Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from Netgalley. This was a slow read, and while the storyline was great, the characters didn't really gel for me.

The Guilty Patient by Luana Lewis was a excellent and so a addictive and gripping psychological thriller that was full of brilliant twists and turns throughout that will have you turning the pages of your kindle to find out what happened next. WoW an excellent read from start to finish I loved it, especially as I ended up reading it in one seating!

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

I feel like this started off so slow and I worried I wouldn’t want to complete it, though then it really picked up and turned out to be a really good story. I think the twist was perfect and also had you hanging on every word when it all came out just like what I would want in this genre.

The Guilty Patient by Luana Lewis.
I did like the cover and blurb of this book. This was a good read. It did take me a while to get into this book. Once I did I really enjoyed this book. I did like the writing style. I really wanted to know who did it. There was a few suspects. Freddie, Julia, or David. It certainly wasn't who I thought it was. I was surprised with the ending

3.75 stars: Fragile memories, guilt, and the distortion of self

The Guilty Patient by Luana Lewis is not just a whodunit murder mystery; it is a study of the human psyche, the fragility of memory, and how trauma can distort both our recollections and sense of self.

The story follows Mia. Heavily pregnant, she is battling with the terrifying possibility she killed her best friend, Alice, three years earlier. The problem? Mia can’t remember what happened. All she has is snippets to form her version of events. “I think I killed my best friend,” Mia boldly states to her therapist, Dr. Tara Black, during their first meeting. Traumatised, Tara is intent on unearthing the truth. Together, they try to de-mist Mia’s memory and recover the events of that fateful night.

These sessions aren’t easy on Mia. Her mental health starts to crumble and her behaviour becomes increasingly heightened - borderline erratic. She becomes confused, aloof, conflicted, and dissociative. Tara is understandably concerned, and before long, she is embedded into every facet of Mia’s life (inappropriately so, I would argue). The duo slowly begin to discover more than what they bargained for.

At its core, The Guilty Patient is a psychological thriller that explores issues concerning fractured memories, guilt, deception, and self-doubt. Rooted in her experience as a clinical psychologist, Lewis does a commendable job of pulling the reader through a maze of unreliable narrators, red herrings, and untrustworthy characters.

The short and snappy chapters made the reading experience feel brisk and engaging. When I thought I had a handle on what had happened, fresh insights would emerge, causing me to reassess my theories - a hallmark of a solid popcorn thriller.

The Guilty Patient has multiple tentacles - there is a lot going on. It is made up of many differing versions of events and secondary storylines. There are a lot of red threads to follow. I don’t mind this; however, for those who prefer a more linear narrative, the story may sometimes feel a little convoluted and difficult to keep up with. Coupled with various time hops, it’s understandable that some readers may find the plot jarring and overly complicated, even when the thread ends loosely come together at the end.

And the ending? The novel's final act delivers a satisfying conclusion. That’s all I shall say about that.

Overall, The Guilty Patient is a solid domestic thriller and suspense that explores the human mind's dark corners and how guilt and trauma can distort reality. Yes, it’s jam-packed, which may be its downfall for some, but fans of thrillers such as The Girl on the Train will appreciate its links to unreliable memories and the haunting power of the unknown within one’s own mind.

Recommended for fans of:
- Authors such as Freida McFadden, Fiona Barton, and B.A. Paris
- Books such as The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects, and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
- Popcorn thrillers with flawed, unreliable narrators at its core

Thank you to Bookouture for inviting me on this book tour and for allowing me access to the book via NetGallery in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️




✨ psychological drama
✨ varies of timelines
✨ feeling of whodunit




✨ Mia is the main character in this story .
The feeling of guilt she have thinking did she really killed her bestfriend?
This story has a varities of past and present timelines.
It may get confusing but every chapter is short and fast paced to read.


✨ a story of feeling whodunit - it was consist of drama and thriller on the ending as it involved Mia’s therapist. Why and why she she involved?


✨ great fast paced book! Definitely recommended.



✨ Thankyou @bookouture for the opportunity to read this arc for a honest review.




