“There was a word for this moment in Greek tragedy: anagnorisis – recognition – the moment when the hero finally sees the truth and understands his fate – and how it’s always been there, the whole time, in front of him.”
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So I was one of the few folks who didn’t think The Silent Patient was the best thing since sliced bread, I did throw the book when the twist was revealed but I thought the book overall was a solid debut but not the best thing I’d ever read. The Maidens however, checked all the boxes for me.
When a young girl turns up dead, a therapist whose niece has a connection to the victim is drawn in thinking she is the only one who sees who the real murderer is. The heat gets turned up as more girls turn up ritually murdered. There are a ton of red herrings and honestly, I didn’t guess who it truly was. I was happy with the reveal although I did go back and re-read some of the sections to be fully satisfied that all I needed was there.
I feared another straightforward unreliable narrator, hoping that Michaelides didn’t revert to the same old trope but I was pleasantly surprised with how as we saw our protagonist unravel we weren’t quite sure whether to trust her or not. You do have to check reality at the door a little, when you see how much access Mariana gets to investigate the murder and interrogate all of the suspects. I don’t think your average therapist would have that access whether or not they had relationships with the impacted parties of a crime. Mariana herself was very likable and I need that to really connect with the story, although she made some choices I wanted to scream at her for.
It was the cultish mythology story that really grasped me though. I loved the weaving of the modern tragedy with Greek mythology and how well the two flowed together. The beauty with which Fosca taught the classics and how inspired he made his students was a bit intoxicating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
What are you reading today? (And yes, that’s my “I forgot my sunglasses, just take the picture already face. 🤣🙈)
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