The Maidens

2 or 3? 2 or 3? I was so conflicted, but in the end, I landed in the middle. That said, I would still rate it “worth reading” because I understand why some people loved it. Also, part of me knows I am judging this one extra harshly because I had crazy high expectations. This book was named a Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2021, so I was really pulling it apart as I read.

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The Maidens, by Alex Michaelides is a unique blend of mythology and modern times, but it fell short. Overall, the twist at the end was exciting, but it just wasn’t enough to make this great. 

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This book, like a few others that I’ve read recently, relies too heavily on suspense/mystery tropes and tactics that are overdone. The mystery, the short chapters, a quick pace, the red herrings… all of the elements are there, but they are surface-level at best and do nothing to drive the plot or add depth to the characters. 

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The execution was just lacking, and that may be because I had high expectations, but really the first 90% of the book was all about telling us what was happening rather than showing us. Because of that I just didn’t feel invested or transported.

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Let’s start with the unreliable narrator. Mariana’s character was so underdeveloped (that’s what makes her unreliable). She did questions herself a few times… but who doesn’t? That didn’t make her overly complex. The only thing that we truly discover about Mariana is that she is floundering without her late husband. The driving force behind her character (her emotionally distant, absent father) which is the whole explanation behind how she didn’t see what was right in front of her, is hardly even explained. A few mentions here and there and one conversation with her therapist are all we get. This is a crucial point —the explanation for her actions and the source of shock at the end of the book— and it’s grazed over like a minor detail. 

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Not to mention Mariana’s absolutely ridiculous habit of skimming over her own emotions and inner conflict. The moment she begins to question things or feel something, she immediately shuts it down with “I can’t think about this now”, or “I need a distraction.” How are we supposed to believe that she’s a therapist? I’m so confused by this habit. 

I was very excited for the dark academia aesthetic, but I don't feel like I was transported to the setting or into the story.

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The best parts of the book were when the author tied in the mythological elements. Mariana's connection with Persephone is complex and my favorite part of the book.

I read this pretty fast, so the pace is there in some ways, but these chapters were bizarre. Short chapters are meant to serve a purpose, like to move the plot along or create tension. But these just ended mid-scene, with no tie-in to the overall themes of the book, and just picked right back up in the next chapter. If anything, this really takes you out of the scene and does nothing to transport the reader. 

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The red herrings! It wouldn’t be a “whodunit” if there weren’t a few suspicious characters. But there are so many random, bizarre characters introduced briefly, with little to no background, to raise suspicion, and then essentially faded to black.

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Henry’s character, for example, was such a huge missed opportunity. First of all, Mariana is a terrible doctor. She doesn’t report his self-harm, abandons him, knows that he is stalking her, and does… absolutely nothing. Henry served his purpose of a red herring and then the author and Mariana ditched him. Also, what about the angry stage manager, Morris, the other Maidens, Zoe, and Edward Fosca? I did not like the idea of suspecting every single character, it made them all difficult to connect to and took away from the shock.

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The one-dimensional characters. Did anyone else feel detached? These are young women, who are being taken advantage of by their professor, and there’s nothing about them — beyond their looks and their petty, mean girl behavior — that is further explored. They’re surface-level, sexist characters, that embody every stereotypical mean girl that’s ever been written in the history of all history.

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The twist at the end. It was exciting and I think it’s the only thing that is going to linger in my mind from this book. At that point though, even that twist couldn’t completely save this one for me. This is a decent mystery with a surprise twist, but seriously lacking in every other area.