Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

259 reviews

scumlow's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Stalking, Death, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, and Murder

buttercat42's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Pretty much the only good thing I have to say about this book is that the plot was compelling enough to keep me reading until the end. The representation of therapists and mental healthcare was piss poor, the narrator was the only character who wasn’t totally one-dimensional, the journal portions were so un-diary-like that it was distracting (no one journals with full sentences of dialogue) and the twist at the end was incredibly lazy, creating a not insignificant number of plot holes. At first I thought I just really disliked the narrator, but after reading the author commentary at the end, I think it’s just him. What a shame, because the premise and most of the plot were really quite good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Self harm, and Stalking

mckinleyelle's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Gun violence

Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

kayleejanes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Infidelity, Mental illness, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

haley_mil_reads's review

challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, and Stalking

Moderate: Infidelity

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

arialovegreen's review

dark emotional funny 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

4.5

I kept seeing this book here and there and gave it a shot. Sometimes the simplest statement is the best: It's *really* good.

I'm not usually one for inconclusive endings, and I'm usually the first to sniff out and predict a plot twist in books but the twist in this one took me very much by surprise. I gasped out loud when the major story reveal occurred, I'll admit.

I took this book down in about a couple of hours of reading. I kept finding myself wondering about the world of Theo and Alicia until I finished. The mystery, the will-they, won't-they of it all kept drawing me in until I saw the story to it's conclusion. Michaelides did an amazing job of pacing the story, and I loved the transposed inclusion of Alicia's diary as the plot progressed to reveal more to us about certain characters and their motives as the story went on. I saw in the back that Michaelides mentioned this was to make the reader more invested/caring of Alicia and it definitely worked. I found myself sympathizing with her more and more as the story went on, despite her present lack of communication. 

I could go on, but the bottom line is (haha): if you are even mildly intrigued by mystery or thriller novels, please pick this one up. It's worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Stalking, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug use, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Grief

Minor: Vomit and Rape

blorence's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Stalking, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, and Infidelity

corinnelora95's review

dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A well written thriller with plenty of twists and turns. It reads more like a movie rather than a novel, clearly a result of Alex Michaelides' study of screenwriting. 

I felt that the first part moved a bit slow, with the action picking up in parts two and three. It became difficult to put down, and once I began part four, I knew I was in for a wild ride.

What's most interesting to me is that for the first 3 parts of the book, you believe that all of the events are happening at the same time- Theo and Kathy's marriage is falling apart WHILE he's treating Alicia at The Grove. But when you begin part four, you realize that the story has been told in a non-linear fashion- that Theo is going back and forth between the past and the present to tell the story. Part five wraps the two storylines nicely together, though the ending felt just a bit rushed after all of the driving action in the preceding parts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Cursing, Infidelity, Death, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Sexual content, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Self harm, and Confinement

Minor: Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, and Car accident

beccabookworm's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

The plot twist at the end succeeded in surprising me. It was a good ending.

I definitely suspected Theo, I just couldn't figure out how he was involved. The undisclosed time jump was certainly well done.

As annoyed and confused as I was whenever we came back to the plotline about Kathy, the reveal of why we kept coming back to it and why we should care was cool. And the why itself

- that the man Kathy was cheating with was Gabriel and the man who was stalking Alicia was Theo -

is a satisfying twist. It actually saved the book from a lower rating for me. However, it just doesn't make the lackluster journey of reading (listening to) this book worth it.

The tension throughout often felt forced because a character was being dumbed down to explain something simple and obvious to the reader

(e.g., Theo, the psychotherapist, being unable to recognize Alcestis' silence as anger towards her husband)

or because the tension was prolonged in a way that made me feel annoyance rather than suspense

(e.g., Paul revealing Alicia's father wishing her dead)

. I wasn't excited to know what happened next and just wasn't very thrilled by this thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Suicide attempt

Minor: Suicide