I haven't read this- but I loved seeing you get really involved in a read, because I love when that happens to me too. You did make me put The Secret History in my cart again. Totally great you in all your sweatshirts! Oh sweet autumn, how I love thee... It's getting a little cooler here in Virginia at the moment and I've been enjoying our morning dog walks more. We need a video about books which take place on college campuses or in schools for fall!

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

Yay, glad you liked it! And yeeees for The Secret History :D

I haven't read it because of the exact same reasons you were nervous to start it. I love The Secret History, and If we were villains, and I want to find another book that does something similar. But the mixed opinions are making me doubt if I should read it or not. Your confusion at the end on whether you liked it or not was so relatable 😂

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

Haha, I still have very mixed feelings, I gotta say xD I'm also always looking for books like The Secret History, but they're hard to find

@MarianaQuesada

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheBookCastle I guess the fact we can't find more books like that one makes it even more special

It’s so funny to hear how others talk about Summer. I live in the Florida Panhandle and HATE hot weather. It is hot/humid here for about 5 to 6 months of the year. I live for the time I can put on a sweatshirt!!🤣🤣🤣 I liked The Maidens in the “readability” factor, it definitely held my interest, but I don’t think it fleshed out the storyline very well. The main character never made sense to me either. I agree 100% with your review. 😊😊😊

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

Oh gosh, totally get that! I also live for sweatshirts

I thought is was a good read although unbelievable actions by the protagonist. The book is now available in Spanish as "Las Doncellas" The Silent Patient had a wow factor that made me put it down for a minute while I recouped. I liked the linking of characters from both universes allowing us to see the Silent Patient and The Grove from a better perspective. My vote is 3.75/5 stars

Have you read The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo? I think you‘d really enjoy it! It‘s very dark and it has multiple timelines which I personally love and it‘s set at Yale which is also pretty cool (all my knowledge about Yale comes from watching Gilmore Girls though 😂)

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

I haven't but I definitely want to! And loooool, all my knowledge of Yale also comes fro Gilmore Girls xD

@moumitareads3738

2 жыл бұрын

I thought I will go with it but then saw so many trigger warning...

Fall is the best! I'm the kind of person who put on my fall cloth the minute it gets a little bit chill XD. Also yesterday is the Beginning of Autumn in Chinese traditional 24 Solar Terms, so it's offical fall!（says a person living in a 36-degrees city). I have read The Silent Patient, felt a little meh about that book. The twist is quiet obivous and the characters……a little bit flat I think. They are like some prototype the writers created to futher the plot instead of real human beings. However, The Maidens sounds a lot more interesting in its academic setting, I felt intrigued by that. And now when I see you tring to find right words to describe it (it's so lovely and cute!), it made me want to read it myself LOL.

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

I know right! :D The Maidens definitely has a great setting, and I'd say I probably prefer it over The Silent Patient!

I agree with every single word. I really enjoyed reading this book but it could have been so much more so maybe that's why I can't say I liked it. I mean... 😃 I liked it, but at the same time I feel annoyed about the missed opportunities.

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, exactly!! xD

I had a lot of the same feelings about The Maidens. It was just ok. I adore The Secret History, and even though nothing is really like it, I am always searching for something with similar vibes. Have you read If We Were Villains by ML Rio? That one came pretty close for me.

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

I haven't read it yet, but I bought a copy last year and I'll try to read it this fall! :D

@cadeylinn

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheBookCastle oh it’s PERFECT for fall! I hope you love it.

The Confusion Is Real 🙃🤯 thanks Alice, for keeping ALL your thoughts in this vlog, so entertaining! It's weird when you finish a book and cannot decide whether it's 👍👎 ( this is all of Mark Lawrence's work for me) I'm not sure I'll read this one, but now The Ninth House hype train has departed, it's worth a read on the DA topic. Enjoyed it, some characters need to grow, and there is some silliness and darkness in the plot, but the Secret Society element is large. Another great vlog 😊 Oh, and it should NOT be Autumn in August!! All the seasons have melted into one big windy, wet one now ....🌪️☔

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

It sure is xD I'm glad it was entertaining though! Thank you for reminding me of Ninth House, I think I'm going to order myself a copy of it (as you say, the hype has died down which helps)

100 percent agree with your reaction. i liked it but i didn't ...best way to describe it

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly! xD

Loved hearing your thoughts on this. I totally agree with lots of the things you spoke about but I really disliked it by the end. Loved the setting and the overall idea of the premise but I felt like it didn’t explore many of the areas I wanted it to (mainly the secret society - especially as this is the premise the book is sold on). I know with these types of mystery thrillers you have to suspend your disbelief to some extent but this book was so unbelievable it kept pulling me out of the story (especially in respect of the main character, her actions and why she was allowed to investigate (and carry on investigating the way she was ). I also thought there were major issues with the perpetrator at the end and thought the ‘explanation’ was so weak! I also really didn’t like the silent patient (mainly for the ending as I felt it made no sense) so I think I’m done with this author!

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

Yay, glad you liked it! Totally agree that it didn't explore all that it could, which was a bit disappointing!

I want to ask a question that in the end how did Fred knew that Mariana was in danger to ( he called her and asked her run) and how did he knew where she went with Zoe in the end and how Fred find her at the end 😮😮😅????

I haven't read it but most of the times I can easily guess what is going on (most of the times it is the one you least expect), as was also the case for me with his previous book. Since I love crime and thrillers, a twist that I really did not see coming is an immediate 5 stars for me because it is really hard to pull of without creating plot holes. That is why Agatha Christie is one of my favourite authors. I am always one step behind because her books always have multiple twists (so far I have only guessed the killer correctly in And Then There Were None, but I still love that book to death).

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

Totally get that, I feel like the more crime and thriller books I read, the more it takes to really impress me. And I agree on Agatha Christie, it's pretty amazing that her books are still so surprising! :D

I totally agree with you. I kind of liked the book, but I am a bit sad that The Maidens were not really explored and I have some concerns about the motif of the killer. It is a good story, the setting is fantastic, everything is okay, it just feels not quite right or complete, not enough, I cannot get a good grasp on it, but I feel I needed something more or a bit deeper.

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly my thought!

I’m seeing this a month after you posted it. I breezed through The Silent Patient so it was obviously readable but I detested the unreliable narrator and the ending. I decided I don’t want to read any more by this author. I had heard he used characters from his first book in this book without a real purpose. But you said you liked that. I love your reviews and thoughtful comments.

My problem with the Maidens is how abrupt the ending is as well. I wanted more information about the situation and how the characters got there. You don’t get the “why” of this and I wanted just so much more. All the “good” stuff to me was at the end, and then we just don’t get anything. Very frustrating!! I agree, I also didn’t always understand Marianne and felt she was very very flat. She’s just moving along and we don’t really get why?? Like why does she keep going into this mystery other than Zoe?? It doesn’t make sense to me. She was totally just there to solve the mystery. Also I’ve noticed this author just tends to write women this way where there’s only one trait about them and then the men are mysterious. Lol. I think he’s a plot writer, which is fine but his characters I think need a lot of work.

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, I totally agree, I didn't get the "why" either and it was so frustrating! And yeees, that's exactly how I felt, like I don't understand why she did all of the things she did! The plot was good, but I agree, the characters need some work :)

🖤🌿

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

You made valid points on this book, my main issue with the book was the main character Mariana, her motivations didn't ring true and she was doing things most sane women wouldn't, in short her character wasn't believable, this why I didn't rate the novel highly

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

Definitely had a lot of the same feelings!

Have you read If We Were Villains. That’s inspired by The Secret History 🙂

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

I have it on my shelves, thinking of reading it this fall! :D

@ririschannelx

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheBookCastle oh good 😅 can’t wait to see a vlog about it!

Look, I wasn't a fan of The Silent Patient, wasted my money on a hardback copy. With The Maidens I got a free e-book and went with zero expectations and I devoured it in a day. I gave it 4 stars because when I read ebooks I hardly rate them higher if they're books I might be interested in purchasing a paperback copy to re-read one day. That's what happened with The Maidens, a month later I was still thinking about it and I read like 18 books in the middle, so I went and ordered a copy that's in transit now. Is it perfect? No. What I liked? The dark academia atmosphere, the very short fast paced chapters, the creepy professor, the Greek inserted into the chapters, the fact that my suspect list was so long I couldn't guess who did it, also because I was immersed into the story that I didn't care for theorizing potential killers. To me it's way better than his first book which twist was just dumb. I'll read the copy I bought before the goodreads awards, it may still sit on a 4 star or it might get bumped up to a 5 star. Either way, people who gave The Silent Patient 5 stars went into this book with too many expectations and got disappointed I guess. I think the book doesn't try to be the new "secret history" nor is trying to be a pretentious character study, it's a fun ride with great atmosphere and lots of turns and for me it worked

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

I definitely think hype and expectations is a problem with this one. Totally agree with liking the dark academia vibes and the other things you mentioned :D I definitely enjoyed it!

@monicamerle1417

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheBookCastle hope I helped you to make up your mind about the rating, you look lost in thoughts on the video 😂

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

@@monicamerle1417 I was xD Probably going to have to think about it some more, but I totally agree that it was a fun ride with great atmosphere!

We have a different taste in books... for example Secret History is sooo not my cup of tea. I do enjoy your channel and I like how you present and talk about books in general 💙

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! :D

im not sure if i'll be reading this, i've heard a lot of mixed reviews

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

This review probably didn't help then, because it was also very mixed xD

Even I can't figure out if I really love this book. I really enjoyed the Greek myths references in the story but the character's motivations felt really flat and lame for me.

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

My thought exactly!

I was disappointed by this book. I think mainly because I enjoyed The Silent Patient so much more.

I thought I would like this book for all the same reasons as you, but I really hated it. Gave it one star, which I never do. None of the characters have any personality. All we learn about them is that they are good looking (all of them..) and that they have been through trauma (almost all of them). The backdrop of Cambridge seems like a prop. Even though we meet employees and students, it doesn't feel like anyone does anything academic there, except for the teacher. And seriously, how many good looking creepy guys who show interest in our main character can you add to a story? Such a cliched and obvious red herring. And the author doesn't show us why anything happens, he just tells us. It just wasn't believable at all. I managed to finish the novel since it was such an easy read, but that's the bes thing I can say about it.

@TheBookCastle

2 жыл бұрын

Ah, what a shame! Can totally see why you didn't get on with it though, and YES, I forgot to mention the part where all these creepy, good looking people kept being interested in the main character, I really didn't like that xD