The Blind

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5The Blind by A.F. Brady is an amazing look at one woman's psyche as her 'perfect' world starts falling apart.What it's about: Sam James is the go-to psychologist for difficult patients at Typhlos, a psychiatric institution in Manhattan for the most challenging subjects. She has spent years building her reputation there and becoming her boss Rachel's favorite. But when Sam takes on a new patient named Richard that no one can get a word out of, she is going to be put to the test as she never has been before. Getting to know Richard and pulling out his past, will bring out some things in her own life that Sam didn't want to face. As everything she has built starts to fall out from under her, will she be able to make the changes she needs to in order to properly live her life, or will she lose everything she has worked so hard to build . . .I've only read the 2 books by Brady, but I can already categorize her as one of my favorite authors. Her books really make you think, and they will surprise you in more ways than one. There are quite a few triggers in The Blind, one of which is abuse. At times this book was incredibly hard for me to read so I think it is important to note this trigger. I don't normally need to know about them, but I kinda wish I would have known what I was getting myself into ahead of time with this one.As much as she likes to appear perfect to her friends and coworkers, Sam has some serious issues and I was struggling with her through much of the book, even though I know she couldn't necessarily help what she was doing. But I really liked how her story progressed as the book went on, and by the time I got to the end I liked her a lot more than when I started. I definitely think everyone can see a little bit of them in the people in this book, including Sam.Much of The Blind is very psychological due to Sam's job and the way it is written, and it is so obvious that Brady has a lot of experience she called on to write this novel. I always understood what was going on, and much of it was pretty heartbreaking. I would definitely categorize this as a bit of a tear-jerker as well, especially towards the end of the novel. It does have it's funny parts too which was a nice respite from the heavier themes of the novel.Final Thought: I really don't think that anything I say will do this book justice, so I will wrap this up. I had a bit of an unusual upbringing so I was able to relate with a little of what was going on at certain points in The Blind. It was fascinating to think about some of this stuff more deeply than I have, and how our upbringings (including parent's mental health) shape who we are as adults. If you are looking for a heavier read that is still pretty quick, and don't mind triggers such as abuse, you need to read this! The ending made my head tingle... so read it. :)

Sam is a psychologist. She works in a mental institution, in Manhattan. The facility is over-crowded, underfunded & understaffed. She's the one who takes all the patients no one wants. She has the best success rate with difficult patients.There's a new patient. No one wants to work with him. He was in prison for twenty-some years. Then, in halfway houses for years after prison. His file is nearly empty. He refuses to answer intake questions & won't discuss his history. He's been in jail half his life. But, it doesn't say on what charges. He always shows up for their sessions & he's always punctual. But, he's uncooperative during the sessions. He isn't threatening or violent. He's just very quiet & guarded. He's high functioning & seems to be completely normal. Why is he institutionalized? Why is he in treatment? She's been working with him for months & she still has no idea. He refuses to tell her.Whenever Sam is on the unit, she's a superhero, a trouble-shooter & the go-to gal to get stuff done. She handles all the impossible cases & she runs all the most trying groups. She's full of faux sincerity. She wants everyone to think she's perfect. Precious few know she's an alcoholic, mentally fragile & unstable and in an abusive relationship. She's not the girl she's pretending to be.She distracts herself with someone other than her boyfriend for physical feelings of love. He's a reprieve from real life. They communicate almost exclusively in emojis & the exchange of bodily fluids. She keeps a colleague dangling by a string for emotional support & intellectual feelings of love. She's always drunk or hungover. She camouflages her anxiety with the veneer of professionalism. She often masquerades a hangover as a migraine. She's unraveling & making serious errors in judgment & medication mistakes. She's become an unfit therapist.But, her silent patient finally opens up & shares his personal story. He's never told anyone; not his lawyer, the judge or the cops. And, it's a doozy!

I really enjoyed this book so much. Most of the time a fast paced book doesn’t challenge the reader – but this was both. It is at times difficult because of the issues it confronts, but Brady manages to inject enough humor into the dark truths that I laughed throughout. I couldn’t disagree more with the reviewers who are disappointed by the often unlikeable main character (Sam), or the difficulty in wrapping their minds around the problems faced by Sam and the supporting cast of The Blind. In fact, this is one of the things that makes this book, and Brady’s writing, so brilliant – she does more than just provide the reader with a warm safe glimpse of the difficulties of living with mental, she forces you to partake in the discomfort of it, and the devastation it can cause. To dismiss this insight out of hand shows not only that you probably missed the point, but that this is a reflection of the problems that Brady is getting at – society as a whole struggles so deeply to understand mental illness that those affected by it often ignored because they can make us uncomfortable. This is a terrific journey that Brady takes us on because it is uncomfortable - that’s the point – she forces us to confront tough situations that sadly aren’t relegated to fiction writing, but surround us every day. Five stars!

Sam is a psychology therapist at a mental institution in New York. She is a functioning alcoholic - who is hiding her alcoholism - and her promiscuous/abusive relationships. Things seem to be spiraling down for Sam in all areas of her life- when she gets a new patient, Richard. Richard doesn't talk - he just sits and reads the paper.Since I teach Psychology, I figured out part of it while reading. It was a good story - maybe the chaos could have been a little less long (lol) - but I really enjoyed the story. Lots of twists

I have read the negative reviews but found this an interesting read. I did take the story seriously and the recognisable psychological problems of the health worker's insecurities and dependency on alcahol. Now and then I wondered how she kept her job, being so clearly unbalanced. Also, if the ending, the denouement, was obvious to many readers before it revealed itself, I hadn't a clue. Having said that, I did not like it and feel that the author tacked it on or that the exchanges between father and daughter were unreal, and better suited to a detective and his objective.

Highly captivating from the initial sentence, to the final and what an end reveal!! I loved the complex, interesting characters, becoming very involved in their experiences and wanting to see their journeys and conclusions. I simply could not put this book down and highly recommend it. If your interested in psychology and some exciting twists and turns, this book gives these and so much more. Fantastic for a first novel and I eagerly await her second.

Shocked by her thoughts as I was, sometimes to the point of deep frustration, I came to feel that a piece of this raw, struggling woman can be seen in all of us. Though I failed to connect with her on an emotional level, she certainly made me examine my own insecurities, and made me think that we really are made up of the same essential materials -whether we choose to admit it or not. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, meaningful to me on many levels.

5+++ Wow. Loved this book so much. A truly gifted storyteller with an amazing handle on language. The author conveys so much with so few words. Loved her imagery, metaphors, the atmosphere she created with these fully realized characters and setting. Apart from some plot devices, I found this a realistic depiction of a complicated and damaged woman and it read like a memoir. I became so immersed in her world and was rooting for her to get it together. Loved her friendship with David. The big reveal at the end was, however, very predicable and obvious from the start but that in no way diminished the story; it was icing on the cake.

I was taken by surprise by the ending. The Blind is a satisfying read and as a psychotherapist, I found it to give a fairly accurate depiction of the suffering of BPD individuals.