Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

21 reviews

jgillard4's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Partial spoiler: It felt as though the main characters continued use of Greek mythology in his language and as metaphors revealed the plot by the end. This is what gave away the ending for me, otherwise, it is beautifully written. Michaelides succeeded in writing a quickly paced novel that allowed you to connect to the characters, sympathizing and judging them equally. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Rape, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Gun violence

tk222's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Murder and Sexual violence

arifairy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Murder

february_friday's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

So, firstly, I must say that my opinion is biased, because: 1, I am not a thriller reader, 2, I love greek mythology, and 3, I love half of the books I read. 

I absolutely loved this book. Maybe the beginning felt a little slow, but after a while I started to like the characters and be intrigued by the mystery. Another thing that bugged me a little was the writing. I thing for the magbitude of the themes the book took, the writing needed a bit more lyricism (yeah I am 100% pretentious). Plus, I knew from the beginning that the plot-twist surprised the majority of the people who read it, so I kinda imagined every possible escenario and I guessed it. Though that didn't prevent me of enjoying the ride. I liked how the author balanced the action with the quieter moments. Another thing that i really loved was the way timelines were used by the author, since it creates the perfect hook and a beautiful way to reveal the plot. Finally, i would love to say that the way art and luterature were incorporated to the story were exactly what I love to read in books. Even for the people who haven't had any previous knowledge about alcestis, the author did a very good summary and a great explenation of how the book tied into the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Blood, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcoholism and Sexual violence

rodi_queen's review against another edition

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

seforana's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Murder

mindsplinters's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

When your first gut instinct is right, go with it.  Creepy mofo Theo.  Get out of here with yourself.  Yikes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual violence and Suicide attempt

armyweeb101's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

mnadler's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Infidelity, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

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

2.75

you could tell

the main character was evil from the start, the sudden cutaways to the kathy side of things made it clear they were flashbacks, and once alicia described the man watching her it was obvious theo was the man.

the book definitely wasn't boring, and even though none of the characters were likable it didn't hinder the story. it was entertaining, but ultimately disappointing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Stalking, Self harm, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Gun violence

Minor: Fatphobia and Animal death