After highly enjoying "The Silent Patient" I was excited to read this author's next thriller. As well as the Greek mythology aspect heighten my interest. But unfortunately this story did not work for me. I felt like it had great potential but I did not enjoy the execution or direction of the story.

I think my biggest challenge was having to believe that a psychotherapist decides to play detective and drop all her work / patients for the murder of her niece's college friend. And that she divulges all her findings to a man she literally just met.

I wish there had more interaction with the "Maidans" throughout the story as I felt they were only on the sidelines and barely the focus. The secret group seemed to be much more interesting story to explore.

I do also have a minor pet peeve I want to mention. More than once they referred to Persephone as the Goddess of death. To my knowledge this is not accurate, she is the Goddess of spring. Being wife of Hades she is Queen of the underworld. But even he was not the God of death (that would be Thanatos). I even looked it up while reading to clarify and could find no reference to Persephone being called the goddess of death. It is a small thing but as this a story that was suppose to have heavy greek mythology influence I was disappointed in the inaccuracies.

Wow!!! Alex Michaelides has another winner! Marianna is a widowed psychotherapist that receives a call from her niece, Zoey, that her friend Tara was found murdered at their school. Marianna goes to Zoey and is convinced their professor Edward Fousca is guilty. OR is he?

Marianna meets a group of young women associated with the Professor that is link to a second murder at the University.

Really enjoyed this. I could have done without all the Greek history which lost me a bit, but BOY what a twist at the end I did not expect.

From the author of the silent patient comes another edge of your seat thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end.

This is not my normal genre of book but I was hooked from the beginning and did not figure out who did it until it was revealed. I recommend this book for any fans of psychological thrillers looking for a great read.

This was not quite as good as the silent patient, but it was still a decent story line. I disliked the main character and how obsessive she was. I also found the twist a little unbelievable. While I suspected the person who was behind the murders, the reasoning for it was not really plausible to me. I think the author set the bar too high with The Silent Patient, it will be hard to live up to that book.

Well I didn’t see THAT coming. I liked this book even better than the Silent Patient. This author is really really good and keeping you guessing until the end. I listened to the audiobook version and there were two narrators and I finished this yesterday and JUST NOW realized who one of the narrators character is! Mind blown!

I really did not enjoy this title. However, that's not to say that it's not a good book. I think that Alex Michaelides is a great author, and he has garnered many fans since published "The Silent Patient." I just don't think plot-driver thrillers are for me. For this reason, I will give it four stars, and of course recommend it to patrons looking for a superb thriller.

I really enjoyed the audio performance of this story but the storyline was just okay for me. After reading The Silent Patient and loving it, I was expecting more and this one just didn't compare.

Mariana is trying to work through her grief after losing her husband, Sebastian. When her niece calls from University to say her friend has disappeared and fearing she may be dead, Mariana immediately goes to her. She is quickly engulfed in the investigation and decides Professor Fosca, surrounded by his female groupies known as The Maidens, is the murderer.

I did really enjoy the twist at the end and how it all came together but found there were too many unrelated details and stories going on as well. I look forward to whatever comes next from Alex Michaelides.

I was very happy and excited to get a chance to listen to this audio. I think having high hopes made this a big disappointment. The twist wasn't worth the deception of the title and the extra "plot lines" that had no relevance to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley for an audio-ARC of The Maidens by Alex Michaelides.
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides is a suspenseful mystery filled with links to Greek mythology that frames a serial killer in a world of tragedy. As Mariana tries to prove and convict the man she knows to be the murderer, she becomes the next target. The plot twist and red herrings add to the intrigue of the book. I enjoyed listening to the audio version of this novel. The narrator's voice added to the mystery and tone of the story. The Maidens is the first novel by Alex Michaelides I've read and have since added The Silent Patient to my list of books to read.

