Fiction

Case Study

Case Study

  • Downloads：5560
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2023-03-02 11:22:29
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Graeme Macrae Burnet
  • ISBN：103863508X
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Sam Edwards ，

3。5

Kristen ，

Trippy， slightly disturbing， but I couldn't put it down Trippy， slightly disturbing， but I couldn't put it down 。。。more

Jenna Smith ，

weird & wonderful ✨

Katie T ，

Dnf 34% maybe come back when I’m willing to eye read

Leslie ，

Fascinating。 Longlisted for the Booker。 About a woman whose sister commits suicide after seeing a therapist。 The woman assumes an identity and begins sessions with the therapist。 The story is told through the woman’s notebooks and the work of an unidentified biographer of the the therapist。 All parties are unreliable narrators。 Unsettling in the best of ways。

Jiapei Chen ，

An interesting concept - exploration of separate “selves” （or: identities） through different narrative mediums （journal entries， biography of an obscure therapist， the “author’s” inquiry into this subject）。 However， I found the journal entries’ narrative style hard to believe， as they tended to be written in a 3rd person voice （e。g。 whole transcripts of dialogues）。 There were also a lot of passing side characters presented with entire familial lineages … that I didn’t feel necessary to be includ An interesting concept - exploration of separate “selves” （or: identities） through different narrative mediums （journal entries， biography of an obscure therapist， the “author’s” inquiry into this subject）。 However， I found the journal entries’ narrative style hard to believe， as they tended to be written in a 3rd person voice （e。g。 whole transcripts of dialogues）。 There were also a lot of passing side characters presented with entire familial lineages … that I didn’t feel necessary to be included。 。。。more

Mark Foster ，

british

Flo ，

A hard one to categorise and there are a lot of things that should have appealed to me but this was a bit too heavy on psychological theories for me， and not especially good or interesting ones either （concepts of dual selves etc）。 But it was a flowing enough read， and I liked the reveal at the end and the questions it raised。

Gioia ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I wanted to read this because it was longlisted for the Booker and I thought the premise seemed interesting。 The book is not quite what I thought it would be like。 I think the parts that Burnet seemed to be most interested in， the parts about what comprises our "true self" and when we are acting or being authentic， were the most interesting part of the book for me。 The writing was fine but I didn't love it。 The book was okay。 I think， if it's supposed to be this psychological deep dive into Rebe I wanted to read this because it was longlisted for the Booker and I thought the premise seemed interesting。 The book is not quite what I thought it would be like。 I think the parts that Burnet seemed to be most interested in， the parts about what comprises our "true self" and when we are acting or being authentic， were the most interesting part of the book for me。 The writing was fine but I didn't love it。 The book was okay。 I think， if it's supposed to be this psychological deep dive into Rebecca Smyth and Braithwaite， each of those characters could have potentially felt a bit more real。 I did read the book quickly and not very carefully， so this isn't like a final opinion。 I'm glad I checked it out from my library and didn't buy it， because I don't think I'm going to re-read this。 Also， its tone is a bit strange; dealing with very dark events （suicide etc） in a way that maybe didn't feel serious enough to me。 The pacing between the biography of Braithwaite and the notebook sections was a bit weird。 I wonder if the book would have benefitted from including more excerpts that were actually from Braithwaite's memoir or the Untherapy book。 I'm not sure how I feel about this book overall， but I'm glad I read it。 It was a quick read， well constructed， and I feel like the author accomplished what he set out to decently well。 But I'm not obsessed with it。 。。。more

Wang ，

Well written but the story is not convincing enough。 It is predictable and a bit pretentious。

Iñigo ，

Me ha ido gustando menos según seguía la novela， porque me esperaba una historia con más “trama” y en eso se ha quedado floja。 Pero aún así， la psicoterapia， las referencias literarias y el tema del Doppelgänger está genial。 El final es hasta bonito。

Stacey ，

3。75

Lyn ，

I loved the premise and the beginning of the book but it was really disappointing in the end。 I found the parts of the book that were "biographical" to be rather boring and not that insightful。 I wanted it to go on and I wanted to know more which is why it got 3 stars but the ending was just so abrupt。 Nothing was resolved。 And pleeeeease don't tell me that that's supposed to be meaningful and that it's done on purpose。 If it was on purpose then it wasn't done well。 I loved the premise and the beginning of the book but it was really disappointing in the end。 I found the parts of the book that were "biographical" to be rather boring and not that insightful。 I wanted it to go on and I wanted to know more which is why it got 3 stars but the ending was just so abrupt。 Nothing was resolved。 And pleeeeease don't tell me that that's supposed to be meaningful and that it's done on purpose。 If it was on purpose then it wasn't done well。 。。。more

