Wasn't in the greatest mood this morning, until I saw Merphy had a rant review. And my morning immediately became better. I think I might be a bad person. 😆
I feel negative reviews are more authentic than "playing the middle". I like unhauls because I feel I get more information than hauls as to why a book didn't work for them so I can decide better if it would work for me or not.
OMG I felt the SAME WAY about literally every point you made. I actually blocked Henry/Harry from my memory b/c his subplot was so stupid and inconsequential. Re, twist: You didn't miss anything. I went back specifically and relistened to every single earlier scene w/ CHARACTER REDACTED and CHARACTER REDACTED and there is zero foreshadowing that a reader could glob onto. It is maddening and screams "my publisher rushed a first draft through to the shelves b/c I'm a bestseller." (or the author didn't want to edit lol)
I actually pushed him and his story so far out of my memory that when I read this comment I had ABSOLUTELY no idea who Henry/Harry was- I don’t even remember which one is his real name
[SPOILERS] What bothered me the most in the whole book was Fred, who is a complete creep that made my skin crawl for the entire book and if I met such a person in real life I would try to stay as far away from him as possible. I kept expecting him to be involved in the murders somehow, because there’s no way such a massive creep can be considered the main love interest. Is that what the author thinks good guys are like? Although at some point, I figured out that Zoe is the killer, not because of any real story related clues, but because the book kept hitting you over the head with statements like “The killer is obviously a man! This kind of crime can only ever be committed by a man! This is characteristic of MALE psychology! Get it???”, so much that at some point it became obvious that the killer was a woman.
I honestly thought that Fred was the killer lol in the note that Mariana found in her zebra he says that he had a premonition. Like what Fred claimed he has. So I thought for sure. It was him. And was so confused as to why Mariana couldn't see it and still jumped to Fosca. I feel like that would have made more sense than sebastian IMO.
I almost would have been more satisfied if (SPOILERS) Fosca actually did it instead of Zoe. Like if it's so obvious the main character believes, and the author wants you to believe, it's Fosca that if he made it just a bit more subtle then made a dual POV halfway through with Mariana and Fosca (after he admits his crime to the reader) playing cat and mouse (Fosca trying to hide his tracks and Mariana trying to uncover them), I would've liked that a lot more. Samantha Downing made her villain known early in her new book "For Your Own Good" and that didn't take away from the "thriller" part of mystery/thriller. I felt like Alex Micchaledes just wanted a plot twist that lived up to the one in his debut novel.
Imagine it was him and he gaslit her into harassing him and exploiting her being griefing goating her making that obvious violations that could have consequences, that he as obvious suspect tries to meker her his alibi and ruin the deniabilty. He could use that as twist and she looses her job an licence over he actions and looses all credibility. And the twist is, him telling her after no one has any reason to believe her anything.
@@nxbxxha_1764 I wasn't attacking you or the author; I was just stating my opinion! :) I love a good plot twist, too (esp. the ones that make you throw the book down in shock). This just wasn't that for me. I feel like the author had such a big plot twist in his first book, and that's the book that put him on people's radars, and he felt like he had to have a plot twist that would live up to that one. It felt like a twist for the sake of having one, rather than one that was built up to and that made sense. Again, just my opinion! Glad you enjoyed the book
I had such high hopes for this book. Dark academia, Greek mythology, and a thriller/mystery? It sounded like such a good combo! But I HATED that ending. If Mariana is a therapist, how did she not recognize her lover (of many years) was a psychopath? How did she not pick up on that fact that her niece was going through abuse/grooming/trauma? AS IF. It also drove me crazy that in the end, the maidens and the mythology (aka. the very things that made people pick up the book) weren’t important for the story at all. Like they existed and died for no reason, because Sebastian and Zoe could’ve killed Mariana a thousand seperate times without the maidens being necessary or relevant at all. They were the ultimate red herring and I feel so cheated. Like you said, there was so much potential with the mythological/ritualistic stuff that was going on with the Maidens, but turns out it was all just pointless filler in a weak (and really far-fetched) murder plot about Zoe. Can I also add: the police and investigator are skeptical of Mariana the whole time, but at the end we’re supposed to believe that she called them and said, “I followed my niece to the woods and it turns out she killed the girls, and then she tried to kill me!!” …. and they just suddenly believe her? That chapter is so rushed - it would not have gone down that smoothly. The only way they maybe would’ve believed her is if Zoe admitted to everything…. but that just seems very convenient (villain confessions are so unrealistic, and just lazy writing IMO). So disappointed all around because I really wanted this to be a good one.
Mariana could not suspect her late husband because she became a therapist only after Sebastian died. She started attending Ruth's therapy to cope with the loss and then started her career in Psychology. I'm sorry if I'm wrong but that is what I think. But there's no denying the fact the the entire book was deliberately forcing the reader to suspect the wrong person. There were barely any clues to suggest Zoe as the culprit. I feel that there should be some minor clues laid out in the plot, so that the readers and go back and think how they could miss those.
@@manojattivilli3261 actually the book mentions marianna didn't try to have kids earlier because she was busy with establishing her practice in psychotherapy.
Yesss I also hate it when the "killer" comes out of left field. A good whodunnit reveal makes you surprised but also think "wow that makes so much sense!!".
(spoilers!!!) My breaking point in this book was when Marianna follows a dude to a graveyard and when she realizes that he's just there to hook up with a woman just..stays and watches them??? and then is freaked out when the guy is angry about this incredibly creepy thing she just did and acts like HE was the one who was in the wrong. She was such an infuriating protagonist and a genuinely terrible therapist it was incredible
I mean he WAS in the wrong he was hooking up with a younger woman he was in authority of as a gatekeeper so like that’s fucked up,,, but yeah wtf why did she stay and watch?!
@@merphynapier42 timeline. Daniel Greene gets Samwise to use "undulate" then merphy has a cat with a bloody knife. Again, just the timeline of things that happened.
@@merphynapier42 No that's not!!! Who is Keyser söze? Is he even real? That's the actual mystery. You can't convince me that was his actual name. It's made up.
I always wonder how many beta readers these authors have. I DEPEND on my betas to help me know when there are annoying plot conveniences and how well my red herrings/reveals come across. That said, we all read at a different level critically. Some of my readers will be too sucked into the romance to point out what another does about the believability of a certain world-building aspect. That's why it's important to have a few!
