The Patient

 There are some things that I really enjoyed in the story, and some that fell flat for me.    Advantages: the first thing I want to point out is the format it's written it. We follow the story through the blog posts, published by the main character years after his encounter with a strange and disturbing Patient. I listened to the audiobook for this and would highly recommend everyone to do the same. This way, the story feels like an episode of a horror podcast (I, personally, kept thinking about how well it would fit into a project like “The Magnus Archives” throughout the whole read).    The plot itself is definitely griping. The book gives the reader an opportunity to make theories about what's actually happening and what's wrong with Joe as a human being. To be honest, I wasn't able to guess the right answer and was slightly surprised by what transpired in the end (that being said, the plot twist doesn't feel out of place; it makes perfect sense and I think it's my fault for overlooking such a simple explanation).    The end is another thing that I'd like to praise the book for. It makes sure that after closing it, the reader won't immediately erase the book from their memory. It gives food for thought, even if for a short period of time.    I also appreciated the attempt to tackle such themes as the abysmal treatment of mentally disordered people in the majority of psychic wards, the tendency to brush off the fears and worries of children by their parents (and sometimes even medical professionals), explaining them as their “active imagination” when in reality these worries may stem from very real, harmful things.        Disadvantages: I'm the type of reader who can fully enjoy the story only if it has both a good plot and memorable characters I can fall in love with. “The Patient”, for me, was severely lacking in this last aspect. The main character wasn't written poorly, but he's just a generic smart protagonist with a big heart. The only character I was even remotely interested in was Rose (Doctor G.), but her appearances were far and between, and she's not the best female character I've ever read about.    Moreover, I believe my enjoyment of the story was greatly hindered by the use of the first-person point of view. Its usage is explained by the format of the book, however I found that it helped to create “a wall” between me and the characters.    This is more of a nit-picking, but if you're looking for a horror book that will genuinely terrify you, then “The Patient” is not something you need to pick up at the moment. There are some disturbing images in the novel, sure, but aside from that, there is nothing particularly scary about it.    Overall, I liked the book. It's a perfect story to listen to in the background as you're doing household chores or going somewhere. The plot was interesting enough to keep my attention, the gore disturbing enough to make me feel somewhat unpleasant. The ending leaves you with questions (or rather, one big question) on which you can ponder for some time. A good short read if you want to read something easy and enjoyable.