Mike ，

Convinced that the unconventional methods of a radical psychotherapist caused her sister's suicide， an unnamed young woman dons a new persona to become his patient， only to find herself questioning her own sanity。A moody， suspenseful book which unfolded as found documents， making the story feel all the more realistic and unsettling。 While I found the ending to be a little unremarkable， the intoxicating writing， and living in these characters' worlds was pure entertainment。 Convinced that the unconventional methods of a radical psychotherapist caused her sister's suicide， an unnamed young woman dons a new persona to become his patient， only to find herself questioning her own sanity。A moody， suspenseful book which unfolded as found documents， making the story feel all the more realistic and unsettling。 While I found the ending to be a little unremarkable， the intoxicating writing， and living in these characters' worlds was pure entertainment。 。。。more

Andrea Horqque ，

A poignant story about human emotion and our sense of self， exploring how fragmentation can affect a person。 The power of suggestion， narcissism， childhood trauma and its effects on our development are just some of the themes that this book developed by following two similar characters， Braithewaite and "Rebecca"。So many themes entangled in one great story。 I spent way too much time trying to understand if this was a real story。 Extremely creative to write a book in a documentary style， down to A poignant story about human emotion and our sense of self， exploring how fragmentation can affect a person。 The power of suggestion， narcissism， childhood trauma and its effects on our development are just some of the themes that this book developed by following two similar characters， Braithewaite and "Rebecca"。So many themes entangled in one great story。 I spent way too much time trying to understand if this was a real story。 Extremely creative to write a book in a documentary style， down to the last postscript - never breaking the illusion。 。。。more

Ana Rojas ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Should come with a warning: “Do not read this， it’s poorly written”。We selected this for a book club and out of 10 people， only 4 of us finished and the other 6 couldn’t make it past 60%The premise is good， that’s what catch our attention， however the book is supposed to be about the suicide of Veronica， but somehow you’ll never find out why she does。 Rebecca Smyth “the sister” has a weird life until she becomes someone else， but you never get to know what happens。 Collins Braithwaite is not eve Should come with a warning: “Do not read this， it’s poorly written”。We selected this for a book club and out of 10 people， only 4 of us finished and the other 6 couldn’t make it past 60%The premise is good， that’s what catch our attention， however the book is supposed to be about the suicide of Veronica， but somehow you’ll never find out why she does。 Rebecca Smyth “the sister” has a weird life until she becomes someone else， but you never get to know what happens。 Collins Braithwaite is not even a certified therapist and at the end he dies。 You will not find the connection of all 3 stories， other than a few pages。 A bridge between stories is missing。My advice？ Don’t waste your time。 。。。more

C ，

3。5 starsA puzzle of a book told in both "found notebooks" the author received from a troubled young lady's cousin in 1960s London， mostly regarding her interactions with a therapist and the author's "biographical accounts" of that fictional psychotherapist。 The girl writing the notebooks is drawn to the therapist after her sister speaks with him and commits suicide。 Ultimately， this was an interesting way to tell a story but I was a little lost as to what the purpose was。 Possibly to exist as a 3。5 starsA puzzle of a book told in both "found notebooks" the author received from a troubled young lady's cousin in 1960s London， mostly regarding her interactions with a therapist and the author's "biographical accounts" of that fictional psychotherapist。 The girl writing the notebooks is drawn to the therapist after her sister speaks with him and commits suicide。 Ultimately， this was an interesting way to tell a story but I was a little lost as to what the purpose was。 Possibly to exist as a mystery， uniquely told。 The young lady uses the name "Rebecca" after Daphne du Maurier， as a hint to what the mood is in this book。 。。。more

Moniquilla Guajara ，

Me ha fascinado está historia。Tengo que digerirla

Sharazade Vahid ，

started off promising but feel the second half fizzled and appeared to have little point。 men， sex， psychotherapy and female delusion…。everyone writes about that so if you’re going to do it you better do it well and this didn’t hit the mark。

Barb ，

3。5 stars

Leanne ，

Burnet is a master at confounding the reader。 He has this wonderful knack of writing fiction that hoodwinks the reader into believing they’re reading non-fiction。 I am one of the many who googled Collins Braithwaite， the unlikeable main character。 Case Study opens with an offer to the actual author to write a book based on a series of found journals。 These notebooks were written by the client of a controversial and unconventional psychotherapist who is convinced his unorthodox and offensive prac Burnet is a master at confounding the reader。 He has this wonderful knack of writing fiction that hoodwinks the reader into believing they’re reading non-fiction。 I am one of the many who googled Collins Braithwaite， the unlikeable main character。 Case Study opens with an offer to the actual author to write a book based on a series of found journals。 These notebooks were written by the client of a controversial and unconventional psychotherapist who is convinced his unorthodox and offensive practices were the cause of her sister’s suicide。 The notebooks， extracts from Braithwaite’s books and his biography disclose events as they happened， both past and present。 Set in 1960s swinging London， the story gives us a great sense of social mores of the time， both conservative and progressive。 And while I think the story dragged in places， the writing was brilliant， especially the mind games between “Rebecca” and Braithwaite。 Neither character was likeable but that didn’t detract from the appeal of this clever piece of writing。 It rather added to the fascination of how it would all end。 。。。more

