Book Review: The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

Happy Thursday bookish people! I’m very excited that today is my spot on the book tour for The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. Thank you to Anne Cater and Weidenfeld and Nicolson for sending me a copy of this book to read and review for this tour.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

The Maidens Plot:

I’ll start by saying that I almost had to put this book down because of how easily drawn into the world I became. I could feel the dark atmosphere, the fear and the rising tension. The plot was beautifully intricate in a way that had me constantly guessing about what was going to happen next. I am very glad that I didn’t stop reading because the ending – and the final reveal – was very satisfying for me as a reader. I did have a suspicion of the who and the why but the author of this book cleverly interwove the plot with red herrings. I always enjoy a book that has me guessing, it gives me a lot of anticipation for how a story will end.

The Maidens Characters:

Alex Michaelides has managed to create a variety of well explored characters who all have an element of mystery surrounding them. I found that I was suspicious of almost every character at some point and although this was great for the suspense and the psychological parts of the novel, however, because of this I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters in the way I like to be when reading.

The Maidens Writing and Dialogue:

I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. It flowed well and I felt that every part of the story worked better because of Alex Michaelides’ writing style.

The Maidens Overall:

I gave this book four stars because I think it is an excellent psychological novel that I enjoyed reading. I found it a bit too dark for my personal taste but I enjoyed branching out into a slightly different genre than I usually read.

Blurb/Synopsis:

From the author of the global #1 bestselling debut The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding literary thriller which weaves together Greek mythology, psychology, and murder…

St Christopher’s College, Cambridge, is a closed world to most.

For Mariana Andros – a group therapist struggling through her private grief – it’s where she met her late husband. For her niece, Zoe, it’s the tragic scene of her best friend’s murder.

As memory and mystery entangle Mariana, she finds a society full of secrets, which has been shocked to its core by the murder of one of its own.

Because behind its idyllic beauty is a web of jealousy and rage which emanates from an exclusive set of students known only as The Maidens. A group under the sinister influence of the enigmatic professor Edward Fosca.

A man who seems to know more than anyone about the murders – and the victims. And the man who will become the prime suspect in Mariana’s investigation – an obsession which will unravel everything…

The Maidens is a story of love, and of grief – of what makes us who we are, and what makes us kill.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!