A Deeper Look at The Maidens

This past year I have slowly begun to see my interest in book genres change. While my interests began with YA romance novels, they somehow evolved. Even as I dive back into YA, I find them uninteresting and less of a challenge. I picked up a more mature read, The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. The Silent Patient is a psychological thriller based on a woman named Alicia who murders her husband, causing her to become silent through psychological treatment. This intrigues her doctor, Theo, to be obsessed with figuring out why she did it and why she is silent. Reading this novel led me to Alex Michaelides’ next book, which I was already curious about because his other book was extraordinary.

I have always been intrigued with psychology, and I have seen how it interconnects with many other fields of science, which is what I love most about The Maidens. Compared to his first book, The Maidens expands on what a psychopath is and how that can interconnect to mystery, murder, obsession, and Greek mythology. The Maidens took a unique and fresh viewpoint to not just divert from figuring out the murderer but added a second voice to the book. After every few chapters, there was a differently formatted chapter with a different point of view that makes you wonder if you are reading the thoughts of a murderer.

The best trait about the book is how Michaelides can display a perspective and spin towards the end to get you to think deeper about the plot and characters.

From start to finish, The Maidens makes you question everything. You see Mariana, the main character, go through the many stages of grief after losing her husband. Grieving influences her future decisions and how she reacts to simple things. She is a psychologist and knows the negative impacts of the habits she created after her husband passed. She understands that being a psychologist does not make her immune to grief. 

As a psychologist, she is supposed to see everything objectively. Because she was a struggling widow, her perception of life was skewed. Like Mariana, I lost a close family member a couple of years back, and I can see the struggle in many family members as I do with myself. What drew me to the book the most was discovering this connection and realizing how common grief and adaptation are.

Another example of what sets The Maidens apart from other books is the many different types of relationships displayed in the book, especially the inappropriate ones. There are student-teacher relationships where each party acknowledges the issues with them and yet chooses to ignore them. For example, the maidens in the professor’s secret society have a sexual relationship with him. The novel mentions how the professor only chose the prettiest and brightest to be in his secret society. Having a sexual relationship with his female students in the secret society makes you question the motivation behind his actions.  

We see an example of healthier relationships as Mariana falls in love with Fred, a man she met after getting off a train to Cambridge University. At first, this relationship is odd to Mariana, which Fred acknowledges. Fred tries to show Mariana that he is there to support her and take it slow. In The Maidens, you see clear examples of a healthy relationship, which is what I appreciate. We do not get many models of healthy relationships in YA novels.

Relationships in YA novels tend to be toxic and romanticized. The Maidens did an amazing job at differentiating them and displaying them.

There is a cliffhanger at the end that ties into The Silent Patient. Two characters appear from The Silent Patient in The Maidens, which makes the reader wonder what is next for these two books. Not many books can discuss topics such as grief and inappropriate relationships, as well as end with a good cliff-hanger, especially when it comes to highlighting and expressing many real-life issues. I recommend this novel to anyone who has an open mind, a passion for psychological thrillers, and is looking for a challenge.

The Maidens is an incredible book that is attention-grabbing, intriguing, and heart-stopping. This book is perfect for a late-night read or when you are alone and need something to keep you company. I always found myself reading this before bed, on the train, and while I had some spare time at home because it required all my attention. This novel is worth the read, and I love to hear the insights from anyone who reads this book as it leaves every individual with a different interpretation. And what fun is it to discover such an incredible book without sharing it?