I'm very bummed about this book. I loved "The Silent Patient," but this didn't even feel like it was written by the same author.

There are several things that I struggled with in this book. The main one is the MC Mariana. She is the equivalent of Bella Swan. She is weak, she cannot get over the loss of her husband, and she is not a very nice person. I understand a person is supposed to grieve over the loss of a loved one, but come on, this was too much and it took over most of the book. Mariana is a therapist, you would think she would be a little better with coping or at least know to get some help. I listened to the audio version and I couldn't handle listening to her breathy character either.

I also struggled with all of the other characters. They were all unlikable and no one could see that there was something wrong with Professor Fosca. I still don't understand how Mariana decided to investigate this murder. She is the least likely candidate to do this.

I found learning about some of the Greek pieces very interesting, but I wish there was more. I think that would have added some value to the story instead of Mariana moping about her husband. This would have definitely help make the book less slow.

I do still plan to read his next book. I hope it is more like "The Silent Patient."

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed Alex Michaelides writing and the setting of this book. I felt the descriptions of the places Mariana was in were very vivid and I could easily picture her surroundings. I also felt like I got good character development out of Mariana and understood her pretty well.

Unfortunately, I did not feel the same for the other characters in the story and felt that there was so much missing. I wanted to understand Zoe, Sebastian, Foska, Fred and even Morris so much more than I did. I often did not understand why they did anything or what their true motivations were.

I also struggled with the ending as there wasn't much closure and I felt like the killer was fairly obvious from early on so I expected to understand why they did what they did by the end. The explanation and reasoning just fell kind of flat for me and I felt there should have been more to it.

I really loved most of the book but the ending was just terrible. It ruined the book for me. I loved the mythology aspect of this book and the main character was just so intriguing but the pacing did not work for me.

I loved The Maidens. The narrators were perfect. I did not see the twist coming. Love the connection to The Silent Patient.

I really loved Alex Michaelides book, The Silent Patient, so I was eager to read/listen to The Maidens. Unfortunately, this book was not a good fit for me. I felt the pace of the book was jus too slow to hold my interested.

This book was not good. The premise was interesting but doesn't play out the way you would expect and ended up being quite dissapointing.

Well I’m glad that the last two hours Alex showed back up. The first half of the book is a sllllllllloooooww burn. His brilliance shows through yet again.

I didn't enjoy this as much as the Silent Patient. However it is a solid read and I didn't guess the ending.. Loved seeing a character from the Silent Patient make an appearance .The narrator did a great job.

This was a perfect mixture of all my favorite novel elements- a who done it meets Greek mythology. Alex Michaelides is a fantastic writer and this story will stay with me for quite a while.

I am a fan of Alex's writing. I was quite into this book and found it to be intriguing but in the end it fell flat for me.

I thought that the narrator of this audiobook did a fantastic job. It was a quick listen, but a kind of let down after The Silent Patient.

This one was just O.K. for me. While I didn’t enjoy it as much as The Silent Patient, I will say that the dark academia, grotesque crimes and psychological suspense nailed the creepy atmosphere.

Thank you NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

A string of murders happen at Cambridge University. Who is the culprit?

I really enjoyed this book, although I didn't like the ending too much.

Another interesting read by This author. While this storyline was a slow build I loved the narration! Page turning and kept me guessing as well as loving the characters!

After The Silent Patient, I was dying to read this author's next book. However, The Maidens fell short. There were certainly elements that I enjoyed. The narrative flowed and I wanted to keep reading. The narrator was excellent.
However, the big reveal left me disappointed. I don't like when a completely sane and normal person just turns into a psycho killer in the last 5 minutes. It's just too much of a reach. I will definitely check out this author's next work though.

Alex Michaelides’ “The Silent Patient” is a favorite of mine so I was very excited to read “The Maidens”. Mariana’s niece calls her terrified because girls from this group called The Maidens keep dying, and all things point to a well known and well liked professor, Edward Fosca. But Mariana can’t let it go. This had some great twists and turns and I had no idea how it was going to end!! Highly recommend this one!

Barely scraped 5 stars, but somehow I'm okay with it? I'm still sitting on this one, so subject to change, but I really enjoyed it. The atmosphere was top notch. I loved the Greek references and campus atmosphere. While Mariana kind of grated on my nerves, her character made sense. Even the ending, I initially hated, but after thinking about it, it made sense in context. Overall, if you want an atmospheric, engaging thriller, I definitely recommend giving this one a go. Leaps and bounds better than the Silent Patient in my opinion.

The narrator was great. I'm not sure how she pronounced all that greek. I didn't love the male narrator, but he wasn't present enough to bother me. I highly recommend this on audio.

The Maidens follows the story of Mariana, a group therapist, who becomes obsessed with the murder of one of her niece's best friends at college.

Hmmm... I think I can officially say I am not an Alex Michaelides fan. I didn't care for The Silent Patient and didn't care for The Maidens either! I really disliked how he portrays women and their thoughts (Mariana was also so annoying and out of line), the number of plotholes, and how rushed the ending was. I also thought he put too much time into trying to throw us off the scent of who the murderer was when it was actually pretty obvious! I did, however, love the character crossovers from The Silent Patient. Ultimately, I think I would've enjoyed the book a lot more if he had edited it down into a short novella.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CREo5FhrKP2/

Mariana’s life is flipped upside down when her niece Zoe calls from Cambridge University with the news that her friend has been murdered. As Zoe’s legal guardian after the death of her parents when she was young, Mariana rushed to Cambridge to comfort Zoe. Mariana, a therapist that is still struggling with the recent death of her husband, is immediately put on guard after meeting American professor Edward Fosca. As a charismatic professor of Greek Tragedy, Fosca has a following of all female students he has selected to be part of a secret society called The Maidens. Mariana gets herself deeper and deeper into the murder investigation and is more and more certain of Fosca‘s guilt every day, especially after a second body is found.

After reading The Silent Patient, I was super excited to read The Maidens by Alex Michaelides! This was a quick and fast paced book that takes you on a ride. It’s told in dual point of view - Mariana’s and an unknown man who is deeply disturbed. I really enjoy Michaelides writing style. I think he has good character development and his writing makes it easy to read. He weaves poetry and Greek mythology seamlessly into this story.

For me, the ending fell a little flat. I had higher hopes for the motive behind the attacks. However, I still think it was a fun read.

I loved The Silent Patient, really excited for The Maidens with a fervent hope that it would be just as twisty and fun. The Maidens was a great listen and provided a great deal of twists, but as with most sophomore novels by domestic thriller writers, it’s hard to overcome the hype of your first book. Things I liked: the narration of the audiobook was very good, the book was fast-paced and didn’t drag. The touches of Greek lore was interesting. I liked the main character. Things I wasn't crazy about: The final chapters seemed to be rushed. Without giving too much away, I really wish we had time to develop the villain’s motivation a little bit more. Although the ending was good, I wanted to hear more about the motivation of the villain and to not have it seem so rushed. I still plan to read anything Michaelides writes in the future.