Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

262 reviews

klandry98's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Death, Gun violence, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Car accident

laurareads_bcn's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was not expecting the twist at the end. A must read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Suicidal thoughts

monloesco's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Liked the book overall,

Spoiler

the plot twist was good and the fact that the narrator was unreliable was really fun for me

Read the last 100 pages in a day 'cause I couldn't put the book down. Some things were kinda rushed imo,

Spoiler

I would've loved a confrontation with Kathy and Gabriel

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Child abuse, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Infidelity, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual assault

aaronreadsatad's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Confinement, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Gun violence, Infidelity, Alcohol, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

tiffyd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Infidelity, Murder, Self harm, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Drug abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, and Car accident

dudecahedron's review

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

It was a pretty easy read with very pleasant pacing. The plot isn't entirely linear, there are lots of flashbacks, the chronological order is sometimes scrambled which adds on to the mystery of the slient patient. Following along with the POV chatacter, trying to figure out the mystery and understand the life of the main character, the enigmatic artist constitutes most of the fun. This book really keeps you on the edge of your seat!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Moderate: Medical content, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

good_peony's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Suicide

adrianag7's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

asipofcozy's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The Secret Patient is a book that falls into a genre that I very rarely read. I have heard a lot about it and I wanted a break from reading fantasy. And let's just say I have a lot of thoughts and not many thoughts on this book. I was expecting thriller/mystery and what I got was - some thriller with a lot of bullshit characters and a whiny main character.

Let's start with what I liked about the book. I really loved this premise of this women (Alicia) killing her husband and never speaking another word. I enjoyed some of the plot building up to it and weaving in the story of Theo (the psychotherapist). When we were given the diary of Alicia, I devoured those pages. Towards the end I did start to see the story weave together, and I can see why many people enjoy the suspense of this book. And the ending does leave you with that "oh my god" moment. That is, if you don't read spoiler reviews or watch tik Tok videos on it.

Now let's get to the parts I really just do not like.

• None of the characters are lovable/redeemable - especially our main character Theo. A lot of the time I was annoyed with Theo and his internalized monologue. I can't even begin to explain where this dislike comes from. Maybe it was his righteous attitude and how he feels that patient's need to be "saved" and he is the one to do it. Maybe it's because he thinks he is above all and that his feelings are more important than others. Or maybe it's just his smug attitude. 

• Every therapist in this book is professionally unqualified - I don't think Michaelides knows much about psychology and/or psychotherapy. As someone that went to school for psychology there was a lot of inaccurate statements given whether it was giving "advice" to the medication suggestions. Once again, this is fiction and I understand that, but it irked me in the wrong way. For example, you don't just decide to lower a dosage for a patient without a lot of consultations and tapering - meaning you do it in very small increments over a period of time. Second, these sessions that Theo has and his clear obsession would not be conducted in any manner. In fact if a board of director saw you becoming obsessed with a patient you would normally be taken off said patient. There was also a lot of "off the books" situations which is very unethical. In fact most of the male doctors would have their licenses stripped if they pulled half that shit in any real clinic.

• How women are viewed  - not saying that Michaelides views women in a bad light, but he definitely paints it that way in The Secret Patient. Every single patient in The Grove (mental hospital) are women. Now, if this is mentioned in the book earlier, I missed it. However, it's how the women are treated. Instead of saying these women have mental health issues that they are battling, the male doctors will say they are "crazy" and or "bitches" or "crazy bitches". Even the main female characters Kathy (Theo's wife) and Alicia will call themselves crazy at times. As if as a woman that's all we can be is crazy or bitches. On top of that it's how the male doctors treat the two female doctors. It seems like there is a female board of director but the manager of the grove will consistently talk over her or is okay with going behind her back. Theo will do the same thing with the other female doctors in the book. The females in this book are not taken seriously nor do they get much of a voice. Women are portrayed in the darkest stereotypical light - we are gossipers, liars, crazy, tiresome, disloyal, delusional, vengeful, insecure, and annoying. 

While I did enjoy many parts of this book, there was just too much that I felt like I could skim over and still get an understanding of what was going on. Not only that but there were a lot of pieces that really didn't fit into the story and I wish we had more of the psychology aspect and less of Theo's internal dialogue of being a "savior". I wanted to enjoy this more but there were some things I couldn't look past.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Death of parent, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Sexual assault, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Stalking

Minor: Sexual assault and Suicide

kanthereader's review

dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This was an absolute masterpiece! The only reason it didn't get a five was because it wasn't as much of a thriller as I would have hoped/was anticipating.

I seriously cannot believe this is the author's first novel. It's incredible.

The book wasn't necessarily boring, but not interesting either in the beginning and middle. It felt like I was watching a documentary or a support group show where the people sit in circles. However, the ending made up for the slow paced beginning! I was totally taken by surprise.

Spoiler

I thought it was genius to put the book in Theo's point of view. I never would have suspected him to be Alicia's stalker. Alex has an amazing way of making certain characters seem so innocent and the least to be suspected. He did the same thing with Gabriel by putting Alicia's diary pages in there: another smart choice. Who knew a man who was willing to give his wife the world and wanted to make a family with her was both a coward and unfaithful?

Overall, this was such a good book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Stalking, Gun violence, and Self harm

Moderate: Violence, Medical trauma, Death, Blood, Medical content, Infidelity, Suicide, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Cursing