The Maidens: The Dark Academia Thriller from the author of TikTok sensation The Silent Patient

The setting is Cambridge, a picture postcard city, which houses one of the most sought after universities in the country. Its locations are idyllic with beautifully manicured gardens, open forecourts and buildings with historical spires and turrets abound. Charming until a young and beautiful female student is found murdered. There is no shortage of novels that draw their inspiration from Greek mythology and tragedies that were told hundreds of years ago, but Alex Michaelides makes it integral to the plot and expertly weaves Greek tragedy through the book and in the depiction of its characters. Mariana the main female protagonist in the book, is herself a tragic heroine. Mariana met her adoring husband in Cambridge but her life was turned upside down with the unexpected death of Sebastian in a freak swimming accident. Still coming to terms with the loss of her husband Mariana is dragged back to Cambridge to support her niece Zoe whose friend was murdered with no obvious motive or suspect. As she steps back into the Cambridge Mariana’s unease is heightened when she is faced with hushed conversations, whisperings and a reluctance from the students to talk about what the death of their friend. Even her own niece is hiding something. Mariana, now a Group Therapist is encouraged to subtlety help with the investigation, although reluctant at first, she does agree to stay in support of her niece. After all its just a few days !!! Mariana detects something sinister in the central male character, Edward Fosca, who is a handsome and charismatic professor, of Greek Methodology and Tragedy. Her dislike of Edward intensifies when his god like status becomes apparent with his cult following from a group of female students, known as the Maidens. The adoration is not shaken when Mariana places him as prime suspect and does nothing to hide her suspicions, if anything Mariana finds herself even more isolated, for having dared question the revered Professors reputation and high moral standing. Mariana also finds herself in trouble with the police for her apparent meddling and told to leave Cambridge. However, with the death of 2 more maidens and calling cards with quotes from Greek mythology, Marina decides to stay and solve the murders. In doing so Mariana starts to confront her own demons, feelings of vulnerability and uncertainty and starts to write her own chapters in her book called life. There is no shortage of drama and potential suspects, which just added to the suspense and kept us guessing until the end of the book. I love books where the ending is not obvious. I read the Silent Patient and can now say I am a fan of Alex Michaelides. This was a brilliant book for me, it had the crime, thriller with the backdrop of Greek mythology. Not wanting to show my age, I studied Greek methodology at school - it was a long time ago. I would highly recommend

I love the “vibes” of this book, it was a cosy thriller that I was invested in from the first chapter. The twists in this were great and the characters were very interesting. I don’t think it was the most groundbreaking book I’ve ever read and the main character certainly acted in some questionable ways; the characters weren’t hugely developed and it definitely felt like certain characteristics/plot drivers were a bit of an afterthought, but I was happy to go along for the ride. This book is dark academia in the literal sense that it’s dark and twisted whilst set in a university but the darkness of the plot isn’t fuelled by academia itself. I would say this is more of a mystery/thriller with an academic setting but in that respect, this book definitely delivered.

3.75 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding tale of psychological suspense, weaving together Greek mythology, murder, and obsession, that further cements “Michaelides as a major player in the field” (Publishers Weekly). Overall, I enjoyed this book. I think Michaelides’ writing greatly improved since ‘Silent Patient’ and the overall plot felt a lot more cohesive. Again, I guessed the killer. However, other aspects like that with Maria’s husband I did not expect. I suspected something more would happen there but the actual reveal was a surprise. Is this the best thriller out there. No. But I was hooked from the start and read it within a couple of days. I will definitely keep an eye out for more of Michaelides work!

Finished the book in a day. So psychological, philosophical yet easy to read. If you haven’t already- read ‘the silent patient’ the best most psychological book I’ve read.

So many potential characters could have been the murderer. But a totally unexpected one. No spoiler alert: read it for yourself. But the very last sentence left me wondering what happens next. Which is why I’m giving the book 4 stars instead of 5.