Marshaferz ，

This book got better and better as it went on。 It's a puzzle box - what does it mean to be sane？ What lies do we tell ourselves？ What does it mean to have a self？ The writing is evocative， the secrets spilled are fascinating， and the conclusion you draw is pretty much up to you。 Our book club had an excellent （and mind-bending） conversation about this。 Very much enjoyed，。 This book got better and better as it went on。 It's a puzzle box - what does it mean to be sane？ What lies do we tell ourselves？ What does it mean to have a self？ The writing is evocative， the secrets spilled are fascinating， and the conclusion you draw is pretty much up to you。 Our book club had an excellent （and mind-bending） conversation about this。 Very much enjoyed，。 。。。more

Marla ，

I'm amending my original review。 After discussing it with my book group， it became clear that I had actually missed quite a lot， and it is far more interesting and layered than I originally thought。 I still didn't LOOOOOVE it， but it is a solid 4 stars from me。I didn’t love this book。 The prose is generally very good， and the story gets more interesting as it goes along。 But - my overall feeling of it was pretty “meh。” I'm amending my original review。 After discussing it with my book group， it became clear that I had actually missed quite a lot， and it is far more interesting and layered than I originally thought。 I still didn't LOOOOOVE it， but it is a solid 4 stars from me。I didn’t love this book。 The prose is generally very good， and the story gets more interesting as it goes along。 But - my overall feeling of it was pretty “meh。” 。。。more

Drew ，

3。5 - dnf， but not because it wasn’t good。 i just， like always， stopped reading for a while and ran out of time in my life for it but now it’s been too long that i’m a few years i’m just gonna reread it bc i rly wanna know how it ends！

Suzanne Gannon ，

I just wasn't invested in this story at all， either on the level of the female protagonist， Rebecca Smyth， or in the pseudo-biography of Colin Braithwaite。 The period did not feel at all accurate （apart from some references to smoking pot） and the characters' mental disturbances were never fully explored/explained/justified。 The justification for "Rebecca" consulting Braithwaite was flimsy and that part of the story that could possibly hold some tension， just fizzled out， with the ending rather I just wasn't invested in this story at all， either on the level of the female protagonist， Rebecca Smyth， or in the pseudo-biography of Colin Braithwaite。 The period did not feel at all accurate （apart from some references to smoking pot） and the characters' mental disturbances were never fully explored/explained/justified。 The justification for "Rebecca" consulting Braithwaite was flimsy and that part of the story that could possibly hold some tension， just fizzled out， with the ending rather predictable。 The biographical bits were so mundane as to be uninteresting。 If this is the structure this author uses in other novels， I'll give him a miss。 。。。more

Simon Garnett ，

Excellent！👍👍

Sharon ，

I was really hooked！ I was never sure about what was real and what was fiction。 I made sure not to Google anything to spoil any surprises。

Gabrielle Geddes ，

I can't say I enjoyed this but I do think it was very interesting。 I much prefered the narrative style parts to the case study parts as I really didn't care about Arthur's character。 I also felt there was a huge disconnect between how he was portrayed through Rebecca's eyes vs how he was "uncovered" by the author。 I understand that this was the point to an extent but it almost felt as if I was reading about two separate characters and it really took me out of the story and made me disinterested I can't say I enjoyed this but I do think it was very interesting。 I much prefered the narrative style parts to the case study parts as I really didn't care about Arthur's character。 I also felt there was a huge disconnect between how he was portrayed through Rebecca's eyes vs how he was "uncovered" by the author。 I understand that this was the point to an extent but it almost felt as if I was reading about two separate characters and it really took me out of the story and made me disinterested in that part of the plot line。 Points for creativity and interest。 。。。more

Michelle ，

After an initial excitement to read this book after only a few pages， I gradually lost enthusiasm for it。 Whilst obviously trying to be different or clever， the author unfortunately failed to bring any real cohesion to the story。 What started out as a good concept ultimately just fell away to the point where I became bored with the characters and the story。

Camila Echeverri ，

3。5