The Maidens steps up the game in terms of setting compared to The Silent Patient. The psychological thriller genre serves as an excellent playground for Michaelides, and I thoroughly enjoyed letting his work take hold of my brain for a few hours. 70-80 pages in, the switch flipped for me and I read the rest of the book in a matter of hours. The pacing, too, is reminiscent of Michaelides’ first book, though The Maidens takes a little while to reach top speed. But he’s also clearly hiding something sinister, and Michaelides carefully doles out information that ensures readers won’t settle on one side or the other until he’s ready. He’s clearly a gifted and bright young professor, as shown when Mariana attends one of his lectures and finds herself moved by his speech. He highlights the good and the bad equally. It’s easy to feel for the characters and resent them simultaneously. He crafts characters that feel distinct, each with their own goals and motives. Having read both The Silent Patient and The Maidens this year, I’ve come to deeply appreciate Michaelides’ writing. Mariana’s obsession with Fosca’s guilt sends her on a downward spiral that could put her–and those she loves–in mortal danger. The primary target of her suspicions? Edward Fosca, an American professor who has an undeniably off relationship with a few select women studying under him. Mariana rushes to Zoe’s aid and is quickly enmeshed in a whirlwind of suspicious characters. But tragedy strikes again when Mariana’s niece, Zoe, calls to report that her friend Tara has been murdered in Cambridge. Through the past year, group therapy has offered her a way to keep her mind off the untimely death of her husband, Sebastian. Mariana Andros runs group therapy sessions in her London home, helping the mentally ill on the road to recovery. Only fair, then, to assume his follow-up, The Maidens would dazzle in equal measure. The thriller offered a deep look at intriguing characters united by a haunting mystery that culminated in a fantastic twist. Alex Michaelides’ The Silent Patient enjoyed more than a year on the NYT bestseller list for good reason.

The maidens michaelides review