I am so happy to see this rant, mainly because 3 days ago I finished the book and was so incensed that I sent a 28-message-rant to my book group’s WhatsApp - and they weren’t even reading the book, I was just so angry I had to yell about it to someone! (Yes I’m going to be sending a link to this video to them ☺️)
I was willing to put how stupid she was being to grief, I can suspend it enough or allow it if I try...but one thing I really liked was a woman protagonists grieving her husband, I personally haven't seen that a lot, usually the other way (but I don't read a lot of romances) I was so pissed at the end CAUSE other than the fact there was Z E R O evidence Zoe did it; why is God's name did sebastian have to be done like that? Can't we just once have a fictional husband who dies tragically and not be horrible trash? He was already dead! Like it was so shoe horned in, it literally made more sense for at least Fred to have been the one writing the letter if you wanted it to not be the Professor, why couldn't we just leave dead sebastian alone? Along with YEAH, that's kinda troubling if you're a therapist, meant to he intuned to trauma victims and not realizing what was going on in your own house between your own family.
So I read this between Wheel of Time books and enjoyed it for being a fast, non-high fantasy because I needed a little break haha. That being said, I also agree with everything you said here haha. My HUGE thing is HOW out of left field the Zoe reveal was. I'm very thriller/mystery-dumb (I can't guess an ending to save my life), and my favorite thing is when I can backtrack and see all the little clues I missed - of which I feel there were none in this book. Also, as a therapy-goer, I just kept thinking oh my godddddd I'm glad Mariana isn't my therapist hahaha. All that being said, I am still going to give The Silent Patient a go!
I loved this book! So I feel like sharing why in a few jumbled thoughts… Mariana didn’t even know who her husband truly was so it wouldn’t make sense for her to be right about the murderer. It’s even revealed the image she had of her father was unreliable. So I was able to accept she was wrong about who done it, and still have curiosity about HOW she would find out she was wrong. That was enough to keep it interesting for me. You can say Mariana is a “dumb dumb”, but I see her as grieving, troubled, vulnerable, and used. A person who didn’t receive adequate love, and as a result married someone awful. After all, the plan was ultimately designed by Sebastian, who seemed to know what wounds of hers to exploit. It’s so cruel, and for that, I do feel for her. It makes me believe that somehow the constant emphasis on her being a group therapist, and someone who admittedly was not trained to examine individuals, was meant to show that she is an unreliable judge of character, or at least had a difficult time determining what people were the real threats. In her private therapy sessions with her professor, it’s shown how deeply in denial she was about her fathers cruelty. It was only through the group therapy session with the maidens that she unknowingly touched upon her own complicated dynamic with the men she held on a pedestal…like what she said to them about pledging loyalty to people out of a love that wasn’t truly returned. I believe her obsession with Fosca was tied to Sebastian; both were charismatic men that had held so much power over vulnerable women-the girls are unable to see in Fosca what Mariana was unable to see in Sebastian. To me, that makes it even more interesting that Sebastian picked him to be Mariana’s villain. I find all the ties between mother/father figures and family/group dynamics to be entertainingly ironic. So good!
I completely agree with you, her character is meant to be flawed. She has been constantly manipulated by both her adopted daughter and late husband, and he knows all of her weaknesses. The whole point of the book is that she's naïve. It's also not unusual that if a mother believes that their child is in danger, that they would lose all common sense and drop everything to find who is threatening their safety. Overall, I thought it was a good book but everyone has their own opinion.
The olde “villain tries to sucker punch the hero and kills themselves by mistake” is so tired at this point. It’s the standard PG rated ending when we don’t want to tarnish our hero with a bit o’ killing.
I felt so many of these things but couldn’t put a finger on all of it. You really helped me realize what I didn’t like about it and to open my eyes to so many problems. Thank you for your honesty
You perfectly articulated the feelings that I've been having about this book lately. At first I really enjoyed it, but as I let it "steep" in my brain it's just not feeling the same. Mariana was annoying and the red herrings weren't the least bit subtle and it goes on and on. Great rant video! Look forward to watching more! :D
I saw this in my feed and got so excited! I also made a rant review about this book and so many people were talking about how much they loved this book… I feel vindicated
Oh nooo, I just bought this. 🤣 We have similar tastes so I'm likely not going to like it as well... buuuut I'm committed, too. Will have to read it sooner than planned so I can come back and watch this asap lol.
The Maidens is a perfect example for my 2021 thriller releases...great premise poor execution. I really wanted to love it because I really enjoyed The Silent Patient.
the ending was my absolute biggest turn-off for the book. but your other points are SO accurate as well. I will say, The Silent Patient is SOOOO much better and you should definitely read that. The Silent Patient is one of my favorite books, it was ten times better than this one. The Maidens was very much a step down imo but I'm still interested in reading more from Alex Michealides
The What? Kitty t-shirt is my fave! :) Also a big fan of this rant review, as long as you explain what it was you didn't like, rant reviews can be as fun as positive reviews!
I'm SO glad I'm not the only person who couldn't stand this book! The worst part is that, not only is the MC such a dummy, she's also so pretentious about it! This book had so much promise and I was really excited to read it because I'm a history student and I was studying Greek tragedies when I picked it up, but it just fell so flat for me.
SPOILER ALERT FOR SILENT PATIENT AND THE MAIDENS* I don't recall hearing anything about this book linking it to the Silent patient prior to reading it. However, getting into part four and beyond the author brings back characters and locations/situations from the Silent patient; Ruth, Theo, Alicia, The Grove, where Zoe ends up with Theo as her therapist. It honestly made The Maidens for me when these unexpected links to The Silent Patient began to happen. That being said I don't feel the links are strong enough to necessarily have to read The Silent Patient first but it absolutely made the last half of the book more exciting and enjoyable to read with those seemingly pointless weak links not being as pointless or weak because they are leading up to Theo/the Grove.
I actually loved this book, and I guessed Zoe did about half way through the book. There was a brief moment I thought I was wrong and that Fred was the killer (because his mention of the book he was writing about his "dead' mother and then the letter Zoe had mentioning a "premonition") but I'm glad it was Zoe and not Fred. But Sebastian being the reason came out of left field to me, which made me both love and hate the twist. The Silent Patient was better executed, but I enjoyed this book. That being said, I also very much enjoyed your rant hahahaha
I agree with you. I liked this book. Also thought Fred was the killer, because if his writing and mentioning his parents. I didn’t mind it being Zoe, I thought it was a good twist, I just didn’t like Sebastian being the reason. How could Mariana not have known anything while being married to him for years…
I do not like negative reviews of things that I like. Therefore I thank you for warning about it before hand. However, I like negative reviews about things that I either do not like or do not care, so I really liked this video. Thank you for saving me some time.
