Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Die stumme Patientin by Alex Michaelides

166 reviews

cwbillings's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

2.0

Wow. Okay. I REALLY wanted to like this one. The first half kept me on my toes, the mystery and pacing was irresistible. And then the ending turned out to be such a let down. Predictable and anticlimactic. PLUS my major qualm with the book is how the author writes his characters. 

The way the male narrator describes the female characters and in turn the way the author writes women veers into misogyny. There are a number of likable male characters mentioned in this book and they have substance. Every woman is either a martyr or a monster. 

They all fit into a different stereotype one way or another. Every woman mentioned is a victim, a bitch (calls women this multiple times), or motherly. And their characterization goes no deeper than this. I noticed this about halfway through the book. It’s also worth mentioning, the story heavily takes place in a mental hospital, and somehow all the patients are women. 

So, unfortunately, this highly anticipated read became quite a chore to get through for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Stalking, Medical trauma, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Misogyny

Minor: Alcohol

katlinstirling_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book, more than I thought I would! Gave me Agatha Christie vibes sort of. 4.5 Stars would recommend

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide, Chronic illness, Medical content, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Mental illness, Alcohol, Murder, Self harm, Car accident, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Death

alianeselvis's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

the twist, holy shit

This book is so good! If you ignore the obvious patient/client violations, this story is so well written. I loved it from start to finish, completely dedicated an entire afternoon to reading this book from start to finish! I'm so so glad I read this, 0.25 stars off simply for the unrealistic patient/client relationship and privileges that would seriously never fly irl

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Stalking

Moderate: Drug use, Gaslighting, Confinement, Gore, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Addiction, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Car accident, and Drug use

saisrei's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Alcohol, Gun violence, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Infidelity, Medical content, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

shinyfox's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Infidelity, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Car accident

Minor: Addiction, Sexual content, and Alcohol

tanya240's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Self harm, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Stalking, Drug use, Blood, Car accident, Violence, Sexual harassment, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

abbiebonnyman's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Mental illness, Gun violence, Violence, Self harm, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Infidelity, Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use

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

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I think I was unknowingly spoiled for this book years ago and had internalized the twist, even though I knew nothing else about the story, which made this pretty disappointing.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Torture, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

edieisconfused's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

Even though the story was difficult to get into at first, The twists and turns of the plot allowed me to connect further along in the story. The deep and complex nature of the characters was the saving grace for this. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Alcohol, Suicide, Murder, and Mental illness