Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

56 reviews

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

reading_christine'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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

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

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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.

erinamerritt's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, and Self harm

Moderate: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, and Gore

Minor: Fatphobia

kyrie's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

Excellent twist, but a little over hyped for me. The fatphobia and weird obsession with white skin was not it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Fatphobia

miggyfool's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Body horror, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Sexual content, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

audreyxine's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

This was the first thriller book I read, and I was unable to put it down. I devoured it in one day. I forfeited sleep and personal hygiene for this book. If that isn't the highest praise, I don't know what is. I have a few main points to make about this book:

First, the narrative was so gripping and the twist was so unexpected. I was led astray by the red herrings, and shocked when it was finally revealed. My reading experience of this book was phenomenal and I had an excellent time.

Secondly, hearing a story from a psychotherapist's perspective was exciting. It was well executed and it was amusing to see the technical language used correctly and expertly. I liked the bit about people learning psychology to heal themselves, I think that part was clever. It was entertaining to see all the ethical and legal violations turn into such a dumpster fire. There is a huge amount of discrimination against BPD, but unfortunately, this is pretty accurate to my experience in mental healthcare.

I was disappointed by the author's portrayal of women. Women fall into the categories of matronly, objects of sexual desire, or bitches (and of course, the bitches are ugly, old, or overweight.

Even Kathy, to represent the decline of her marriage, gains weight and becomes less attractive to Theo.

). I understand that these negative depictions of women give us a glimpse into our slimy narrator's mind, but it still gave me the ick.

All things considered, this book does have pretty alarming problematic moments, but that took very little away from my enjoyment of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

notartgarfunkel's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, and Infidelity

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Fatphobia

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.

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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

kathrynok's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Death, Emotional abuse, and Blood