I felt so similar to you about this book! I loved The Silent Patient and this one was so disappointing! Thanks for posting this. I enjoyed watching and ranting to my husband alongside your video!!
Fred should have been the killer! It would have made a lot of sense. Especially when she finds a long letter, we know Fred feels more comfortable putting his words on paper - he told Mariana so! - and the author of the letter said he had a premonition when he first met Zoe - who does that sound like? - if Fred had been the killer I would have loved this good.
What??? Men are creeps? Multiple men fall all over her? Her detective skills rival that of Shaggy and Scooby Doo? She impedes active investigations? Goes off into the dark multiple times alone with suspects? Hmm. Your review sent me into another world all right. "Zoinks! Rooby Snack!" "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for that meddling Marianna!"
Based on the synopsis, i can see the greek mythology influences with the goddess or siren vibes Mariana is giving off. Also it is a trope for some of these goddesses to be damsels in distresses and be really dumb/naive. Also the dude stalking her sounds like a mixture of Edward and Jacob and not a combination anyone wants.
At a certain point while reading I assumed that it wasn’t going to be a whodunnit, but that The Maidens would turn out to be some kind of Greek cult, and the girls were killed for a sacrifice or something. Mariana was so convinced it was Fosca that I knew it wasn’t him, but I also couldn’t think of anyone else it could realistically be given the clues we had, so I guessed the twist would be “it was him but not the way you’d expect” The actual ending was terrible. It reminded me why I’m so hesitant to read mysteries. It felt like the author got to the end of the book and asked who would be the most shocking. I also doubt Mariana could have been married to Sebastian for years and never knew anything about his life, enough to recognize in the letter. So many plot points were dropped it felt like a first draft of a book. It could have been great if more time was spent in crafting the story and revising what didn’t work. Also, I hated how short the chapters were. It took me out of the story.
It's so interesting to hear different takes on that! Because I'm into mythology as well (the main thing that drew me to this book) but I unfortunately thought that this aspect was executed superficial at best - I felt like the author was attempting to use the appeal of greek classics as a 'flavouring' without ever actually diving deeper into the topic. And considering that rewritten/books inspired by ancient classics are quite the trend currently I think this one is, sorry to sound mean, quite the waste of time seeing how many better works have been published recently in this vague genre. Paired with the other flaws (I pretty much agree with every point brought up in this video) this lead me to feelin really led down and not enjoying the book in the slightest.
I don't agree with everything you've said here, but I can definitely see where you're coming from with it. This book has an interesting tie-in with Silent Patient, but it definitely doesn't hold a candle to Silent Patient. I hope you do read that one, because I'd love to know if you enjoy that one. The Maidens was disappointing to me because they make such a big deal about this group/cult, yet they barely feature. I was expecting Mariana to become more and more entrenched in this group, really learning the ins and outs, while still being kept in the dark because she's an outsider. You're absolutely right that things weren't executed well. And as far as the reveal, I'd guessed Zoe from about a third of the way in, because I thought to myself, "Okay, they're throwing everything at wanting us to believe it's this professor, so it's obviously not him. Who's the most likely to not be suspected?" And I landed on Zoe. The reveal with the husband, though, I see what what attempting to be done, this kind of crashing down of the reality you thought you knew, but it just didn't work in this book. I'll still read more from this author, but I hope the next book is closer to the caliber that Silent Patient is. Because that book was amazing.
I read this and absolutely HATED it, but everyone said The Silent Patient was better so I picked that one up. I honestly thought The Silent Patient was even worse, I definitely will not be picking up anything else by this author. I couldn’t stand any of the characters in either of the books (even if that’s the whole point, they were so frustratingly terrible that it ruined the whole book for me) and the plots had so many holes that finishing the novels are unsatisfactory.
OK, Merphy, tell us how you really feel lol. I didn't plan to read this so am pleased to hear the big reveal without actually having to endure the book. I very much enjoyed this review.
It's not a book (well, it's an adaptation of a japanese book), but I really recommend the movie "Perfect Blue" by Satoshi Kon if you want a good thriller/mystery story. I watched it recently and it was super interesting. Hope to read the book if I can find it.
My thing about this book is that it can never be proved that Zoe was actually groomed by Sebastian. Zoe could have been in love with Sebastian and he not reciprocate. It’s just infuriating that we will never know. I just want a clear ending.
I was seemingly one of the few who wasn't crazy about the Silent Patient, so I was hesitent to pick up The Maidens. I totally agreed with your review, The Maidens was so disappointing (infuriating at times), and I don't think I'll be picking up this author again. Love your t-shirt though, where did you get it?
I haven't read The Silent Patient but a friend that did and hated it told me the twist and I was like me: but doesn't that make the whole novel before it make no sense? friend: yeeep So honestly I'm not surprised by anything you said here. Good review.
oh my god you're literally speaking my heart out..!!! I just finished this book and was totally utterly disappointed and I thought why not check out some reviews maybe I am the one who's feeling this way... and it felt so good watching your rant about it.. :D
Personally, I enjoyed this book because it made the point that even highly intelligent people can be complete morons. I was a little disappointed with the way it ended, but overall I didn't find it completely horrible.
I mean… I don’t think that’s what the book was actually trying to do or say though lol. Enjoying it for that if it was purposely done would make sense. But I don’t think it was on purpose at all.
It’s bad enough for the MC to have been unprofessional and less than bright. After all, the doctor who graduates at the bottom of his/her/their class is still called “doctor.” The problem with “The Maidens” is that ALL of the professionals failed. In my opinion, that’s not the author making a point, that’s an author being lazy.
This is hilarious! I DNF it and just so happy that I did. I also had a lot of complains about this that I had to really stop reading to write my rants.
I enjoy your Rant Reviews and think you should rant about books you don't like, just as often as you give positive feedback on books. I just really like hearing your perspective on all these stories.