🫶🏼 shaye.reads

Loved this fast-paced, suspenseful story. I was completely absorbed and read it in one sitting. Just wow!

This was definitely a thrilling read that once I got hooked in, I was truly hooked. I would probably really give this a 3.5. I enjoyed the book overall, but it's not one that I would probably go back to read again.
I will say, it took me a bit to get really into this story as I felt some of the build up was dragging on. However, that didn't effect how I felt overall about the story. I think she did a great job setting up each twist that came and I truly had no idea what was going to happen next. There were multiple different stories going on within this book and I think the author did a good job of not making that confusing. Overall I think this is definitely one to add for some suspenseful reading!

Mia is tormented by the thought that she may have been responsible for her best friend Alice's death many years ago. In an attempt to piece together what happened on that fateful day, she seeks the help of a psychologist to unlock her memories.

The book started slowly and failed to hold my interest; I got easily distracted. Additionally, too many characters were introduced at once, making it difficult to keep track. However, as I better understood the story, I appreciated the use of multiple perspectives and the seamless transitions between past and present.

This book was all right, but it wasn't for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the free copy of the book.

The Guilty Patient by Luana Lewis had me on the edge of my seat.
It kept me hooked for the entire story, and I couldn't put it down because I was gripped and felt like I needed to know what was happening!
There are some good twists in the story and it kept me so engaged.
I really enjoy her writing.

Thank You NetGalley and Bookouture for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

<i> I think I killed my best friend </i>

Mia doesn't remember if she killed her best friend or not. Three years ago, Mia and her best friend Alice went on a trip together, one that Alice didn't come back from alive, but Mia doesn't remember what happened, and no one was every charged for Alice's death. Now, after three years, Mia had this random memory of that fateful night and goes to a psychologist to attempt to remember what happened.

Honestly, I was unsure about Tara at first. I mean, someone walks into your office for their first appointment, says they might have killed their best friend, and you decide there's not enough time left in the session to go into that and leave it for the next session? I could never do that. I would instantly cancel everything and try and find out what happened. But as the book went on, I understood where she was coming from about needing Mia to be ready to share, and wanting to be sure that she would be able to get the whole and accurate story. In the end, I appreciated what Tara did to help Mia, and help her figure out if she truly did kill her best friend.

The chapters were very short, so it made it seem like I flew through this book and it was pretty fast paced for the most part, with a couple of lulls here and there, but I was hooked from the start. Throughout each chapter, old memories are recovered and new information is brought to light, which added more to the story and the question of what happened to Alice, who did it, and why. I found myself constantly changing my idea of what had happened every time new information was given. Tara, Mia's psychologist, works with Mia and utilizing several other sources to find out exactly what happened. The ending caught me completely off guard, it was not one of the options that I had come up with and I really enjoyed that.

My main complaint that I had about this book is not really a complaint, because I understand why it was done, it just got confusing at times. This book does go back and forth between the present and several different timelines in the past.

Thank you to Bookouture, Luana Lewis, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

A fast-paced, intensely suspenseful dual plot involving two FMC. Both women are trying to get answers while dealing with their own past traumas which mirror one another in many ways.
So many secrets, so many lies - it seems everyone has something to hide! What a great psychological thriller with emotional depth and a gratifying ending!!
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was hooked right away and didn't want to put it down, the twists and turns kept me surprised until the end.

First, I want to thank Luana Lewis, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing this book so I can bring you this review.

Luana Lewis brings us readers a different kind of psychological thriller that I am used to in her latest The Guilty Patient. Where one of the main characters point blank confesses killing someone hiding nothing.

I loved how Luana made her prologue stand out with vivid descriptive details of the events that had been seen. This hooked me into the story wanting to know what happened to the poor girl.

What I found interesting is Mia confessed to killing her only friend and best friend Alice but WHY?!!! When readers find out why it’s a shocker!!!!

Through the story we learn a little more about Mia’s past

I did not realize that this book was a sequel. I didn't have much trouble getting into it though. I was hooked from the beginning and I loved the twists and turns it took! I enjoyed the complexities of Mia's character, and how Tara was determined to get to the bottom of everything going on. There was a nice surprise at the end, which I love in thrillers. Definitely worth the read!!!

