Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

16 reviews

wickedgrumpy's review

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

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

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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

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

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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

dirkpitt28's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The book was good to a degree kept me interested but I did see the ending coming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

jstar1's review

emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Blood

maysshelf's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

The Silent Patient is a gripping book that, despite my eagerness to speed through, demanded a slower pace. At times, I thought I had the story figured out, only to be pleasantly surprised by an unexpected plot twist. What I admired most was the author's skill in achieving this twist without resorting to magic or unrealistic elements, merely a subtle turn of the clock (if you catch my drift). Categorized as a thriller, I found its essence nestled more in mystery, which only added to its allure. Overall, a compelling read that keeps you guessing till the end

I just didn’t like that she had a voice through the book, so she wasn’t “silent” from the readers perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, Mental illness, Violence, Misogyny, Gun violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Hate crime, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Confinement, Car accident, Bullying, and Addiction

ldstan's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I waited a couple days after finishing the book to write a review, because I was initially going to give it a lower rating. The premise is fairly interesting. Alicia Berenson is accused of murdering her husband and she’s spent the last six years in a mental care facility instead of jail - she’s also unresponsive and hasn’t spoken a single word since the night of the murder. Theo Fabre is a psychotherapist who has a MULTITUDE of his own issues and is abscessed with finding out why Alicia murdered her husband.

Because of the hype that was surrounding this book, I was expecting more. I thought it had a super slow start and couldn’t find myself to care about Alicia very much. The story itself seemed like a murder mystery lead-up to certain plot twist (no spoilers here) later in the book that was kinda easy to see coming.

I actually found Theo to be an intriguing character and liked all the inner monologuing we got through him. I was more interested in his fractured mental state throughout the novel than I was at the question of why Alicia murdered her husband. It was strange to see him play the role of detective more than psychotherapist.

Overall, the hype set up expectations for me that weren’t met, but that shouldn’t dissuade anyone from picking up this book and giving it a chance - it’s definitely gotten good reviews for a reason! I wanted a thriller and this had easily followed twists and turns.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent and Bullying

nindie'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

One of the first extreme psychological books I have read, and this was a fascinating read!

What I Liked About The Book

The complexity of the plot and characters overall kept me invested in the book. Its inclusion of the different perspectives of the two main characters makes the book tenser as they narrate the plot points from their view of things. The characters all have flaws and likeable traits, which captures how well-done the execution of realistic people in the book is. Overall a good book for people who like books exploring stuff like this!

What I Didn't Like About The Book

Unfortunately, when reading reviews about it, I got the main plot twist spoiled, and this made the experience a bit less suspenseful and shocking. Also, despite doing some research on the book before buying it, I was still unaware of some topics it would discuss in a bit of detail which I am not comfortable reading, which made it a bit of a discomfiting reading experience at times. It didn't help that I was reading this at school, and I think one of my teachers recognised the book. One last thing is that I still had some questions unanswered for the ending, but maybe that could have been intentional.

In Conclusion

I would not recommend this to the fainthearted who cannot read/deal with any of the content warnings I have put since this book is intense surrounding its topics and themes. I found the read to be not too bad but don't repeat my mistake of doing too little research on the content warnings, as it could be an unsettling read for some of you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Self harm, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Gun violence, Medical content, Cursing, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Suicide, Car accident, Bullying, and Confinement

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Panic attacks/disorders

stardustdreamer's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Mental illness, Death, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Murder, Suicide, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Stalking

Moderate: Child abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Bullying, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

xbeforesunrise's review against another edition

mysterious 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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Gaslighting, Violence, Bullying, Car accident, and Death of parent