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alexblackreads's reviews
846 reviews
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
2.0
I heard nothing but good things about this book until I read it, then it seemed like everyone I knew had a negative opinion that I fully agreed with. This was just not it.
Some things that irritated me in no particular order (because I'm feeling too lazy to structure this like a nice review):
-The narration. The main character was so annoying. Unlikable I can handle. I love a good unlikable character, a twisted creep, someone who's just awful, or stupid, or whatever. But this dude was just annoying and boring. It felt like the interesting story was happening from a different perspective and he had weird self insert vibes. I found this grating right from the first fifteen pages.
-The terrible/inaccurate representation of mental health. Just on so many levels. I do not understand how Michaelides has a background in mental health and still filled this book with misleading, harmful, and down right factually incorrect information. None of this is how mental health works. In certain elements I do believe it was intentionally poorly done, but it went beyond that.
-The silence of Alicia. If you want to have a character be silent as part of your narrative structure, and rely entirely on her not having a voice, don't include a bunch of diary entries that then give her a voice. It's lazy and cheap and negates the most important element of the story. Alicia has a very strong voice and perspective throughout the whole book. She just sometimes doesn't talk.
-The ridiculous number of plot holes. I get thrillers need some degree of suspension of disbelief, but this woman went from prison to a psych ward (for dangerous inmates) and somehow managed to sneak in a diary (totally by herself, no outside help) no one ever knew about? Like how? Please explain the logistics here. There were so many things ranging from large to small that just couldn't happen.
-It's entirely about a woman from a man's POV. Okay, this one wasn't actually terribly done compared to the others, but it's so tiresome to read yet another book that's about a woman almost entirely told through the male gaze. If a book is going to do that, I want it to be better than fine. I want it to be unique or beautiful or something that makes it worthwhile. And this was more of the same.
I hated this. It was such a quick read, but that's about it's only saving grace. It's just doing the same tired old tropes, but it's doing them so poorly. I'm honestly mad that I fell for the hype because this felt like the biggest waste of time. At least the other books I've hated this year were interestingly terrible. This couldn't even manage that.
Some things that irritated me in no particular order (because I'm feeling too lazy to structure this like a nice review):
-The narration. The main character was so annoying. Unlikable I can handle. I love a good unlikable character, a twisted creep, someone who's just awful, or stupid, or whatever. But this dude was just annoying and boring. It felt like the interesting story was happening from a different perspective and he had weird self insert vibes. I found this grating right from the first fifteen pages.
-The terrible/inaccurate representation of mental health. Just on so many levels. I do not understand how Michaelides has a background in mental health and still filled this book with misleading, harmful, and down right factually incorrect information. None of this is how mental health works. In certain elements I do believe it was intentionally poorly done, but it went beyond that.
-The silence of Alicia. If you want to have a character be silent as part of your narrative structure, and rely entirely on her not having a voice, don't include a bunch of diary entries that then give her a voice. It's lazy and cheap and negates the most important element of the story. Alicia has a very strong voice and perspective throughout the whole book. She just sometimes doesn't talk.
-The ridiculous number of plot holes. I get thrillers need some degree of suspension of disbelief, but this woman went from prison to a psych ward (for dangerous inmates) and somehow managed to sneak in a diary (totally by herself, no outside help) no one ever knew about? Like how? Please explain the logistics here. There were so many things ranging from large to small that just couldn't happen.
-It's entirely about a woman from a man's POV. Okay, this one wasn't actually terribly done compared to the others, but it's so tiresome to read yet another book that's about a woman almost entirely told through the male gaze. If a book is going to do that, I want it to be better than fine. I want it to be unique or beautiful or something that makes it worthwhile. And this was more of the same.
I hated this. It was such a quick read, but that's about it's only saving grace. It's just doing the same tired old tropes, but it's doing them so poorly. I'm honestly mad that I fell for the hype because this felt like the biggest waste of time. At least the other books I've hated this year were interestingly terrible. This couldn't even manage that.
Bo Jackson: Playing the Games by Ellen Emerson White
This was fine, if you're interested in Bo Jackson at the beginning of his career. I liked learning more about an athlete I knew next to nothing about, but I was obviously not the target audience for this book. It is honestly sad reading this after the fact because there was so much speculation on what Jackson was going to do with the rest of his career, only he had a career ending injury a year after this was published.
I've read a few of these biographies and I leave them all unrated because they're not meant for me. I read them out of curiosity more than anything else.
I've read a few of these biographies and I leave them all unrated because they're not meant for me. I read them out of curiosity more than anything else.