*SPOILER WARNING* I wouldn't have hated it so much if the author didn't deliberately had so many similarities between all the sus people. Like from the killer's monologue we know that the killer lost his mother at a young age (the first monologue didn't told us that she didn't die then, just left him but how the writing was i thought she died) and after that chapter Fosca co-incedently also lost her mother at a young age and had an abusive father too?! And then after some chapter we learn the killer's dad is a farmer (or something) and just after that chapter we learn that fred also happened to grew up in a farm This is the first thriller that let me down🙂
I think I was more forgiving about story elements than you were, because I kept thinking what it would be like to miss your dead husband only to find out you were in love with a shadow of the true thing, and how disturbing that would be.
Nice timing! I'm in the middle of The Maidens audiobook. 📒. I'll come back and listen to this after I'm done. So far, the only issue I have is that maybe the main character is too paranoid/superstitious.
Yessss totally agree with this review! So many obvious red herrings and next to no clues through the book that it could’ve been Zoe. Like you said, I did suspect Zoe but that’s because I suspected everyone
Honestly i loved the book overall but i think the ending could have been a bit better....all though i loved the silent patient references throughout....the greek mythology reference was also great....but i think zoe's story came out of the blue idk....but i think i loved silent patient better?
Very interesting views. I certainly agree with many of them. If I had to play devils advocate by memory alone. I’d say SPOILER when Mariana goes off with Zoe in the end. Is more her just being numb. In disbelief that she could actually go through with this. But wanting to give her every possible chance to “turn back” change her mind. If the “daughter” she helped raise could do this. What is the point in anything. I do agree Fosca was never going to be the killer. When I read a book jacket on a whodunit and it says he is the killer. My instincts immediately went, “ok so he’s not.” There was lots of missed opportunities to setup clues. They could have planted more seeds in Sebastian being distant emotionally, and physically from Mariana etc
This video was very therapeutic and cathartic for me. I DNF'd the book after 25 or so pages because I didn't like the main character. Sometimes you just get so upset you HAVE TO RANT. I did the same with Peter Swanson's newest thriller, Every Vow You Break.
Mariana is less annoying to me than all the characters in my least favourite book but that's not a compliment to Mariana Edit: I really am loving your top!!
I swear there needs to be an entire rant on how terrible the modern day thrillers are. Either they're completely hinged on an unreliable narrator, or they're hinged on a completely overconveluted plot that only progresses through stupidity. There's very rarely an outlier. So many are just so terrible.
Thank youuuu for doing this rant review!! I read this book because I LOVED The Silent Patient and was blown away by the ending, but I really disliked this one. I’d love to hear your thoughts on TSP if you end up reading it! (Which I hope you do, because it’s soooo much better!) This one was hard for me to get through…very slow-paced, with most of the characters adding absolutely nothing to the story. (Also, we don’t get any explanation why Fred brings up Naxos or things specifically related to Sebastian’s death, or why he just randomly proposes to Mariana like a creep?!) I did see the ending coming, which disappointed me because TSP totally caught me off guard while leaving enough clues for me to be satisfied. I agree with you that Mariana was very dumb, lol. I also didn’t like how the ending unfolded, with Zoe randomly creating this fantastical story about a mythological hazing experience that came out of nowhere with some lame excuse why she hadn’t brought it up before. And when she shows Mariana the postcard she got, why did Mariana say “I could’ve had Clarissa translate the Greek but I didn’t bother. What difference would it make”?! Um..it may give the clue to your niece’s potential murder?! So many holes and things that just didn’t make sense.
You know it's bad when Murphy doesn't like a character that has adopted a child.
Excellent.
Holy shit, great point.
Good observation.
Legit.
It really does say a lot about the character!
Wasn't in the greatest mood this morning, until I saw Merphy had a rant review. And my morning immediately became better. I think I might be a bad person. 😆
You are not alone = )
I was so excited to see a rant!
Merphy’ rants are AMAZING!
She has such amazing rants!
You are not alone here! 😊
what's better than hearing merphy rant for 25 mins straight (seriously not being sarcastic i love it)
Seriously almost nothing.
Seriously.
I feel negative reviews are more authentic than "playing the middle". I like unhauls because I feel I get more information than hauls as to why a book didn't work for them so I can decide better if it would work for me or not.
Interesting take, so what’s your view on spoilers in such a case?
Same. Also I really don't like relationship drama so if a book has that I want to gtfo and rant reviews help me with that.
OMG I felt the SAME WAY about literally every point you made. I actually blocked Henry/Harry from my memory b/c his subplot was so stupid and inconsequential. Re, twist: You didn't miss anything. I went back specifically and relistened to every single earlier scene w/ CHARACTER REDACTED and CHARACTER REDACTED and there is zero foreshadowing that a reader could glob onto. It is maddening and screams "my publisher rushed a first draft through to the shelves b/c I'm a bestseller." (or the author didn't want to edit lol)
I actually pushed him and his story so far out of my memory that when I read this comment I had ABSOLUTELY no idea who Henry/Harry was- I don’t even remember which one is his real name
@@Hannah-zy1um His name was Henry
This is how you know the video is a true rant.
*Last 5th of the video*
Murphy: So here's the setting of the book...
This twist ending was THE LITERAL WORST! It would have been more entertaining for her to be right all along 😂
[SPOILERS] What bothered me the most in the whole book was Fred, who is a complete creep that made my skin crawl for the entire book and if I met such a person in real life I would try to stay as far away from him as possible. I kept expecting him to be involved in the murders somehow, because there’s no way such a massive creep can be considered the main love interest. Is that what the author thinks good guys are like?
Although at some point, I figured out that Zoe is the killer, not because of any real story related clues, but because the book kept hitting you over the head with statements like “The killer is obviously a man! This kind of crime can only ever be committed by a man! This is characteristic of MALE psychology! Get it???”, so much that at some point it became obvious that the killer was a woman.
but the killer was a man.. it was sebastian
@@jacksonelvis3691 technically I GUESS. But Zoe literally murdered everyone herself.
It's was Sebastians phycology tht zoe represented when killing.
@@jacksonelvis3691 It was Zoe!
I honestly thought that Fred was the killer lol in the note that Mariana found in her zebra he says that he had a premonition. Like what Fred claimed he has. So I thought for sure. It was him. And was so confused as to why Mariana couldn't see it and still jumped to Fosca. I feel like that would have made more sense than sebastian IMO.