I received the audio book of The Maidens free via NetGalley. The Maidens was a highly anticipated read after the roller coaster that was the Silent Patient, so admittedly, I went in with higher expectations and was disappointed at the end. I thought the narration was done very well, but the content of this book, with all the Greek and the mythology did make this one a bit harder for me to follow along with. There were times I struggled to keep track of some of the characters, but I don't fault the narrator of the audio for this. Most of the book left me feeling underwhelmed, though I did not see the twist coming AT ALL. I can see this being a hit with lovers of mythology that would have a better background context and understanding. Overall, entertaining, but not as memorable as The Silent Patient!

This book kept me wondering who the killer is. Once I figure out the killer in a murder mystery the book starts to become dull and predictable to me. This book, on the other hand, had me keep guessing. I thought I had it figured out and then I started wondering about a different person. I never did guess the killer and was very impressed with this book and the authors writing. I am looking forward to reading more of Alex's books.

This was all the way unexpected. I had at least 7 different theories when reading and they were all wrong. With so many characters and all the red herrings, I had a bit of trouble remembering who was who at first mention throughout the book. I found the storyline pretty fascinating and though I’m not particularly interested in Greek tragedy and other classic literature, I did feel like I gained some perspective on the stories mentioned in the book.

I enjoyed Mariana’s character development in particular. While the therapy speak may be off-putting for some, I found it fascinating. She was portrayed in a positive light as a group therapist who sought out supervision when needed and maintained proper boundaries. In the end, she didn’t sacrifice her own healing for others. She only took steps towards forgiveness and the healing of others involved when she was ready.

The Maidens was another good, interesting read from Alex Michaelides. Maintaining the level of praise from The Silent Patient will be a challenge but I still felt this book had some good aspects of mystery, suspense, and twists. I enjoyed the subtle connection to The Silent Patient and I hope his next book does the same with The Maidens. This author’s characters really tell the story of his books and I look forward to his next one.

The narrator of the audiobook was ok but I preferred to read the ebook more.

I completely enjoyed this audiobook. Well narrated and fast paced twisty plot. Perfect for commuter listening.

There must be so much pressure for your second book, when your debut was as huge as The Silent Patient. I know as a reader I have desperately been waiting for the author’s next book....it’s impossible to not compare it to the first and I have tried to separate them for this review.

Unfortunately, this book was a huge letdown for me. The premise sounded intriguing, the author’s previous blow my mind writing had me all sorts of excited for this one. The plot had so many loopholes and was just not realistic. I’m saddened that the writing was sloppy.

I did have one jaw dropping moment with this book, but after a couple minutes the shock wore off and even the big twist didn’t work for me.

The cameo from The Silent Patient was neat, but I will admit I missed it - until I heard about it from someone else. Whether I just didn’t clue in, or I was just too checked out to care, I’m not sure.

What makes a thriller so enjoyable is the little sprinkling of clues - some may be red herrings but others are small slivers of truth. If you are astute enough, you can weed out the real clues and figure everything out before the end (or things may become obvious in hindsight after a big reveal, which in many ways is just as fun). The Maidens doesn’t give you that chance. There are “clues” galore, but when the story reaches its conclusion, the resolution is completely out of left field. It’s a clever enough twist, but a lazy one since it’s easy to create a “wait what?!” moment when you never even hinted at a suspect. The story had a chance to be great, I love the concept of a mystery steeped in ancient history and mythology, but it fell flat.

Plus, I knocked an entire star off for the heavy handed references to The Silent Patient. One allusion/parallel with a similar creepy stalking scene was great. But when you bring in actual characters from your unrelated novel not once but TWICE in scenes that added exactly zero to the story, it felt desperate. “Hey remember me, I wrote a great book! Please like this one too.” Ick.

Thank you NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

After the infamous “ The Silent Patient”, Alex Michaelides comes up with a brand new novel this year.

The Maidens has a lot of parallels with the silent patient. A psychotherapist as a protagonist , the Greek mythology references, the emphasis on childhood. It feels like Alex was very hesitant to deviate farther away from his debut. Still , The Maidens felt different.

Mariana, a psychotherapist rushes to Cambridge to support her niece Zoey, whose friend Tara is brutally murdered on the campus. On arriving there , she suspects the American professor Edward Fosca is the murderer. Edward Fosca is always surrounded by his secret society female students, called the Maidens and Tara is one of them. What starts as a suspicion, becomes a bit of an obsession for Mariana as the other members of the maidens get murdered as well. Was Mariana able to prove that he was the killer ?

