Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

87 reviews

puzzling_reader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Murder, Stalking, Infidelity, and Mental illness

Moderate: Abandonment

lexibug's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book kept me guessing (incorrectly) from start to finish. I've never read a book where I disliked almost every single character they presented. Even so, I still wanted to sympathize with the main characters, but the more I read, the less I could. This was a very unique read. However, the first half of the book (and really the whole thing until you get towards the end) was very slow, and I found it hard to focus or immerse myself in because of the unlikable characters. Still, I enjoyed it as an introduction/warm-up to the mystery-thriller genre and look forward to reading more like this. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Gaslighting, Murder, Violence, and Infidelity

Minor: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

anacecylopez's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Child death, Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Car accident, Mental illness, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body shaming, Self harm, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Stalking

awkwardllama's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Stalking, Infidelity, Murder, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Alcohol, Gore, Cursing, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Drug use, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Toxic friendship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

bulbasaurcowboy's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It is a slow read, but a worthwhile read. You can guess a thousand times what the story really is. You'll question yourself constantly, and bit by perfectly timed bit more will be fed to you. The ending is BANANAS! Definitely a new favorite and a book I'll be recommending for a while to come. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Infidelity, and Self harm

kayleejanes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Infidelity, Mental illness, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

loudo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Death, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Gore, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Child abuse, Stalking, Self harm, Grief, Bullying, Gaslighting, Violence, Body horror, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Murder, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Abandonment, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic relationship

emmita's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

I went into The Silent Patient knowing there was a significant amount of hype around this book, and luckily I was able to avoid spoilers (which I HIGHLY recommend you try to do as well if you want to read the silent patient). That said, I do think it lives up to the hype, if you like a good psychological mystery this will definitely be your cup of tea. Also, special shout out to the audiobook narrators, they do an INCREDIBLE job at bringing the story to life. If you pick up the novel and struggle, I definitely recommend giving the audiobook a try before you DNF. Hearts and kisses and all the love to Louise Brealey and Jack Hawkins (the voices of Alicia and Theo)!

Things I loved: the references to greek mythology (especially a myth that doesn't get a lot of mainstream attention), the dual POV between Theo and Alicia, the Red Herrings (I love when you get to a point where everyone looks suspicious), the big reveal (it is guessable but still leaves you with more questions),

Theo is objectively bad, I understand, but I love that he's also complicated enough that you're kind of in his corner for most of the book

Things I didn't love:

as a law student, the fact that Alicia's lawyer was the brother of the man she was being charged with murdering was insane, idk about the UK but most legal ethics codes would never let that conflict of interest slide

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Bullying

Minor: Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

mental health, mental health facilities, doctors behaving badly, cheating

chelle22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Alcohol, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

ajwang's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Drug use, Abandonment, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Mental illness