I really enjoyed this book! It pulled me in straight away and had several twists and turns to keep me guessing. I liked the jumps in time line and different perspectives throughout. I also enjoyed reading about a therapist and how memories can make people question everything. It’s definitely made me interested to read more books by this author. I’m thrilled to have been given a chance to be an ARC reader for this book and I’ll be recommending it to friends and family.

The guilty patient 4 ⭐
Release: Oct 13

Genre:
suspense thriller

Details:
Alice and Mia went on a weekend getaway with their friends 3 years ago. Alice's remains are found in her home. The narrator is Mia who recounts the moments just before Alice passes away recalling her relationship with Tom- who Mia would eventually marry.
Mia experiences a breakthrough during a therapy session and begins to recall being with Alice when she took her last breath leading her to believe she killed her best friend.
She fears someone close to her is hiding a terrible secret, so she starts questioning her friends about how they see the events. Because she is unable to trust herself, Mia finds it difficult to believe those around her.

Thoughts along the way:

-Why does Mia have difficulty remembering things?
-the details of fatal incident with her friend Alice
-her mother (even though she passed when Mia was only 7)
-did Carolyn plant the memory in Mias head? Why did she suddenly remember after all this time?
--trauma induced false memory?
-Could she really kill Alice that easily?
-there are a lot of plots being introduced, I hope they all come together in the end
-what's with the Freddie situation?

Mia

-36ish weeks pregnant
-Tom loved Alice before he loved Mia (was dating Alice when she died)
-chronic headaches (could they be tied to her lapses in memory?)
--hearing a voice when headaches are present?
--what causes these headaches?
-was she high the night Alice died?
-Could explain the lapses in memory

Tara

-lost her husband Daniel in a hit and run 1 year ago
-blames herself
--did Daniel have a secret life?
-swiss bank account that has payments going out routinely
-this was predictable, but make sense
-brother Matthew
--is he really dead?
--why can't Tara remember the details of Matthew's death?
---Matthew was charged with the murder of their parents?
-did she kill her mother?

Alice
-financial instability in childhood causing fears in her adult life
-was high when she died
-is she sleeping with David?
--nope!
-the scarf!

*thank you to netgalley, the publisher & author for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review*

I had a hard time getting into it at first. The start is kind of slow, but picks up speed and I enjoyed it from there. Mia was a strange character, being so completely passive most of the time. Tara, her therapist, spent 99% of her time either following Mia everywhere or seeking out her family members to speak with. Spending hours with a client off hours, involving family without her permission, it’s all pretty weird. Must violate some code of ethics for psychologists. At the conclusion, almost as quick as a snap of the fingers, Mia shrugged off her deep rooted issues and lived happily ever after. I wish therapy was that easy in reality! Tara’s storyline was better, in my opinion. Putting all of that aside, I liked the story and writing and I’d read another novel by the author.

There was a lot going on here, that gripped me, kept me wondering, and fascinated me. I have always found how the brain works to be fascinating, and this showed me a different side of how it works. My brain seemed tangled at times, just like the story, but as I read, there was a lot to figure out. I will admit, I did not figure it out, but Luana Lewis, does tell us what really happened. If you want to delve into a story that has lots of twist and turns, with many different people thinking they did it, this is the book for you. It might challenge you, and you might not figure it out either.
I received an ARC from Bookouture through NetGalley.

The Guilty Patient
By: Luana Lewis

4 Stars

Tara is a psychologist with her own problems, but when Mia walks in one day, this case Tara knows will be one that will take all her strength. Mias best friend dies and is having terrible memories. Is it real? Did Mia kill her best friend?

This was a fast-paced thriller with a twisty story. I loved the storyline, and Mia, being in her condition, adds to the seriousness of the story. This was a story that blended pain and loss with secrets and family drama. It was intriguing and keeps you on the edge of your seat. It was a bit like getting two stories for one. Tara, having her own side story, adds a mystery to the story aside from Mia and Alices. It really wrapped it all up in a fine and crazy bow at the end because I never saw that ending coming.


*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*

Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Review