Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Pacjentka

I really enjoyed my time with this audiobook. The performances were excellent (even on 1.5x speed, lol), and I found myself pulled into the twisted tale easily. Quite liked the twist.

Content Warnings

corallydeer's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

This was a wild ride from start to finish! Dropping the reader straight into a recounting of the

murder

the book is centered around and that

absolutely mind-blowing twist at the end

! I thought the characters were all portrayed very well, everything felt very realistic to how things might have gone if it was real and the context of Theo being a psychotherapist helped make it very natural to get all of the emotional commentary.

I'm definitely going to have to reread this one

just to catch all of the hints

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Infidelity, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Infidelity

(initially considered as a theory for Alicia killing Gabriel; Yuri admits to actively pursuing another woman while married in the past; Kathy cheats on Theo)

| Injury/Injury Detail

(Alicia injures Theo during her attack and he receives treatment; Theo cuts himself pretty badly on broken glass; Alicia attacks Elif and sticks a paintbrush in her eye)

| Medical Content

(most of the story takes place at a psych ward with discussions of medications and treatments)

| Murder

(Alicia murders her husband, Gabriel, which is the main point of the book; Alicia is almost killed by an attempted murder involving forced overdose but remains in a vegetative state)

| Stalking

(Yuri admits to following the woman he fell in love with while married around and waiting around by her house; Alicia is stalked by an unknown man which is recounted in detail in her journal; Theo recounts stalking his wife's lover and where he lives)

| Addiction

(Theo is addicted in varying degrees to cigarettes and weed; Alicia's cousin, Paul, becomes addicted to gambling, amasses debt, and asks Alicia for help)

| Child Abuse

(Theo was physically and verbally abused by his father; as a child Alicia hears her drunken father wish her dead in place of her mother)

| Death of Parent

(the death of Alicia's parents is mentioned in passing and then explored a bit more farther in)

| Drug Abuse

(Theo smokes weed and was once addicted)

| Gore

(there is some description of Gabriel's state after being shot in the face multiple times; there is also some description of Elif after being stabbed in the eye)

| Gun Violence

(a gun was used to murder Gabriel)

| Mental Illness

(explored as a theory for the murder; discussed intermittently in regards to the patients and in other conversations)

| Self-Harm

(Alicia was found with her wrists cut and then attempted the same injury upon entering the psych ward)

| Sexual Assault

(Gabriel's brother, Max, assaults Alicia [it's mentioned that it's happened before in the past] and she fights back)

| Suicide & Suicide Attempts

(Theo tried to overdose in college; mentioned as part of Theo working in a psychiatric unit; Gabriel's brother, Max, confirms that Alicia tried to overdose after her father's death; Alicia's father hung himself which is mentioned in passing)

| Violence

(Alicia was violent with another patient and attempted to kill her; Alicia attacks Theo; Paul knocks out Theo by accident when he visits; Theo's revenge on his wife's lover is violent)

| Alcohol

(some minor pub visits)

| Domestic Abuse

(mentioned in passing as a theory for the murder)

| Schizophrenia

(Elif hears voices, but this is only brought up in passing)

| Vomit

(mentioned in passing that Theo vomits after discovering Kathy's affair)

dariosanrdz's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Omg, what a book.

I really liked the story, the characters, everything. It is a book that keeps you hooked until you finish it.

I did not expect the final plot twist with Theo being the one who tried to stab Alicia and Gabriel being Kathy’s lover, that blew my mind.

I really liked the dynamics between the characters, how the connections are made, the stories that lead to complete Alicia’s story.

Honestly, I am giving this a 4.75 because at one point I felt the book was more about detectives than therapists and psychiatrists on a psych ward, if not for that, it would ve a solid 5 star for me.

Content Warnings