I almost would have been more satisfied if (SPOILERS) Fosca actually did it instead of Zoe. Like if it's so obvious the main character believes, and the author wants you to believe, it's Fosca that if he made it just a bit more subtle then made a dual POV halfway through with Mariana and Fosca (after he admits his crime to the reader) playing cat and mouse (Fosca trying to hide his tracks and Mariana trying to uncover them), I would've liked that a lot more. Samantha Downing made her villain known early in her new book "For Your Own Good" and that didn't take away from the "thriller" part of mystery/thriller.
I felt like Alex Micchaledes just wanted a plot twist that lived up to the one in his debut novel.
Imagine it was him and he gaslit her into harassing him and exploiting her being griefing goating her making that obvious violations that could have consequences, that he as obvious suspect tries to meker her his alibi and ruin the deniabilty. He could use that as twist and she looses her job an licence over he actions and looses all credibility. And the twist is, him telling her after no one has any reason to believe her anything.
@@marocat4749 Exactly! This ^^
That's why it's called a FUCKING PLOT TWIST, IT WAS SO GOOD!
@@nxbxxha_1764 I wasn't attacking you or the author; I was just stating my opinion! :) I love a good plot twist, too (esp. the ones that make you throw the book down in shock). This just wasn't that for me. I feel like the author had such a big plot twist in his first book, and that's the book that put him on people's radars, and he felt like he had to have a plot twist that would live up to that one. It felt like a twist for the sake of having one, rather than one that was built up to and that made sense. Again, just my opinion! Glad you enjoyed the book
I had such high hopes for this book. Dark academia, Greek mythology, and a thriller/mystery? It sounded like such a good combo! But I HATED that ending. If Mariana is a therapist, how did she not recognize her lover (of many years) was a psychopath? How did she not pick up on that fact that her niece was going through abuse/grooming/trauma? AS IF.
It also drove me crazy that in the end, the maidens and the mythology (aka. the very things that made people pick up the book) weren’t important for the story at all. Like they existed and died for no reason, because Sebastian and Zoe could’ve killed Mariana a thousand seperate times without the maidens being necessary or relevant at all. They were the ultimate red herring and I feel so cheated. Like you said, there was so much potential with the mythological/ritualistic stuff that was going on with the Maidens, but turns out it was all just pointless filler in a weak (and really far-fetched) murder plot about Zoe.
Can I also add: the police and investigator are skeptical of Mariana the whole time, but at the end we’re supposed to believe that she called them and said, “I followed my niece to the woods and it turns out she killed the girls, and then she tried to kill me!!” …. and they just suddenly believe her? That chapter is so rushed - it would not have gone down that smoothly. The only way they maybe would’ve believed her is if Zoe admitted to everything…. but that just seems very convenient (villain confessions are so unrealistic, and just lazy writing IMO).
So disappointed all around because I really wanted this to be a good one.
Mariana could not suspect her late husband because she became a therapist only after Sebastian died. She started attending Ruth's therapy to cope with the loss and then started her career in Psychology. I'm sorry if I'm wrong but that is what I think.
But there's no denying the fact the the entire book was deliberately forcing the reader to suspect the wrong person. There were barely any clues to suggest Zoe as the culprit. I feel that there should be some minor clues laid out in the plot, so that the readers and go back and think how they could miss those.
@@manojattivilli3261 actually the book mentions marianna didn't try to have kids earlier because she was busy with establishing her practice in psychotherapy.
The story sounded so promising and awesome … but, it was just not.
Yesss I also hate it when the "killer" comes out of left field. A good whodunnit reveal makes you surprised but also think "wow that makes so much sense!!".
(spoilers!!!) My breaking point in this book was when Marianna follows a dude to a graveyard and when she realizes that he's just there to hook up with a woman just..stays and watches them??? and then is freaked out when the guy is angry about this incredibly creepy thing she just did and acts like HE was the one who was in the wrong. She was such an infuriating protagonist and a genuinely terrible therapist it was incredible
I mean he WAS in the wrong he was hooking up with a younger woman he was in authority of as a gatekeeper so like that’s fucked up,,, but yeah wtf why did she stay and watch?!
YES THIS omg i had to reread it when i came across that scene bc i was like wdym you stayed there to watch and couldn’t look away…..
Is it bad that Merphy's Rants make me feel so happy? Is that bad? I don't think it is.
I know right. She's the one person that can give positive vibes throughout a rant video. :D
I do enjoy watching her rants. They make me happy as well! You are not alone in this
What is the cat doing with that bloody knife? Those are the answers we actually need.
it's a mystery!
@@merphynapier42 timeline. Daniel Greene gets Samwise to use "undulate" then merphy has a cat with a bloody knife. Again, just the timeline of things that happened.
My attention switched to pondering the cat shirt as well.
The real question is, what happened to the dog?
@@merphynapier42 No that's not!!!
Who is Keyser söze? Is he even real?
That's the actual mystery.
You can't convince me that was his actual name. It's made up.
I always wonder how many beta readers these authors have. I DEPEND on my betas to help me know when there are annoying plot conveniences and how well my red herrings/reveals come across. That said, we all read at a different level critically. Some of my readers will be too sucked into the romance to point out what another does about the believability of a certain world-building aspect. That's why it's important to have a few!
I am so happy to see this rant, mainly because 3 days ago I finished the book and was so incensed that I sent a 28-message-rant to my book group’s WhatsApp - and they weren’t even reading the book, I was just so angry I had to yell about it to someone! (Yes I’m going to be sending a link to this video to them ☺️)
I was willing to put how stupid she was being to grief, I can suspend it enough or allow it if I try...but one thing I really liked was a woman protagonists grieving her husband, I personally haven't seen that a lot, usually the other way (but I don't read a lot of romances) I was so pissed at the end CAUSE other than the fact there was Z E R O evidence Zoe did it; why is God's name did sebastian have to be done like that? Can't we just once have a fictional husband who dies tragically and not be horrible trash? He was already dead!
Like it was so shoe horned in, it literally made more sense for at least Fred to have been the one writing the letter if you wanted it to not be the Professor, why couldn't we just leave dead sebastian alone?
Along with YEAH, that's kinda troubling if you're a therapist, meant to he intuned to trauma victims and not realizing what was going on in your own house between your own family.
