Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Die stumme Patientin by Alex Michaelides

287 reviews

sophiasoler's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

im really really conflicted about this book. the first four parts of it were alright. however

the plot twist  was absolutely incredible. in no way did i see that coming. BUT! a good plot twist does not a great author (or even a great book) make.

the book spends much of the beginning meandering and

trying to convince us that theo is a good, empathetic man and an invested psychotherapist. from the beginning, theo is a little too involved and, frankly, kinda weird. his relationship with alicia (even pre plot twist) is weird and obsessive, and is repeatedly called out by the other therapists. he crosses boundaries and breaks rules from the beginning and obsessively hunts down everyone in her life. his interest in her is never because of empathy or sympathy, but because of allure and mystery (and then later it’s discovered because of a perverted sense of being a savior and some bizarre form of guilt).

i think he (the author) has quite an inflated sense of self that rubs me the wrong way. a lot of his thoughts feel insincere and unfounded, and sometimes he’s SO corny!!!!!!!!!! bc why did i feel like i was   reading a 14 year old’s tumblr post??? it felt like he thought he was being really deep and emotional, but it’s just lame and not even going below the surface

“i’m dead. my dad just killed me.” YOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING????? EMBARRASSING !!!!! it is so clear to me that he didn’t understand the myth of alcestis and what she suffered!!!! if this is your retelling, girl pls reanalyze.

i did (despite all this) enjoy the book, but i don’t think i’ll read anything of his again. not for me, and i have a feeling his other books are just going to be worse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, and Grief

miggyfool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

dhahbiasma47's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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: Gun violence, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

bashsbooks's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

1.75

The problem with boasting about a book's Shocking Twist from the get-go is that you put your reader on guard for it, and it distracts from the picking up clues organically. This is especially annoying when the writing is only mediocre, so picking up upon the clues is not as logical and satisfying as it is a better-written work. (AND if you don't pick up on what the author is putting down because you haven't been primed to, the book's structure doesn't make a lot of sense - see my friend's DNF review stating how he didn't understand why the psychologist was the man focus given the title and the blurb, and how that made him put it down).

Also, I have a psychology degree and a personal hatred of Freud and heavily Freudian-psychology. This would probably not bother most people (Farber fits with the pop culture ideas of a psychologist) but it bothers me. His internal monologues are annoying. 

Alicia and her art, and how she relates her art to her traumas, are the best things about this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Self harm, Suicide, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual content

-Specifically a graphic eye injury -Takes place in a psychiatric ward for violent women

ergedogan's review against another edition

dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

aj_langley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

latashman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Fatphobia, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Medical content

Minor: Ableism

emcl7weenie's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I read this in two days and am now writing this review at 12:53am because I needed to finish it. Fast read. Short chapters, simple, straight forward writing. Great characters showing both their flaws and strengths. Explores a lot of emotion, topics of nature vs nurture, and had me in a hold with how information was presented. Not an outright spoiler - Only flaw to me were some character interactions that didn't really seem to have any other point besides making the reader slightly suspicious. Felt unnecessary. But overall enjoyed it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

secretcakeparty'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? Yes

2.5

Kind of the same plottwist as agatha cristies Alibi, but the silent Patient doesn't quiet get it right. It appears that every chapter from Theos life with Kathy actually happened 6 years ago, and exactly this confuses me and doesn't feel right for this book. Also ends on a rather unsatisfying Note, which i must admit makes sense because Theo probably stoppen writing after getting arrested and doesn't know about alicias well being. Now it comes into my mind if he wrote this out of prison? It's not a bad book and i had my fun with it, but it's not a perfect mystery as well

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Suicide, Violence, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Toxic relationship

laurenlee2158's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Car accident