Book Review — The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

Hmm... a mixed bag "The Maidens" has been. On the one hand it’s written by Alex Michaelides, author of "The Silent Patient". The debut novel blew everyone’s mind including mine for its shocking twist and for me, I personally loved its ending. I could visualize the snow falling while Theo Faber stared out the window listening to what Steven Allen was saying... something that he already knew.
With 'The Maidens' Alex tried to recreate the magic but slightly fell short. He did succeed in bits.

Mariana is a group therapist dealing with her own demons from the past. One day the best friend of her niece, Zoe is found murdered in ritualistic way on the campus of Cambridge. Mariana who practically raised Zoe on her own feels protective towards her and decides to stay with her on the Cambridge campus. Soon the murder is followed by series of killings of college girls. The thing they have in common is that all the victims belonged to a group of beloved students of Professor Fosca called 'The Maidens'. Now Mariana have to investigate the murders and unravel the secrets of this close knit group that derives its name from a Greek mythology.

The writing was very flowy so one can breeze through the words. That doesn't mean it was a light read. With detailed Greek mythology playing a central theme to the story, the book is anything but light. But the short chapters and Alex's style of writing makes you flip the pages rapidly with ease. With my previous heavy reads like "Second Sister" & The White City trilogy, this was a welcome change. I always appreciate writing which has a flowy narration and a beautiful, natural rhythm to it. You don't have to wrestle through the book in order to complete it. That's a sign for a good novel. And 'The Maidens' definitely possess this quality.

There are many red herrings that you know are red herrings. The fact that they are a decoy for the actual culprit is just in-your-face obvious. If a suspect is portrayed as a suspect from the get going you very well know that something fishy is going on. Many characters have non conclusive story line and are mere plot fillers. They prove to be annoying distractions. Mystery thrillers have one thing as their character trope and that is to include twists in the tale. This is one of the sections where The Maidens falls short.

This may sound prejudicial but I did not like the central character of Mariana. She is a psychotherapist. Sorry! A Group Therapist with mental issues of her own which she doesn't want to confront. I don't know why it was emphasized that she is a Group Therapist. That detail isn't relevant to the story. Mariana acts as her own private detective but instead comes off as nosy. The supposedly charming character of professor Fosca is not charming enough. He comes off as a creep with an entourage of girls barely out of their teens circling him and calling themselves *surprise surprise* Maidens.

I liked the part where Theo, the main character from 'The Silent Patient' makes an appearance in this story. Grove, the psychiatric hospital from The Silent Patient also plays a tiny part in the book. With this trait it is clear that Alex Michaelides is trying to create his own universe and it is indeed a refreshing idea.

The one prickly thing about The Maidens is it's conclusion, it's reasoning. The motive of the actual killer is absurd and far fetched. There are no indications, not even subtle hints throughout the story that point to the real culprit and their reasons. The end could have been believable had Michaelides written more of the backstory in between the narration to create some kind of build up. If the ending wasn't rushed as it was but instead built up as an out-of-sight subplot, it could have been more palatable and The Maidens could have ranked in the same league as its predecessor.