I was so convinced that it was actually Fred after she read the letter.. I was so confused when it turned out t be Zoe.
So I read this between Wheel of Time books and enjoyed it for being a fast, non-high fantasy because I needed a little break haha. That being said, I also agree with everything you said here haha. My HUGE thing is HOW out of left field the Zoe reveal was. I'm very thriller/mystery-dumb (I can't guess an ending to save my life), and my favorite thing is when I can backtrack and see all the little clues I missed - of which I feel there were none in this book. Also, as a therapy-goer, I just kept thinking oh my godddddd I'm glad Mariana isn't my therapist hahaha. All that being said, I am still going to give The Silent Patient a go!
I don’t like when everybody in the book is in love with a particular character, spread the love.
Rant reviews are always great
I loved this book! So I feel like sharing why in a few jumbled thoughts…
Mariana didn’t even know who her husband truly was so it wouldn’t make sense for her to be right about the murderer. It’s even revealed the image she had of her father was unreliable. So I was able to accept she was wrong about who done it, and still have curiosity about HOW she would find out she was wrong. That was enough to keep it interesting for me. You can say Mariana is a “dumb dumb”, but I see her as grieving, troubled, vulnerable, and used. A person who didn’t receive adequate love, and as a result married someone awful. After all, the plan was ultimately designed by Sebastian, who seemed to know what wounds of hers to exploit. It’s so cruel, and for that, I do feel for her.
It makes me believe that somehow the constant emphasis on her being a group therapist, and someone who admittedly was not trained to examine individuals, was meant to show that she is an unreliable judge of character, or at least had a difficult time determining what people were the real threats. In her private therapy sessions with her professor, it’s shown how deeply in denial she was about her fathers cruelty. It was only through the group therapy session with the maidens that she unknowingly touched upon her own complicated dynamic with the men she held on a pedestal…like what she said to them about pledging loyalty to people out of a love that wasn’t truly returned. I believe her obsession with Fosca was tied to Sebastian; both were charismatic men that had held so much power over vulnerable women-the girls are unable to see in Fosca what Mariana was unable to see in Sebastian. To me, that makes it even more interesting that Sebastian picked him to be Mariana’s villain.
I find all the ties between mother/father figures and family/group dynamics to be entertainingly ironic. So good!
I completely agree with you, her character is meant to be flawed. She has been constantly manipulated by both her adopted daughter and late husband, and he knows all of her weaknesses. The whole point of the book is that she's naïve. It's also not unusual that if a mother believes that their child is in danger, that they would lose all common sense and drop everything to find who is threatening their safety. Overall, I thought it was a good book but everyone has their own opinion.
The olde “villain tries to sucker punch the hero and kills themselves by mistake” is so tired at this point. It’s the standard PG rated ending when we don’t want to tarnish our hero with a bit o’ killing.
I felt so many of these things but couldn’t put a finger on all of it. You really helped me realize what I didn’t like about it and to open my eyes to so many problems. Thank you for your honesty
Oh a 25 minute rant from Merphy.
Me: Sips tea while grinning
You perfectly articulated the feelings that I've been having about this book lately. At first I really enjoyed it, but as I let it "steep" in my brain it's just not feeling the same. Mariana was annoying and the red herrings weren't the least bit subtle and it goes on and on. Great rant video! Look forward to watching more! :D
Something about rant reviews makes them very fun to watch 🤔
I saw this in my feed and got so excited! I also made a rant review about this book and so many people were talking about how much they loved this book… I feel vindicated
Oh nooo, I just bought this. 🤣 We have similar tastes so I'm likely not going to like it as well... buuuut I'm committed, too. Will have to read it sooner than planned so I can come back and watch this asap lol.
The Maidens is a perfect example for my 2021 thriller releases...great premise poor execution. I really wanted to love it because I really enjoyed The Silent Patient.
Have you tried We Begin At the End and The Rose Code?
I adore hearing people rant like this about books. This put such a smile on my face. Thank you
Merphy ranting about a bad book is always an entertaining video.
What timing! I was just considering whether to buy it or now
I didn't realize quite how bad this book was until I tried to explain the plot out loud. Only then did I realize how nonsensical it was.
the ending was my absolute biggest turn-off for the book. but your other points are SO accurate as well. I will say, The Silent Patient is SOOOO much better and you should definitely read that. The Silent Patient is one of my favorite books, it was ten times better than this one. The Maidens was very much a step down imo but I'm still interested in reading more from Alex Michealides
The What? Kitty t-shirt is my fave! :) Also a big fan of this rant review, as long as you explain what it was you didn't like, rant reviews can be as fun as positive reviews!
She has the best reviews - both positive and negative! I really like how raw she is!
The way you say liminal is adorable 😅 definitely won't be picking up this one but this review was lit 👌
I'm SO glad I'm not the only person who couldn't stand this book! The worst part is that, not only is the MC such a dummy, she's also so pretentious about it! This book had so much promise and I was really excited to read it because I'm a history student and I was studying Greek tragedies when I picked it up, but it just fell so flat for me.
The pretentiousness of everything she does and thinks was my biggest peeve of this book!!! I couldn’t understand it!
Why
SPOILER ALERT FOR SILENT PATIENT AND THE MAIDENS* I don't recall hearing anything about this book linking it to the Silent patient prior to reading it. However, getting into part four and beyond the author brings back characters and locations/situations from the Silent patient; Ruth, Theo, Alicia, The Grove, where Zoe ends up with Theo as her therapist. It honestly made The Maidens for me when these unexpected links to The Silent Patient began to happen. That being said I don't feel the links are strong enough to necessarily have to read The Silent Patient first but it absolutely made the last half of the book more exciting and enjoyable to read with those seemingly pointless weak links not being as pointless or weak because they are leading up to Theo/the Grove.
I actually loved this book, and I guessed Zoe did about half way through the book. There was a brief moment I thought I was wrong and that Fred was the killer (because his mention of the book he was writing about his "dead' mother and then the letter Zoe had mentioning a "premonition") but I'm glad it was Zoe and not Fred. But Sebastian being the reason came out of left field to me, which made me both love and hate the twist. The Silent Patient was better executed, but I enjoyed this book.
