Release Date: June 15th, 2021

Genre(s): Adult Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Publisher: Celadon Books

Pages: 337

Rating:⭐️⭐️.75

Synopsis

The Maidens follows Mariana Andros, a group therapist who suddenly finds herself on the Cambridge University campus after the death of one of her niece’s closest friends. Mariana is convinced Greek Tragedy Professor Edward Fosca is behind the murder after hearing about The Maidens, a secret society of female students that follow his teachings. When more students in the group are found murdered, Mariana sets off to prove Fosca the murderer – and will risk her life to stop him.

Review

I enjoyed reading The Maidens overall – the mystery was engaging, I liked the college setting, and I looked forward to finding answers. But despite all these things, I wasn’t fully invested in the story at all times, and wished for a little bit more in terms of development. 

The main issue I had with The Maidens overall involved Mariana’s character. We’re meant to root for her and her discovery throughout the book, but I often found her decision-making to be frustrating. She’s extremely forward in making her suspect aware that she’s wary of him, which does nothing more than overcomplicate the investigation for her and make her peers lose trust in her. I have no issues with characters being forward per se, but making her intentions clear to a possible murderer just made way more conflicts than progress for her at times. This combined with a series of spur-of-the-moment decisions made it really difficult to root for her and solving the mystery. 

My other issue while reading The Maidens was the way many character and plot points were developed. While this book does a great job of distracting the reader from solving the mystery themselves, none of these elements really felt developed enough as it was. I found this to especially be true with the supporting characters; we get some insights on their backstories before jumping to something else. The story was gripping, but just enough – I think it could have been so much more with a little more detail. Even the academic conversations around tragedy and mythology could have created such an immersive story had there been much more detail into them. 

Despite these issues, I don’t think The Maidens is a bad book. I was certainly entertained while reading, but my expectations on the side of academic were not met in addition to wanting more from the characters (and the main character specifically). I think this is a better pick for those who are interested in the book as a mystery/thriller rather than those who are interested in it as a dark academia novel.

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