I was a huge fan of The Silent Patient, so I was stoked to get my hands on a copy of The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. It starts off as a very slow burn, slowly unpeeling layers of characterization. Mariana has been through a lot of loss and devastation. She's the book's troubled protagonist, battling to find the killer of her niece's best friend. The slow burn of this novel is not my usual cup of tea. I need action to keep me turning the pages!
The book speeds up a quarter or so through with Mariana traveling to idyllic Cambridge, where the murder takes place. She's convinced of the guilt of a professor, who has a strange entourage of beautiful girls called "The Maidens." Mariana is said to be brilliant but she doesn't come off as particularly smart. There are red herrings about in the novel but it ultimately fell flat for me! No comparison to his previous novel, but some may enjoy the mystery of this story.
3 stars
The book speeds up a quarter or so through with Mariana traveling to idyllic Cambridge, where the murder takes place. She's convinced of the guilt of a professor, who has a strange entourage of beautiful girls called "The Maidens." Mariana is said to be brilliant but she doesn't come off as particularly smart. There are red herrings about in the novel but it ultimately fell flat for me! No comparison to his previous novel, but some may enjoy the mystery of this story.
3 stars