Gaurav Wadile

Spoilers Ahead* One of the best book ever read. After reading The Silent Patient, I didn't waste a second, I instantly bought The Maidens and read it in a single sitting and boy it paid off. Seriously, the final twist left me hollow, speechless and numb for a week straight. I couldn't stop thinking about it and how the entire story lined up and how in the end it all made sense. People are criticizing, as per the reviews I read, and I do not agree about: 1. The ending: critics are saying the author hasn't laid enough foundation for the final twist. I would suggest them to read the book again and you'll understand he had laid them enough, maybe it was those critics who dozed off halfway because plot was too brilliant for their brains to grasp. The author had mentioned multiple times that in many ways Mariana's father and Sebastian were same. She thought her father loved her but it wasn't love, it was her craving for love. Similarly with Sebastian, she thought it was love, in fact, all readers thought it was but it wasn't. It was her craving for love. That set parallels between her father and her husband. Secondly, more than Mariana, Zoe evoked about Sebastian more often throughout the book. In fact, there was a conversation between the two where Mariana mentioned that Sebastian said once that Zoe had crush on him. They joked about it. It all lines up pretty fantastically. 2. Characters: critics are saying that why Mariana volunteers herself in the investigation even though it wasn't her job? Answer is, shouldn't she? Imagine the story if she hadn't. Inspector Shanga wasn't properly invested in the investigation. If she hadn't, the story would have barely moved. Why she was investigating? The author has mentioned several times that Zoe was everything she left and Tara was her only friend. Her death has caused Zoe enough emotional trauma so Mariana feels she should get involved herself. Plus, Mariana, despite being psychotherapist, she was mentally disturbed herself which as per some critics didn't make sense. I really don't get it. You means doctors don't fall ill? You mean surgeon can never get stitches? Sue Townsend was blind and yet she worte some best-selling books. Proving that Mariana's mental status has nothing to do with her job. Any kind of person in the world with any kind of job can suffer any kind of crisis. And critics are saying the one character named Henry was useless, he proposed Mariana out of the blue and police took him off anyway. He wasn't useless at all, I think. He and Fred were in the story to be the suspect. The main villain was writing his own life story where he mentioned his abusive father: Henry and Fred had abusive father. The villain mentioned his soft side for his mother: Henry and Fred had soft side for their mothers. The villain mentioned he had a dog he loved so much: Fred had a dog in his family photo. Henry and Fred were in the story to become suspect for the readers. I often thought either of them could be the villain. But it was a distraction which was also mentioned by the author multiple times. 3. Pacing: critics are saying book was rushed at the end. I think once the big reveal happened, people are less likely to stick around. What was left in the end? Nothing. Everything was answered. And like some thriller movie, author didn't spend to much time on aftermath of the final twist. The pacing of the rest of the book was perfect. In the end, I'll give The Maidens by Alex Michaelides 5 Stars And, sometimes critics do talk rubbish, nothing to bother about. So I highly recommend this book to the genre lovers and the general readers likewise.