Flash Fiction: 72 Very Short Stories by James Thomas, Denise Thomas, Tom Hazuka
3.0
Most of these stories were fine, but didn't do much for me. They were forgettable and kind of mundane. It's unfortunate because I love flash fiction and went into this collection ready to find a bunch of new wonderful authors. There were definitely a few standouts, and I must read more Mary Morris in the future, but overall I didn't care about many of these. I also didn't dislike more than a handful. This whole collection just felt very middle of the road.
Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews
3.0
At this series's best, I was devouring a book in 24 hours. This book took me a week to read. I think part of it was I was getting burned out, but I'm also just not enjoying the direction it's taken. I don't like Roland as a villain. He doesn't seem well developed, either in personality or powers. It just bores me a little. It wasn't a bad book by any means, the whole series is well written and I do enjoy the characters a lot, but I haven't been liking the last couple as much.
Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews
3.0
I don't really love the direction these books have taken. Like they're all still really fun and well written and I love all the characters, but I don't like the new villain and I don't like Kate having left the pack. It's not bad so much as I liked what it was doing before better. But they're still a good ride.
Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews
4.0
I loved the politics and backstabbing of this book. I also really enjoyed the shifting relationship she has with the People. And Hugh is, as always, fantastic. An incredibly fun book.
Jennifer Capriati by Ellen Emerson White
This is a kid's biography of Jennifer Capriati published in 1991, when she was just 14 years old. It was so interesting to read a book published so early in a person's career thirty years after the fact, since I was able to look up at the assumptions that were made about Capriati's future in tennis and how accurate they were.
It's a totally fine kid's biography and I had no issues with it, but I only read this because Ellen Emerson White is my favorite author and I'm making my way through all her books. I can't really rate this, but it was definitely an interesting read. I guess I'd recommend this if you're a kid who's a Jennifer Capriati fan, but this is one of those books that I think really needed to be read in the time it was written.
It's a totally fine kid's biography and I had no issues with it, but I only read this because Ellen Emerson White is my favorite author and I'm making my way through all her books. I can't really rate this, but it was definitely an interesting read. I guess I'd recommend this if you're a kid who's a Jennifer Capriati fan, but this is one of those books that I think really needed to be read in the time it was written.
Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews
5.0
I loved this book beyond reason. Most of the series has been fun to me, if a little flawed, but this book went beyond that. I am a huge fan of 'so bad they're good' movies and this book hit on a few of those notes while still being genuinely good. Best of both worlds.
For starters, it's a lot different than the rest of the series. It's the only book where they leave home and spend the whole book some place completely different. They're helping solve some pointless squabble over wolf packs in Europe, but it doesn't really matter. The main point is, everyone is behaving ridiculously in this book with the flimsiest of motivations and it is fabulous.
I also love the villain of this book. After reading the whole series, I can confirm he is the best villain and I only wish there'd been more of him. He brings me great joy, and Kate's irrational jealousy brings me great joy, and Curran's ridiculous stupid plan brings me great joy.
Of the whole series, this is the only book I could see myself rereading. It was great. I get why some people wouldn't like this as much, but it was perfect for me.
For starters, it's a lot different than the rest of the series. It's the only book where they leave home and spend the whole book some place completely different. They're helping solve some pointless squabble over wolf packs in Europe, but it doesn't really matter. The main point is, everyone is behaving ridiculously in this book with the flimsiest of motivations and it is fabulous.
I also love the villain of this book. After reading the whole series, I can confirm he is the best villain and I only wish there'd been more of him. He brings me great joy, and Kate's irrational jealousy brings me great joy, and Curran's ridiculous stupid plan brings me great joy.
Of the whole series, this is the only book I could see myself rereading. It was great. I get why some people wouldn't like this as much, but it was perfect for me.
Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews
3.0
This was by far my least favorite book of the Kate Daniels series (and it's kind of a spinoff so it doesn't really count). The weird thing is, I really liked Andrea as a character up until this book. And then she really irritated me. And after reading the rest of the series, I never liked her again. I don't really know what changed, but I did not care about Andrea or her story at all. She grated on my nerves.
I also felt like this book wasn't as well written as the others and it didn't flow very well. It just felt awkward. It wasn't bad, but this was the only book of the series that was close to getting two stars.
I also felt like this book wasn't as well written as the others and it didn't flow very well. It just felt awkward. It wasn't bad, but this was the only book of the series that was close to getting two stars.
Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews
3.0
Repeating my thoughts from every review- super fun, love the characters, etc etc. Honestly, this probably would have been four stars like the others but the climax was just so rushed. I remember thinking towards the end that we were ramping up to a really good climactic moment and then realizing there were only twenty pages left. And five of them were the epilogue. For how dramatic and catastrophic this book was, I really wanted more time to sit the consequences of their actions.
But I loved a lot of other elements, like the antimagic groups. There were a number of very interesting developments.
But I loved a lot of other elements, like the antimagic groups. There were a number of very interesting developments.