Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

194 reviews

anastashamarie's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

⭐ 5/5

✒️ Well I flew through this one and finished it in just around 24 hours, which is a rare feat for me while I'm living the doc candidate life. My experience of this book was inextricably connected to my background as a counselor-educator and supervisor so I just want to give a few unique notes from that perspective. (Though before I start, I do feel obligated to say that this is not a book about "good" therapy by any means and should not be seen as a representation of the therapeutic experience. This story is to proper therapy as dark romance is to appropriate relationships. Which is to say fiction is fictional; caution advised.)


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bookswithmaia's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.25


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sophiasoler's review

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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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miggyfool's review against another edition

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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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jessedgartighe's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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daybreakreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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caitlinromanelli's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0


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bashsbooks's review against another edition

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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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ergedogan's review against another edition

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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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sdaley08's review

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

3.0


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