That being said, I also very much enjoyed your rant hahahaha
I agree with you. I liked this book. Also thought Fred was the killer, because if his writing and mentioning his parents. I didn’t mind it being Zoe, I thought it was a good twist, I just didn’t like Sebastian being the reason. How could Mariana not have known anything while being married to him for years…
The child grooming aspect was the final nail in the coffin for me. I am very against adult-minor relationships.
This part completely ruined the book for me. And she saw NOTHING of their relationship that started when the kid was 6 years old?
I do not like negative reviews of things that I like. Therefore I thank you for warning about it before hand.
However, I like negative reviews about things that I either do not like or do not care, so I really liked this video. Thank you for saving me some time.
ALWAYS love a rant review from merph
Now we need you to read the Silent Patient and review it for us also
I'd always love a well constructed rant
I felt so similar to you about this book! I loved The Silent Patient and this one was so disappointing! Thanks for posting this. I enjoyed watching and ranting to my husband alongside your video!!
Fred should have been the killer! It would have made a lot of sense. Especially when she finds a long letter, we know Fred feels more comfortable putting his words on paper - he told Mariana so! - and the author of the letter said he had a premonition when he first met Zoe - who does that sound like? - if Fred had been the killer I would have loved this good.
But the goal was to make this plot as disturbing as possible, so...😂
I like that she gives clear reasons for why she didn't like something. Truly helps.
What??? Men are creeps? Multiple men fall all over her? Her detective skills rival that of Shaggy and Scooby Doo? She impedes active investigations? Goes off into the dark multiple times alone with suspects? Hmm. Your review sent me into another world all right. "Zoinks! Rooby Snack!" "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for that meddling Marianna!"
Based on the synopsis, i can see the greek mythology influences with the goddess or siren vibes Mariana is giving off. Also it is a trope for some of these goddesses to be damsels in distresses and be really dumb/naive.
Also the dude stalking her sounds like a mixture of Edward and Jacob and not a combination anyone wants.
At a certain point while reading I assumed that it wasn’t going to be a whodunnit, but that The Maidens would turn out to be some kind of Greek cult, and the girls were killed for a sacrifice or something. Mariana was so convinced it was Fosca that I knew it wasn’t him, but I also couldn’t think of anyone else it could realistically be given the clues we had, so I guessed the twist would be “it was him but not the way you’d expect”
The actual ending was terrible. It reminded me why I’m so hesitant to read mysteries. It felt like the author got to the end of the book and asked who would be the most shocking. I also doubt Mariana could have been married to Sebastian for years and never knew anything about his life, enough to recognize in the letter. So many plot points were dropped it felt like a first draft of a book. It could have been great if more time was spent in crafting the story and revising what didn’t work. Also, I hated how short the chapters were. It took me out of the story.
Okay but your idea for the twist genuinely sounds pretty cool
Okay, I'm just gonna admit it...I love a rant video. Don't judge me. I know I'm not alone. This brought a smile to my face and LOL. Thanks Merphy! 😁😁😁
I like them too, you're not alone!
They are great!!
I wasn’t planning on reading it. This was hilarious!!
I agree that the book had unfulfilled potential, but imo, especially as a Greek mythology/tragedy enthusiast, it was nevertheless a great read.
Yeah me too I hope I can explore liminalism better in my own writing.
It's so interesting to hear different takes on that! Because I'm into mythology as well (the main thing that drew me to this book) but I unfortunately thought that this aspect was executed superficial at best - I felt like the author was attempting to use the appeal of greek classics as a 'flavouring' without ever actually diving deeper into the topic.
And considering that rewritten/books inspired by ancient classics are quite the trend currently I think this one is, sorry to sound mean, quite the waste of time seeing how many better works have been published recently in this vague genre.
Paired with the other flaws (I pretty much agree with every point brought up in this video) this lead me to feelin really led down and not enjoying the book in the slightest.
Merphy does give some of the best book reviews I have ever seen! I really enjoy them!
I don't agree with everything you've said here, but I can definitely see where you're coming from with it. This book has an interesting tie-in with Silent Patient, but it definitely doesn't hold a candle to Silent Patient. I hope you do read that one, because I'd love to know if you enjoy that one.
The Maidens was disappointing to me because they make such a big deal about this group/cult, yet they barely feature. I was expecting Mariana to become more and more entrenched in this group, really learning the ins and outs, while still being kept in the dark because she's an outsider. You're absolutely right that things weren't executed well. And as far as the reveal, I'd guessed Zoe from about a third of the way in, because I thought to myself, "Okay, they're throwing everything at wanting us to believe it's this professor, so it's obviously not him. Who's the most likely to not be suspected?" And I landed on Zoe. The reveal with the husband, though, I see what what attempting to be done, this kind of crashing down of the reality you thought you knew, but it just didn't work in this book.
I'll still read more from this author, but I hope the next book is closer to the caliber that Silent Patient is. Because that book was amazing.
I read this and absolutely HATED it, but everyone said The Silent Patient was better so I picked that one up. I honestly thought The Silent Patient was even worse, I definitely will not be picking up anything else by this author. I couldn’t stand any of the characters in either of the books (even if that’s the whole point, they were so frustratingly terrible that it ruined the whole book for me) and the plots had so many holes that finishing the novels are unsatisfactory.
I love the passive rage, please do more of these reviews!
OK, Merphy, tell us how you really feel lol. I didn't plan to read this so am pleased to hear the big reveal without actually having to endure the book. I very much enjoyed this review.
It's not a book (well, it's an adaptation of a japanese book), but I really recommend the movie "Perfect Blue" by Satoshi Kon if you want a good thriller/mystery story. I watched it recently and it was super interesting.
Hope to read the book if I can find it.
Is the book good? I know quite a bit about the movie w/o having watched it lol, but idk anything about the book.
I enjoy a good rant every now and then, and Merphy's rants are always the best ones to indulge in!!!
Hello! I read the Silent patient and I am not reading anything from this author again in my life! That was a good rant, Ms Napier! Thank you!
Mee too
Sounds to me like utter rubbish - I can’t stand such artificially convoluted plots. So thanks for your honesty. 🙏🏻
My thing about this book is that it can never be proved that Zoe was actually groomed by Sebastian. Zoe could have been in love with Sebastian and he not reciprocate. It’s just infuriating that we will never know. I just want a clear ending.
I was seemingly one of the few who wasn't crazy about the Silent Patient, so I was hesitent to pick up The Maidens. I totally agreed with your review, The Maidens was so disappointing (infuriating at times), and I don't think I'll be picking up this author again. Love your t-shirt though, where did you get it?