This book is definitely a slow burn , it takes its time establishing the characters and moves rather slowly on the first half. Once it picks up , the story keeps you intrigued.Mariana is an interesting character who is struggling to be there for her niece while dealing with her own grief. What i liked about the maidens is it’s Greek tragedy references and how it plays into the whole story. This was the case with the silent patient as well.

However, I felt there were lots of things just written as a deviation and they weren’t completely tied up at the end. In a whodunnit, it feels like a bit of cheating. And I did not guess the ending at all, which was good .

Though it’s not as good as it’s predecessor, The Maidens is definitely a solid thriller.

Thanks to McMillan Audio for the ARC of the audiobook. I think it was brilliantly produced and the narrator was great .

"The Maidens" by Alex Michaelides is a psychological thriller with dark-academia vibes that follows Mariana Andros, a psychotherapist who specializes in group therapy, as she investigates a string of related murders in Cambridge. Drawn to the murders by the relationship of her niece Zoe to one of the victims, Mariana begins to suspect Edward Fosca, a charismatic professor of Greek Tragedy who has a loyal following of female students he calls "The Maidens."

While I read Alex Michaelides's debut novel "The Silent Patient" last year, I wasn't much impressed. I thought the book was very readable but overall bland and predictable. Therefore, I wasn't expecting to pick up this one. That was before I saw the gorgeous cover and read the synopsis, which both got me hooked. Since I was auto-approved on NetGalley for the ALC, I decided to give it a shot.

What Michaelides does very well is writing short chapters that are very readable, making his books very quick reads. This was also true of my experience reading "The Silent Patient." I think this a quality of his writing since I read "The Silent Patient" in print and "The Maidens" on audio and finish them both in about a day of reading. I liked the incorporation of Greek mythology elements, particularly since I've been binging Greek mythology retellings this year.

I also quite enjoyed the narrator, particularly the female voice. I thought her voice was pleasant and contributed to the development of the story, and she was very easy to listen to.

However, while it had an interesting premise and was a fast read, this book was a bit bland and, at times, underdeveloped. I also didn't quite care for any of the characters, and their motivations were either too superficial or too contrived. Many of the male characters seemed very cartoony, and the instances of actual predator and stalker behavior were never fully discussed as they were just glossed over by the main character. Many side characters were also introduced as red herrings, and I thought there were too many red herrings in this book that didn't really serve their intended purpose as my initial inkling proved to be correct.

Nevertheless, while I don't think this book was for me, I'm sure I will be in the minority. I would also probably recommend this book for fans of Greek mythology retellings who want to start getting into the thriller genre.

"Childhood is a reactive experience. Meaning that in order to experience empathy for another human being, we must first be shown empathy by our parents and caregivers."
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An invincible Greek Tragedy professor, mysterious ritualistic murders, and an obsessed therapist with a troubling past of her own? Count me in!

This was my first novel by Alex Michaelides and certainly will not be my last. I thought I knew who the murderer was, but Alex Michaelides included so many twists and turns that I never truly saw it coming when the true murderer was revealed. The chapters were short and switched between various POVs adding another aspect that kept me engaged and wanting to read on. I don't typically read thrillers, but I truly enjoyed the suspense and the mystery that this one brought and look forward to reading more from him!

The female narrator, Louise Brealey, was really engaging and did a great job. The male narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, was truly phenomenal. Kobna's narration was so powerful and eerie it really added to the layers of suspense that were building. Throughout the entire novel I was easily able to transition from advanced listening copy to the physical review copy I had received which was a huge plus. Together the two narrators truly brought the story to life sweeping me away to Cambridge making this such an enjoyable listening experience.

Thank you Macmillan Audio, Celadon Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review this book in return for an honest review!
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Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(4)/5

Intriguing tale, with excellent pacing and good mystery vibes. Twists were unexpected which I love. Found it hard sometimes to sympathise with main character which made it a four star read for me. Loved the connections to the previous story, very well done. Audio narration was excellent.