Having read Alex's first book, the Silent patient, I had high expectations for the Maidens. Checking the reviews (my pleasant habit), I was appaled with the negative reviews - some of them rather grotesque. What's wrong with you folks? As Dan Brown puts it in his master class for writing thrillers - "Do not try to come up with a unique story as everything you might think of has already been covered hundreds of times; instead, focus on the 'How' of the story". How the story achieves its main objective? How Mariana will catch the killer? Alex skillfully follows this approach giving us a plausible story driven by intellectual challenge and philosophical insights - covering the existential questions regarding love, life and death! Alex uses Ancient Greek mythology to enlighten us - applying ancient wisdom to modern-day life situations. The story is about Mariana - a group psychotherapist - who is called by Zoe (her niece) regarding the disappearance of Zoe's best friend and fellow student at Cambridge University. This triggers Mariana to go on a quest searching for a killer in magical Cambridge. Fighting her own demons - the loss of her late husband Sebastian - Mariana is challenged to navigate through the murky reality diluted with painful memories and the hovering danger calling for urgent actions. Her attention is getting attracted by a group of girls, called the Maidens, and their influential tutor - professor Fosca. The dead girl (Zoe's friend) was a member of the group and Mariana quickly builds up suspicions toward prof Fosca. The float of events does not limit the suspicion to only one villain, but two more characters emerge as potential killers. The twist of the story is unpredictable, but the clues have masterfully been placed at earlier stages prompting the reaction - "Hmm that's why this has been mentioned earlier". Overall, I think Alex Michaelides upped his game with the Maidens. The story is much more complex and difficult to assemble than the Silent patient. The takeaway from the story is also larger than his first book - so I can only hope he keeps up and further evolve as a writer. All aspects of the story are fluently connected. For me, there is not a slow-paced section in the story as everything goes interestingly quick - a real page-turner. I highly recommend this book, but please read it with your senses - do not adopt the typical possessive approach (being obsessed with finding out who the killer is; thus letting beautiful things get unnoticed).

I read this quickly and had to skim over some upsetting details. It built well and the sense of menace became really unsettling. It is well written and constructed with a strange ending that reminded me of The novel Rebecca. For such a strong story teller I was surprised to be left up in the air in the last few lines by the writer and did not quite understand that. I am not really keen on dark crime novels so it was a little challenging for me in places but the writer really succeeded in creating a tense atmosphere. I could see the book turned into a tv film as it had a bit of that TV view of Cambridge University as a hot bed of crime. It was also interesting The Eagle, The Copper Kettle and Gardenia were all locations, very much City places which you know and the atmospheres were conjured up if you did but guessing not particularly if you did not know them as there was not too much description, probably to keep the story telling taut. It is hard to quantify with stars because I suspect that technically this is very well written indeed but emotionally I just wanted to finish and get out of the world, which is not what I look for in a book where I want to be immersed in it. But that could just be a reaction to the dark genre rather than the book. I wanted to feel less sad and more uplifted but actually felt a little confused and wanted to be gone. Not sure that is how you should leave a reader as I don’t think I would try another book by the writer, however good they are.

I read a lot of negative reviews about 'The Maidens' and as a result, I delayed reading it. What a shame because I really enjoyed it! Yes some bits were a bit odd, and I don't think the Greek mythology worked too well, but there were elements of this in The Patient aswel, and I felt the same. I liked the characters and loved the short chapters that kept me reading and engaged. The twist at the end was good, and it caught me by surprise! Overall a good read, without having too high expectations! As far as thrillers / murder mysteries go.. I think this is pretty good 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

How refreshing to be able to read a psychological thriller with depth, a good solid storyline but most of all, strongly depicted characters. Mariana has a compelling voice all along the book, professor Fosca is the villain you'll love to hate, and the most endearing role is for young Fred who scrolls through Cambridge on his rickety bicycle. The scene is set in a typical English university scene, one day between the turrets and towers under steal colored skies, the next under a warming sunshine in the neighboring meadows. It is clever and sophisticated and if I had to point out one flaw, it would be that the book might have been better if it were a little longer. I felt as if a few chapters extra could have benefited and it would have been a joy to read them. But all in all it is just a little gem and I will now certainly read The Silent Patient.

Se vedo un libro ambientato in un'università prestigiosa e inspirato alla mitologia greca, allora so è il titolo adatto a me, e così è stato. Come tutti i dark academia, è un libro molto introspettivo, più focalizzato sui personaggi che sulla trama (se siete abituati a thriller ricchi di azione, questo non credo faccia per voi). Mi sono piaciuti molti i riferimenti letterari e alla mitologia greca sparsi nel corso della storia e le atmosfere cupe e tenebrose. Pensavo di aver capito tutto, ma colpo di scena mi ha lasciata completamente senza fiato.

Alex Michaelides novel is a book you won't turn down easily. Compelling and surprising till the very end.

I just couldn’t stop reading…… An absolutely thrilling and enthralling mystery; ……..ages since I read something so addictive and original and so cleverly constructed. I also loved the inspiring quotes from Greek mythology.

Excelente libro si son fan del primero