Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Pacjentka by Alex Michaelides

46 reviews

melisfay's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, and Blood

Minor: Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

kteliza28's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Wow okay I could not get enough of this book. I listened to it on audio and breezed through it. At first I will admit that I thought I had everything figured out and I knew exactly where the story was going but I literally felt my stomach drop when the truth was revealed. Either I’m an idiot or the storytelling was just that good. I was completely thrown for a loop. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Body shaming

abibliophobic_nerd's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse and Car accident

joshkiba13's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

"Her silence was like a mirror---reflecting yourself back at you. And it was often an ugly sight."

Well this was a twisty little thing. It kept me interested all the way through. The chapters were super short so it was hard to stop reading ever, hehe.

I enjoyed Theo as a narrator, and the little inserts of Alicia's journal kept the mystery dialing up as we went.

I love a good allusion to or parallel with other works of fiction within a story, so the connections to Alcestis by Europides were a brilliant inclusion.

At first I didn't care for

the subplot with Theo's unfaithful wife

---it felt cliche at first. But once the story developed some and I realized that

Theo was unhealed from childhood trauma and that he was just as much of a person in need as his silent patient Alicia

, the subplot worked for me.

While I did catch on to

Theo being extremely unwell

, the big reveal did still shock me. I didn't realize that

the subplot took place six years earlier, so I in no way saw coming that Theo was Alicia's stalker

. All of the subtle hints and details throughout the story, all of the different perspectives on the tragedy from different characters, and the development of Theo as a narrator all came together perfectly in the climax. I was shocked and well pleased with the reveal.

I read in the questions with the author section at the end that Michaelides appreciates weather in fiction, so it's interesting to me that it doesn't snow until the last lines of the book, which causes Theo to smile as he catches first one flake, and then another. I'm curious as to what this could represent metaphorically.

All in all a great read, and in a lot of ways it reminded me of Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. It'd be fun to go back and read again one day knowing the ending to see all the clues building up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Body horror

riverofhorton's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

2.0

This book could have been so much. I have a background in Psych, and in theory this should have been something I really enjoyed.

But I just didn't. Even if we ignore the boundary breaking going on by the Psychotherapist, he still doesn't act like a Psychotherapist let alone one that had been working at Broadmoor for ~5 years.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

sarahmmichael's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Car accident

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

dawndiscusses's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Self harm, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

naomi_salters's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

mae_dexter_author's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This was one wild ride. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Stalking and Gaslighting

xgabrielle_hx's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail