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stories's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, and Self harm
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide
Minor: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Vomit
dalmavatai's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
Wow, this one really took me by surprise! I read Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke a while back and I really didn't enjoy it so I thought maybe short horror just wasn't my thing (granted, one book is not really valid proof of that).
I think maybe I don't enjoy overly gruesome or extremely dark horror, but this one was neither in my opinion. It was fast-paced and very engaging, it kept my interest all the way through. I love following psychiatrists and I like storylines about a case that no one can diagnose and where no one knows what's going on. The reveal in this one was so good, I really liked how all the puzzle pieces came together at the end. I also liked the conclusion of the story because it didn't get all doom-and-gloom, but obviously it wasn't a happy ever after either.
This was a really great read that I highly recommend to everyone who likes thrillers/horrors involving a psychiatrist POV and a seemingly unsolvable disorder with a touch of the supernatural. It didn't get very gruesome, dark, or terrifying so I think this is a good one for those who usually read mystery/thrillers but want to foray into the horror genre.
I think maybe I don't enjoy overly gruesome or extremely dark horror, but this one was neither in my opinion. It was fast-paced and very engaging, it kept my interest all the way through. I love following psychiatrists and I like storylines about a case that no one can diagnose and where no one knows what's going on. The reveal in this one was so good, I really liked how all the puzzle pieces came together at the end. I also liked the conclusion of the story because it didn't get all doom-and-gloom, but obviously it wasn't a happy ever after either.
This was a really great read that I highly recommend to everyone who likes thrillers/horrors involving a psychiatrist POV and a seemingly unsolvable disorder with a touch of the supernatural. It didn't get very gruesome, dark, or terrifying so I think this is a good one for those who usually read mystery/thrillers but want to foray into the horror genre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Violence
books_marika's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
what the fuck did i just read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
unicornheart_books's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This probably was the book that creeped me out the most. The imagery this book produces is eerie. I love how short the book is but still managed to give enough story material to keep one reading for more. The setting and the way of storytelling is what I loved most about this book. It really keeps you hooked from the very beginning and is one I know will haunt me for some time.
❤️
❤️
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty and Sexual assault
julesgalgan's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It was entertaining and a page turner. I read it all in one sitting, but it wasn’t surprising or as chilling as I would’ve liked. I wasn’t wowed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Suicide
madarauchiha's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡❤️
Oh boy. I can't tell if it reflect poorly on me or the author when I recognized this book as pretty much reddit nosleep form levels of quality. And you know what? The author confirms that it is basically a cleaned up copy of something posted to the nosleep form.
"Finally, thank you to every Reddit user who up-voted this story when it made its debut in December of 2015. Without you, The Patient would never have been finished. Without you, it would not be where it is today. Without you, I would be a different man. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."
It was... ok. It was creepy, it was competent, there was in fact some levels of horror. Albeit gross out gore horror. It could use some polish, theres something interesting here. but otherwise, it's unexceptional.
The psychiatric institutions sure is accurate on how fucking incompetent the entire mental illness industry is. The psychiatry parts, as others mentioned, are incredibly weak and inaccurate. The book makes a game of how far you can suspend any disbelief or maintain any good humor towards the plot. The parts about paranoid schizophrenia and DID [dissociative identity disorder] are ableist, evil, and cruel to be portrayed like this. It genuinely undermined the entire story.
I don't care to read anything else by this author after reading this.
content warnings:
minor gun violence, suicide, police brutality,
animal hunting
medium child abuse, self harm, antisemitism, slurs, injuries, bone fractures, child death, incest, csa, pedophilia, rape, sexual violence, suicide, self harm, sharps,
major psychiatric institutions, ableism, ableism towards paranoid schizophrenia, blood, unsanitary, domestic abuse, child abuse, torture, medium animal cruelty, animal death, gore, blood, incest, csa, pedophilia, ableism towards DID, mental illness
Oh boy. I can't tell if it reflect poorly on me or the author when I recognized this book as pretty much reddit nosleep form levels of quality. And you know what? The author confirms that it is basically a cleaned up copy of something posted to the nosleep form.
"Finally, thank you to every Reddit user who up-voted this story when it made its debut in December of 2015. Without you, The Patient would never have been finished. Without you, it would not be where it is today. Without you, I would be a different man. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."
It was... ok. It was creepy, it was competent, there was in fact some levels of horror. Albeit gross out gore horror. It could use some polish, theres something interesting here. but otherwise, it's unexceptional.
The psychiatric institutions sure is accurate on how fucking incompetent the entire mental illness industry is. The psychiatry parts, as others mentioned, are incredibly weak and inaccurate. The book makes a game of how far you can suspend any disbelief or maintain any good humor towards the plot. The parts about paranoid schizophrenia and DID [dissociative identity disorder] are ableist, evil, and cruel to be portrayed like this. It genuinely undermined the entire story.
