The Maidens by Alex MichaelidesMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Sadly, this book was another disappointment for me. The plot was rushed, character development non-existent, and the plot twist was incomprehensible.
The biggest fault I have with this book is its pace. It takes place over a week but has the type of sprawling and interesting plot that deserves a runtime of something closer to a year. I buy Mariana becoming invested in this murder mystery, and I buy that, somehow, the series of events (including the twist) could be plausible. But for it all to happen in such a short space of time is a real stretch of the imagination. I could have stayed in Cambridge for about 100 more pages, getting deeper and deeper into the lore, into Mariana’s mind, and into the lives of these characters. We know nothing, really, about the Maidens, and they’re the titular image of the book. They’re such an interesting image, it really is disappointed to see them wasted. A group of beautiful girls turning up to a funeral dressed in white, following an attractive leader/lover/father? That’s interesting, you want to know more about them. I want to know more about them! When you finally get to sit down with them, we are only there for about 10 pages and then they’re discarded until they’re all but unnecessary to the plot.
All the male characters are interesting too. Fred, the young man on the train who predicts that him and Mariana will eventually be married; Henry, a troubled patient who Mariana both grants too much and too little of her time; Morris, the old-fashioned but secretive porter; and, of course, Edward Fosca himself, the teacher with a devoted group of students. But, again, the pace of this book means we never get to sit with any of them, and the way they become intertwined with Mariana feels ridiculously quick.
Can anyone recommend me some five star reads? I feel like I haven’t read one in months!
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