Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

42 reviews

sophiasoler's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Alcohol, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Stalking, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Death of parent, Death, Car accident, Blood, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Grief, Gore, and Misogyny

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

mightyjor's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I almost didn’t read this book because of all the negative reviews but to each their own. This book is brilliant. The negative reviews left me wondering if this was going to finish on some big dud of an ambiguous ending where nothing is answered or characters act wildly out of character to make things happen. That’s not the case here. 

I did see some people rate the book low because of the misogyny and lack of respect towards women, and I kind of get where they’re coming from, but it personally didn’t bother me all that much. We’re hearing the story from our protagonist’s perspective and I didn’t get any author self insert vibes whatsoever. I think the author mostly condones the characters poor actions, though when you first start out it can be a little jarring since all the characters don’t show how slimy they are until we get to know them. 

I also heard some people say the ending was predictable and dumb, but I don’t think that’s the case at all. I loved it. It’s just so weird and good and juicy. There’s some plot holes, sure, but nothing I found overly distracting while I was in the actual story. 

Overall this was a fantastic book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Mental illness

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Addiction, and Child abuse

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

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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

roxfoxreads89's review

dark mysterious tense 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

3.0

Meh, I’m giving this higher than my gut says just because I found it a quick, engaging read.

Everyone in this story sucks hardcore - they don’t have much depth to them (despite the CONSTANT Freudian commentary). Childhood abuse isn’t a personality.

Seems like the author has beef with psychology professionals. 

It has vibes similar to “The Couple Next Door” by Shari Lapena. I didn’t love that one either.

If you’re looking for an unreliable narrator thriller, this one is a quick read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infidelity, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Gun violence

brindolyn's review

dark 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Misogyny, Death, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood

fadeddpages's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

rodi_queen's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

While I read this book, I found it mildly confusing when we were reading from the leading males perspective, especially in the context of how this was starting to take place over the span of 7 years and instead it just bounces back and forth between the past and present with little to no indication of the time lapse or jump.  

Also the leading female is considered beautiful and almost sexually referenced many times from the male’s perspective even though she is in a psychiatric ward due to killing her husband while she is in the main characters therapeutic care. 

The story it explains is a 5, Alcestis is an under appreciated literary piece in Greek history. The stories use of common reconstructed modern greek religion was a surprisingly pleasant piece of the novel. The Arete with Alicia’s father and husband, Xenia in the process of ritualized friendship explored by the character Jean-Felix and a strong emphasis placed on the two main characters trying to achieve Eudaimonia through freedom mostly and a couple points in self-suffiency. If exercises Greek traditions in that way. 

However, execution needs to be more direct in its timing of the story and the writing could be stronger on the female and male characters alike. In honesty, this book felt as if Alex was banking on the story of Alcestis and Greek culture to really sell his novel. In honesty that’s why I bought it so it worked, I was disappointed overall by how the characters were written and how the story was executed. Otherwise it’s a decent and interesting read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

saricostanzo'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Alcohol, Death, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Violence, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Toxic relationship