I don't care to read anything else by this author after reading this.
content warnings:
minor gun violence, suicide, police brutality,
animal hunting
medium child abuse, self harm, antisemitism, slurs, injuries, bone fractures, child death, incest, csa, pedophilia, rape, sexual violence, suicide, self harm, sharps,
major psychiatric institutions, ableism, ableism towards paranoid schizophrenia, blood, unsanitary, domestic abuse, child abuse, torture, medium animal cruelty, animal death, gore, blood, incest, csa, pedophilia, ableism towards DID, mental illness
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Incest, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Suicide
maddmadds's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is a quick read and will keep you captivated from the first page. If you get scared easily though, it may not be for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Sexual assault
mackenzi's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Child abuse
Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Physical abuse
Minor: Excrement, Violence, Torture, and Suicide
syd's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Ableism
Minor: Antisemitism
bayleyreadsbooks's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
I did not like this book. I am not typically a person who gets to the review stage of a book I didn't like to this extent, but I listened to the audiobook, and it was only slightly over four hours, and it was recommended to me by a book recommendation service. Otherwise, there is no way I would have gone past 25%. So if you love this book, I would suggest stopping reading if you don't want to read my very oppositional feelings.
I will also briefly talk about the book recommendation service I used. I will write something about my experience once I have read all three, but this book fits squarely in the only thing I asked not to get. That thing was a novel (so nonfiction is fine) published after the author gains popularity on the internet. I didn't know this book fit into that until I finished and googled the author, but I then thought that was hilarious because it was literally my only hard no. On to the book.
The Patient follows Dr. Parker H, a psychologist fresh out of school, as he starts working at a mental health inpatient facility where a mysterious patient named Joe drives all his care team mad or to suicide. The novel is told as a series of posts on a defunct medical forum. I really should not have read the book, this doesn't inherently sound like something I would hate, but I am not sure I would have picked it up independently. I did go into the book with an open mind; I was ready to be into the book; I just wasn't.
Clearly, I didn't enjoy this book, normally I would include things I liked around here, but I am not sure I have them. Aside from the books end with a little line about listening to kids, which I guess is fine. Now on to what I didn't like.
I didn't like the narrator, this is not something I normally require to like a book, but I think the things I disliked about the narrator were not meant to be negative aspects of his personality. I found myself literally saying "yikes" out loud at multiple points in the narration. One of the first interactions this mental health professional has with another person begins by declaring he is about to commit suicide, then explaining he is not actually going to kill himself, it is just a metaphor because he wants to do something dumb. I just thought that was annoying, and pairing that with how mental health stuff is presented in this novel; I just wasn't overall impressed. He is just so painfully a hero, while also doing things I found morally not congruent with his opinion of his actions (and I think the book's opinion of his actions) that I could not do anything but hate him.
I was not ever scared or really even curious. I felt no tension in the question of if the book was going to be supernatural or not, and I felt no satisfaction at the reveal. It was very obvious from the beginning it was, and I was just annoyed that tens of people before Parker studied this case, and Parker figures it out pretty quickly. Apparently, our special genius narrator was the only one who could actually figure it out. I hope my eye roll comes through. You read thrillers/mysteries/horror/weird speculative stuff to feel surprise and tension; this book did not do that for me.
I hated the portrayal of women. There are five women of any importance in this story; they are all maternal and compassionate, even the straight-laced, no-nonsense woman, her flaw in dealing with Joe is that she felt maternal towards him. Parker's mother exists in the narrative to be tortured and fridge to give Parker motivation. The kind nurse is fridged to get the plot rolling. Joe's mother commits suicide, and I thought her deep love for her kid, paired with never visiting, was unbelievable. My least favorite way a woman was written was Parker's girlfriend, Jocelyn. She is initially presented as a rich girl getting her Ph.D. in literature (or something we are maybe meant to see as frivolous) who is just a wonderful, compassionate angel. She is brutally assaulted at the end of the book, where she abandons her studies, moves far from all family and friends, becomes a recluse, and declares that all she needs to be happy is Parker. And her PSYCHOLOGIST boyfriend does not at all see the problem with this. Also, right after she says all she needs is him, he says he is still deeply driven to help the world. So glad this dude is still gonna be a big strong hero while his lady needs nothing but his love. My favorite.
There are more things about this book that I didn't like, but it seems like beating a dead horse to list all of them; I would prefer to end it here and move on to reading a new book I will hopefully like more.
I clearly don't recommend this book, but you do you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Blood and Child death
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