The prose of the silent patient was soooo bad that I just could not pick up another book by the writer.
I almost did try the Silent Patient. I am glad I never picked it up.
Time to time rant reviews do rock 😊
I haven't read The Silent Patient but a friend that did and hated it told me the twist and I was like
me: but doesn't that make the whole novel before it make no sense?
friend: yeeep
So honestly I'm not surprised by anything you said here. Good review.
Merphy, we LOVE rant reviews!!
These can be some of my favorite reviews to watch casually. Especially because they don't appear as often on your channel.
oh my god you're literally speaking my heart out..!!! I just finished this book and was totally utterly disappointed and I thought why not check out some reviews maybe I am the one who's feeling this way... and it felt so good watching your rant about it.. :D
Personally, I enjoyed this book because it made the point that even highly intelligent people can be complete morons. I was a little disappointed with the way it ended, but overall I didn't find it completely horrible.
I mean… I don’t think that’s what the book was actually trying to do or say though lol. Enjoying it for that if it was purposely done would make sense. But I don’t think it was on purpose at all.
It’s bad enough for the MC to have been unprofessional and less than bright. After all, the doctor who graduates at the bottom of his/her/their class is still called “doctor.” The problem with “The Maidens” is that ALL of the professionals failed. In my opinion, that’s not the author making a point, that’s an author being lazy.
This is my favorite review. I understand why you don't enjoy doing negative reviews but I loved this so much!
I read some of your other rants and they were very entertaining, so when I saw this one I was like:
This is the video I’m gonna watch.
This is hilarious! I DNF it and just so happy that I did. I also had a lot of complains about this that I had to really stop reading to write my rants.
I think The secret history bij Donna Tart will be the book that you wanted this one to be
I saw "It's a Rant" and I clicked immediately.
I enjoy your Rant Reviews and think you should rant about books you don't like, just as often as you give positive feedback on books. I just really like hearing your perspective on all these stories.
I was feeling kind of blue and this made me feel better, thanks.
*SPOILER WARNING*
I wouldn't have hated it so much if the author didn't deliberately had so many similarities between all the sus people. Like from the killer's monologue we know that the killer lost his mother at a young age (the first monologue didn't told us that she didn't die then, just left him but how the writing was i thought she died) and after that chapter Fosca co-incedently also lost her mother at a young age and had an abusive father too?!
And then after some chapter we learn the killer's dad is a farmer (or something) and just after that chapter we learn that fred also happened to grew up in a farm
This is the first thriller that let me down🙂
I love this so much!
I think I was more forgiving about story elements than you were, because I kept thinking what it would be like to miss your dead husband only to find out you were in love with a shadow of the true thing, and how disturbing that would be.
I am amazed you actually finished that book 😂
More ranting videos, love ranting 😁💖
I need to see a video where you do book “rewrites”! I liked this book but I totally agree with your review it was hilarious!
I just finished this book and I totally agree with you!
I just read the first chapter of this book. And how many times could the author mention that Mariana was still in love with Sebastian?! Oh my word…
Nice timing! I'm in the middle of The Maidens audiobook. 📒. I'll come back and listen to this after I'm done. So far, the only issue I have is that maybe the main character is too paranoid/superstitious.
Yessss totally agree with this review! So many obvious red herrings and next to no clues through the book that it could’ve been Zoe. Like you said, I did suspect Zoe but that’s because I suspected everyone
Honestly i loved the book overall but i think the ending could have been a bit better....all though i loved the silent patient references throughout....the greek mythology reference was also great....but i think zoe's story came out of the blue idk....but i think i loved silent patient better?
Loved the rant!
I live for negative reviews of stuff I know nothing about
I LOVE this rant! Laughed out loud. I was almost flushing out this book!
Very interesting views. I certainly agree with many of them. If I had to play devils advocate by memory alone. I’d say SPOILER when Mariana goes off with Zoe in the end. Is more her just being numb. In disbelief that she could actually go through with this. But wanting to give her every possible chance to “turn back” change her mind. If the “daughter” she helped raise could do this. What is the point in anything.
I do agree Fosca was never going to be the killer. When I read a book jacket on a whodunit and it says he is the killer. My instincts immediately went, “ok so he’s not.”
There was lots of missed opportunities to setup clues. They could have planted more seeds in Sebastian being distant emotionally, and physically from Mariana etc
Hey, here from the One Piece content. I'm not much of a book guy, but it's fun listening to you talk about them!
ROTFL! Merphy rants are the best.
I'm sorry but we need more rant reviews please! This was great
I read Silent Patient & rolled my eyes when Theo showed up here.
This video was very therapeutic and cathartic for me. I DNF'd the book after 25 or so pages because I didn't like the main character. Sometimes you just get so upset you HAVE TO RANT. I did the same with Peter Swanson's newest thriller, Every Vow You Break.
Mariana is less annoying to me than all the characters in my least favourite book but that's not a compliment to Mariana
Edit: I really am loving your top!!
I swear there needs to be an entire rant on how terrible the modern day thrillers are. Either they're completely hinged on an unreliable narrator, or they're hinged on a completely overconveluted plot that only progresses through stupidity. There's very rarely an outlier. So many are just so terrible.
Thank youuuu for doing this rant review!! I read this book because I LOVED The Silent Patient and was blown away by the ending, but I really disliked this one. I’d love to hear your thoughts on TSP if you end up reading it! (Which I hope you do, because it’s soooo much better!) This one was hard for me to get through…very slow-paced, with most of the characters adding absolutely nothing to the story. (Also, we don’t get any explanation why Fred brings up Naxos or things specifically related to Sebastian’s death, or why he just randomly proposes to Mariana like a creep?!) I did see the ending coming, which disappointed me because TSP totally caught me off guard while leaving enough clues for me to be satisfied. I agree with you that Mariana was very dumb, lol. I also didn’t like how the ending unfolded, with Zoe randomly creating this fantastical story about a mythological hazing experience that came out of nowhere with some lame excuse why she hadn’t brought it up before. And when she shows Mariana the postcard she got, why did Mariana say “I could’ve had Clarissa translate the Greek but I didn’t bother. What difference would it make”?! Um..it may give the clue to your niece’s potential murder?! So many holes and things that just didn’t make sense.