Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Die stumme Patientin by Alex Michaelides

232 reviews

kirahaycock21's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The only thing that didn’t make sense to me was the timeline of this book, but that added to the surprise at the end. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Murder, Drug use, Gun violence, and Addiction

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Cursing, and Grief

Minor: Gaslighting, Stalking, and Violence

lizsbookcase's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Blood

add_a_little_spook's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Gun violence, Infidelity, Grief, Gore, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Murder, Emotional abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

Moderate: Child abuse

username330's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Stalking, Suicide, Grief, Drug use, Murder, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Violence, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Trafficking and Car accident

wheelyautistic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

madamenovelist's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Child abuse, Car accident, Blood, and Addiction

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, Vomit, and Body horror

There was a really irritating racist caricature of a Turkish patient. The only redeeming aspect was that she was not the only brown woman in the cast (Indira was a great character), but Elif’s one/dimensional This Lady Is Not Attractive Nor Motherly schtick was jarring and irritating. He need not have copied Agatha Christie’s flaws in addition to her best traits. That said, Alicia was extremely well written and very compelling as a tragic heroine, and she is why I give 2.75 stars instead of simply 2. Excellent, excellent premise but frustrating execution.

kennedybullen's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

lilawsahar's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Such a fascinating read. I kind of guessed the twist but the reason why was so much more gut wrenching than I imagined.

I can’t believe the psychiatrist did not guess the reason for her silence. He was the one who gave Gabriel the ultimatum: her or him. He picked her so she chose him. She loved him more than herself and he didn’t feel the same way. However, I still struggle to see why he killed her. What did she have against him? The truth. No one believed her truth.

Also him and his wife seem to have fallen into the same pattern that his dad and mom had. A loveless marriage. He should have listened to his first therapist. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Suicide, Stalking, Self harm, Murder, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Death, and Confinement

waterbear0821's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.25

I enjoyed this and it was a very fast read. The writing was good and I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narrators as well. It was quite riveting and there were some interesting twists. I am typically wary of

unreliable narrator books, but this one was so clearly crammed full of unreliable narrators, it was fun to speculate about what was really going on.

I have mixed feelings about the very heavy use of therapy jargon and reliance on a weird kind of Freudian therapy model, but it did give  the story a reflective weight. I liked the analysis of all the different relationships and also how trauma in life manifests in unexpected and sometimes frightening ways. One thing I could have done without was the reliance on misogyny, stereotypes, and slurs against women. It’s not that the author was promoting misogyny, but it was just too much for me and unnecessary (though probably not uncommon for this genre). 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Stalking, and Suicide

Moderate: Misogyny, Car accident, Drug use, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

marlee_grace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

I loved this book. Smashed though it. Couldn't put it down. I loved that I found myself jumping to conclusions but I was all wrong. The book wasn't predictable at all! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Self harm, Violence, Death of parent, Suicide, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Grief, Car accident, Child abuse, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Stalking, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Suicidal thoughts