disappointed. The book itself wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t exceptional.

Someone is killing innocent teen girls, but no one knows who or why.

I really enjoyed the short chapters while reading The Maidens, which made for a quick read. However, I did find the story to be boring most of the time. I also found it to be predictable. I did enjoy the Greek vibes in this. I couldn’t really connect with the characters. I also didn’t understand why the main character, who is a therapist, oversteps her boundaries with her clients.

I enjoyed the audiobook! I found it to be easy to follow along with as I was reading and I could keep up with the story if I wasn’t reading along!

I was able to listen to the audiobook thanks to @macmillan.audio and @celadonbooks. The British accents of the narrators definitely transport you to Cambridge and immerse you in the mystery right away. That’s one of my favorite parts of audiobooks!


Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting with this one, but it left me wanting a bit more. Don’t get me wrong- it was fast paced and I finished it in a day, so that’s always a plus for me with thrillers. Definitely recommend for those looking for a quick summer read, those university mystery settings, and some Greek mythology thrown in!


Thank you to @celadonbooks for my gifted ARC and @macmillan.audio for the gifted ALC!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for my audiobook copy of The Maidens by Alex Michaelides in exchange for an honest review. It publishes today, June 15, 2021.
I can totally understand the hype behind this book, however, it just wasn't my cup of tea. I felt left-behind on the Greek Mythology stuff, (although that's my own ignorance, not up the the author to educate me on those stories), and that made parts of the book hard to follow. But if you have basic knowledge of Greek Mythology, or can pick up on it quicker than me, (you most likely do, or can), this shouldn't be a barrier for you.
I had a hard time liking the main character, for a long time it felt like she was just going to spend most of the time turning guys down after they hit on her. I was hoping for more psychology, but was left wanting.
I can totally see why this book is, and will continue to be so popular. The mystery itself was good, and I did not see that twist coming one bit, and that definitely is huge!
Trigger Warning: Sex, violence, lots of Greek Mythology related violence/sex/etc., language, drug use, suicide.