Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

130 reviews

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

kat_c_h's review

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.0

I really wanted to like this book. As a therapist myself I am often drawn to psychological thrillers. But this book was so hard to like. The psychologist was obsessive and came across as more of a stalker than helpful. He absolutely needed help himself. I had such a hard time staying engaged with this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death, Ableism, and Self harm

ehoustonmyatt's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I knew a twist was coming so I spent too much time anxiously awaiting it while reading. Once it was revealed, I didn’t find it that twisty. I did enjoy this though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Self harm, Murder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

zarakoconnor's review

challenging 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

3.5

Pretty basic thriller. I feel it is overhyped but I was able to read it quickly and easily. Writing was a bit too juvenile for my liking, but the twist was great. Not anything special but not a bad book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Stalking, Death of parent, and Gun violence

churrocaitie's review

emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

This book felt like I was watching a thriller movie, so fun! And of course I didn’t expect the twist at the end, fantastic.

Definitely glad this was my first book of 2024. I enjoyed the entire ride, from the complicated and uniquely obnoxious characters, to the pacing and setting of the story. Mysterious, moody, and unsettling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, Child death, and Addiction

Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Grief

melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book genuinely surprised me which is something I’m happy about considering the book was spoiled for me awhile ago when it got popular on BookTok lmao. I was engaged the entire time I was listening and didn’t want to miss a thing bc the plot was good and kept me intrigued. One thing I want to point out is that I hateeee a cheating trope ESPECIALLY when the one getting cheated one decides to stay bc me personally, I’d sucker punch the mf that hurt me like that (but I digress.) I’m just glad that Alice ended up getting a better ending in terms of getting rid of her cheating spouse 🤭 disappointed that Theo chose to stay with that bitch Kathy at the end tho bc he even mentions at the end just how stale their life had become and she’s practically a shell of herself since Gabriel’s death even though she hasn’t outed her affair to Theo (he’s knows regardless but still). He went through all that trouble just to be unhappy with her in the end ugh. Still a good book and would def recommend to people!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Cursing, Self harm, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual content and Sexual harassment

ruexx's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was honestly so crazy, I did not expect the plot twist at all I am always surprised when I hear people did. I really enjoyed the book and found it scary at times and would totally reread it again! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Suicide attempt

samcsmith's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Fatphobia, Blood, Car accident, Alcohol, Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

farm_lust_'s review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Gun violence, Medical content, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Suicide, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Forced institutionalization

siennaflynn's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Addiction, Chronic illness, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Grief