Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

23 reviews

colormehannah's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Suicide attempt, and Sexism

kat_c_h's review

dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

I really wanted to like this book. As a therapist myself I am often drawn to psychological thrillers. But this book was so hard to like. The psychologist was obsessive and came across as more of a stalker than helpful. He absolutely needed help himself. I had such a hard time staying engaged with this book.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death, Ableism, and Self harm

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.

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Sexual content

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

fi_nikki's review

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Torture, Misogyny, Murder, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

latashman's review

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Ableism

becca_w_'s review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Gaslighting, Gore, Car accident, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Stalking

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

lavenderdolmeh's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

WHAT just FUCK just happened

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness and Suicide attempt

Minor: Ableism and Fatphobia

unchallenged ableism against BPD and NPD, minor unchallenged fatphobia

kyeshaisadore's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.5

I’m very disappointed. The “plot twist” isn’t a plot twist if it doesn’t even remotely connect to the plot. There could have been a really great story here that was focused on Alicia and her silence but instead we got misogyny, fatphobia, ableism, and poor writing. 

The wildest part is that the author said he worked part time in a psychiatric unit and was/is trained as a therapist (?????)! Please be serious!!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Misogyny, and Fatphobia

wolkenkruemel's review against another edition

2.5

This book contains so many harmful stereotypes about BPD and psychiatry in general. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism