I was pleasantly surprised by just how good this book was!

I actually found the characters were the best part even with the kick ass plot!

It was decently paced, well written and I loved the full cast narration.

Highly recommend this one!

If you like thrillers that blur your perspection of reality and delulu land, this is a must!! I loved the cult aspect of the book and I will definitely be grabbing a hardcover for my shelves!

4.5 stars

Rating: 4.5/5 – A brutal masterpiece with a side of gothic chills and no damn hand-holding.

Welcome to Psychosis Diagnosis—where trauma has trauma, and love is the softest thing wrapped in barbed wire.

Nikki Minty doesn’t write a story so much as hurl you headfirst into the shattered glass of Monroe’s life. Poverty? Check. Addiction? Check. A mother hunting for drugs in the carpet like she’s in a coke-fueled Easter egg hunt? You bet. The setting is bleak, the prose is raw, and the pain is so visceral you might need a breather (or five). And yet—it’s addictive.

Monroe isn’t your classic broken boy with a savior complex. He’s a mess. A loveable, angry, self-sabotaging mess, and thank God for it. His connection with Indi—our bruised, cult-survivor heroine with ice-blue eyes and spiritual PTSD—is tender in the most unflinching way. Their bond is less about healing and more about surviving long enough to maybe dream about healing someday.

And just when you think you’ve got your emotional baggage packed and sorted—bam!—enter Enzo. A 1920s New Orleans subplot that slaps you with dark magic, guilt, and the slow corruption of innocence. The dual timelines are like a literary seesaw: Monroe breaks your heart; Enzo haunts your soul. Together? They gut you clean.

This isn’t a feel-good book. It’s a feel-everything book. It’s grief and grime and the kind of hope that limps more than it soars—but it is hope, and that’s what makes it stick.

Trigger Warnings: Drug abuse, domestic violence, cult trauma, self-harm, gore, sexual violence (off-page), psychological trauma, and all-around soul-punching darkness.

Final Verdict:
If The Outsiders had a baby with Sharp Objects and raised it on a steady diet of angst, horror, and emotional warfare, Psychosis Diagnosis would be the result. Come for the devastation, stay for the strangely beautiful ruin.

In the present Monroe is raised by his drug addict mother and a rotation of her abusive boyfriends. He is set to leave to stay with his sister as soon as he turns 18 until he meets Indi, a strange girl next door who comes to hide in his bedroom when her father (who insists she isn't real) has been drinking. He is determined to find the answers. In the past Jeremiah and Enzo run a cult to help with their dark magic rituals. Eventually the two stories collide.

I'm struggling to rate this one. The reading experience was mostly engaging, but I have my issues. I wish we had learned more about how magic works, for example, and I feel like the ways characters reacted were sometimes driven a bit too much by plot needs. I had some initial theories that ended up being wrong, although I did figure some out before they were officially revealed - this book definitely had an interesting plot with lots of twists. I enjoyed the way I found myself questioning which of Monroe's experiences were real and how much he imagined. I definitely can't blame any of the people who though he is just crazy. I do wish that the ending had been a bit longer though. And I would have loved to have learned more about some of the characters.

I listened to the audiobook version and I appreciated the cast of narrators. Having different voices for different characters added to the experience in a positive way. I think it helped the story flow and made it easier to keep track of who was who. It definitely made me processing samples (a rather mindless process) far more entertaining than it would otherwise have been.

Psychosis Diagnosis is a psychological thriller that blurs thes line between reality and delusion. The story follows 17-year-old Monroe Morgan, who, after a traumatic encounter involving a cult and a mysterious girl named Indi, finds himself institutionalised and accused of imagining the event, including Indi herself, who's existence no one is able to verify. A year later, Monroe returns to uncover the truth, diving into a web of secrets and cult manipulation.
The audiobook was very successful and the full cast performance helped to follow a complex narrative well and enhanced character development. The writer explores some interesting themes around institutional power and manipulative tactics of cults. There are also undertones of identity and belonging.

“Welcome to The Church of Salvation, where your soul checks in but never checks out.” - Nikki Minty, Psychosis Diagnosis

Many thanks to the publisher for granting my request for an ARC of Psychosis Diagnosis via NetGalley.

I was super intrigued by Psychosis Diagnosis by Nikki Minty when I read the description on NetGalley. I was looking forward to a full cast audiobook that explored mental health and featured supernatural elements. Did Psychosis Diagnosis live up to my expectations? Let’s explore.

Summary
Set (mostly) in Australia, Psychosis Diagnosis follows Monroe. Monroe was raised in poverty by his mother who struggles with substance abuse and her revolving door of boyfriends.

Unsurpriisngly, Monroe is eager to escape his household when he turns 18. Monroe’s older sister invites him to move in with her and her husband, and Monroe accepts.

Shortly before his 18th birthday, he’s approached by his neighbor, Indi. According to Indi, her parents are part of a religious cult and she’s being forced to marry its leader.

Monroe is eager to help Indi and decides to take her with him when he leaves. However, before they can leave, there’s a violent encounter between Monroe and Indi’s father. Indi’s father denies Indi’s existence, the police see Monroe as the aggressor and Monroe is arrested.

So Monroe spends time in a psychiatric facility. After his release, he returns to his hometown determined to prove Indi’s existence.

What Monroe uncovers is a web of dark secrets and a decades old conspiracy involving a religious cult.

Psychosis Diagnosis by Nikki Minty is a thriller that includes elements of horror and the supernatural.

Thoughts

The first thing I thought when I finished Psychosis Diagnosis was “I’m not sure what I think of this.” Obviously, I requested Minty’s novel on NetGalley because I expected to like it, but I found myself being unsure upon completion. I had to enlist someone from one of the Discord communities I’m part of to read Minty’s novel in order to get another opinion.

Positives

My favorite thing about Psychosis Diagnosis were the audiobook narrators. As I mentioned, the audiobook features a full cast of narrators, and all did a wonderful job. There were times when they needed to sound sinister or menacing; when circumstances called for that, I thought they did well. If you want to experience Psychosis Diagnosis, I would highly recommend the audiobook version.

Negatives

Unfortunately, there were a number of ways in which Psychosis Diagnosis fell flat for me.

As I mentioned, I was hoping for an exploration into mental health related issues. And sadly, Minty’s exploration into mental health and substance use was surface level at best. I don’t think how these topics were handled where necessarily the most offensive approach ever, but I don’t think it took a nuanced approach either.

While he was in the treatment facility, Monroe befriended a Latina woman, who was also a patient. I felt like Minty relied a lot on the “Spicy Latina” stereotype when describing this particular character. And this bugged me.

Those things said, I think the biggest issue I had with Psychosis Diagnosis was world building. I didn’t feel like the magic system really made a lot of sense. While I don’t think Minty needed to explicitly spell out every detail about how the magic system works, if the reader is left wondering things like why only three characters seem to know magic exists, I think that’s a problem. I found myself wondering things like “if x is possible in this world, why aren’t the characters doing y?”

In Conclusion
While I really liked the audiobook narrators of Psychosis Diagnosis, I was otherwise pretty disappointed by Minty’s novel.

Rating 3⭐

ALC REVIEW

Wow this book was truly a cluster f*ck. I was hoping the story would be more creepy, spooky vibes, but I didn't get that at all.

I didn't know where the story was trying to go, so it was definitely more character driven. Especially around the lives of Lorenzo and Jeremiah....which I will get into shortly.

I liked the overall plot of the book; the mystery and thriller, solving a cold case, but the process to get there was pretty compliated. Not to mention the sure damn audacity of certain side characters.

(view spoiler)

I'm calm, I'm calm. I'm soooo calm.

The narrators did an amazing job. So that was a huge plus.

I received an ALC through Netgallery. All opinions and thoughts are all of my own.

🎧AUDIOBOOK REVIEW🎧
Wow!

I'm usually a romance reading girlie, but I also really enjoy scary movies and true crime. When I saw this book for review, the cover caught my attention right away. Reading the description, I was intrigued.

Let me tell you, I was in for a whirlwind.

There were some twists and turns I was not expecting. At one point, I thought I had it figured out, and bam! a new twist out of left field.

I couldn't stop listening to this story. I finished it in just a few days (darn real life that made me pause!)

The full cast of narrators really brought this to life. I enjoyed how each character's POV had their own distinct tone, accent, etc. And speaking of POVs, I don't usually like so many in one book, but I actually really enjoyed it in this story. It really added depth and helped understand each person's thoughts and why they did the things they did.

Overall, an amazing read/listen, and I highly recommend it!

I think this wonderful book was just not for me. The narration was good. But as someone with a brother who has a psychosis diagnosis I just kept overthinking. I bet other people will love this!

I loved this book by Nikki Minty. It mixes witchcraft, occultism, violence and even a bit of romance. It takes place in Louisiana and Australia, but mostly in the latter. Which is a plus for me because I tend to be drawn toward Australian fiction. It's the story of Monroe Morgan which one might argue that he was the perfect example of being born "bad".

Quite unknowingly he is drawn into a ghost story and the people involved with a local satanic cult. He find help from a pretty, single mother and together they begin to sort out the mess he's mixed up in.

I would highly recommend this book to teens (Parents -no sex but lot's of swearing) and older readers that like just a touch of spookiness in their reading. A++ Nikki !

An interesting story that veered away from what I thought it was going to be.
The dual pov worked really well and helped a lot with understanding the story through different timelines.
Slightly underwhelming towards the end but overall a good book that kept me interested the whole way through.

This was so fun! A well rounded and well thought out thriller story with some aspects of horror, all mixed in with the story of a cult and how it travelled over time.

This was a crazy ride from start to finish with twist after twist, they just kept on coming! There wasn’t a second during this book that I lost interest, I was hooked from start to finish.

The full cast narration made for an absolutely incredible reading experience, the narrators have done an amazing job on this one.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to listen to an audio-arc of this amazing book!

This is the kind of book you dive into with little information. The timeline unfolds effectively, and the pacing is fast. The characters are intriguing, leaving you unsure about whom to trust. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, you’re thrown off again. I can’t say much more without giving anything away, but I highly recommend it.

This was a book that had me hooked from the very start! It's horror theme was prominent throughout but also included a thriller, mystery, psychological element that kept me even more on edge and guessing. Reading this in the early stages I wasn't sure what to expect, who to trust and what was real and as the story unfolded more and more I grew to become more on edge and intrigued. This was a case of me judging a book by its cover. The horror feeling from this cover grabbed my attention straight away and it lived up to the expectations.

We see early on that our male main character is living in an abusive home, feeling isolated, vulnerable and alone and when he meets his neighbour, a young girl who he is drawn too he is hell bent on trying to save and help her but in a twist of events he ends up in hospital in a psych ward after being told that the girl he has been trying to help is not actually real and things get dark pretty quickly.

Now, despite the horror feel I did feel as thought this leaned towards a more YA feel to it but that did not change my overall feeling of this book. It was exciting and thrilling and kept me guessing and I particularly really enjoyed the flashback scenes.

The audio narration added to the enjoyment of this book. The varying accents brought this characters to life and made it easy to keep up with who was talking and the story overall. This was a descriptive book with characters that stood out and felt so painfully real that you were left feeling as though you knew them to be real.

I would highly recommend this to fans of a thriller book with a hint of horror.

This book was really good. I enjoyed it from the moment I started it. The characters were all fun to follow even if they were unliked. This book plays with your head until the very end. It makes you think that you are hallucinating along with the characters which really helps with the story. I would have to say that my favorite character was definitely Monroe. Even though he is written to have mixed feelings about him by the end he just becomes your favorite because you feel for him with all the things that he goes through. I loved the magic elements that came with this even though some of it was bad magic it really pulled the story together. It was a solid read and I would definitely add a physical copy of this for my shelves. I will be looking in to this author more.

This book had me on edge! This is my second time reading from Nikki Minty, and I am sitting yet again with my mouth hanging open. The way Nikki handles the world and character building in her books is like listening to an outstanding jazz artist. The way that stage is set and the emotion floods the space with color is magic!

Found family, cult following, rootworking, soft love triangle, strangers to lovers, stolen love, ghosts, body snatching, this book had it all! It was one held breath after another. I just grabbed my inhaler, a warm drink, my emotional support pup, a blanket, and tissues, and held on until the end. AND WHAT AN ENDING! Action until the end. Jodie Harris, Karen Chilton, James Fouhey, Ari Maza Long, and Tamblyn Lord did an outstanding job of bringing this story to life; this was the perfect cast to execute this story properly!

I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion of this fantastic book.

Thank you to Netgalley, BooksGoSocial Audio, and Nikki Minty for the ARC of this chilling audiobook

This audiobook was amazing! Twists and turns and a variety of characters made this story top notch. I love Nikki Minty's writing and will definitely read more by her.

Great audiobook and even better story! Psychosis Diagnosis written by Nikki Minty and Narrated by Jodie Harris, Karen Chilton, James Fouhey, Ari Maza Long and Tamblyn Lord was truly unique and entertaining. After waking up in a psych ward - diagnosed with drug induced psychosis, the MMC is trying to figure out how he can get home to the one that he cares for. He was able to protect her from abuse one night, but what would happen to Indie if he couldn't get back to save her for good? As Monroe struggles to adjust ot his new life, confusion sets in when he realizes Indie is not the only one who needs protecting. This story captivated me from the beginning with the puzzle pieces slowly connecting as the chapters flew by. Great flow and pacing. Highly recommend!

Dark magic, human sacrifice (off page), cults, horror/thriller genre blend

Thank you Netgalley, Nikki Minty and BooksGoSocial for the audio Arc of Psychosis Diagnosis.
Narrated by Ari Maza Long, Jodie Harris, James Fouhey, Tamblyn Lord, Karen Chilton

The premise of this book really fascinated me and I was pleasantly surprised with this book! Psychosis Diagnosis is a well written mystery with some horror elements which I felt were well balanced. Told from a multi POVs and well marked timeline. We get to piece together what happed to Monroe who is trying to turn his life around. after being raised by a drug dependant Mother, And who, after trying to protect his next door neighbour Indi against her father, Gets told that Indi doesn't exist and spends time in Rozelle Hospital for drug-induced psychosis. As the story unfolds, we get. to see that all is not what it seems.

This narrative tackles some heavy subjects like mental health in a tactful way and mixed in with the horrors of a cult, conspiracies, trauma, drugs and addiction. Which made for a very immersive read, especially with the multi narration, who did an excellent job. Looking forward to reading more of Nikki Minty's books

4.25 for story graph. 4 stars for other review sites

I really wanted to like this, but the story just wasn't for me. The audiobook was enjoyable to listen to, but in the end just not for me.

This book has everything. Like actually ALL OF THE THINGS.

Full Cast Narration
Multiple POVs
Multiple Timelines
Unreliable Narrators
Mystery/Thriller
Mental Health Diagnosis
Magic
Ghosts
Possession

I thought this was really fun. I think this book kept me guessing more than any of the more traditional thrillers that I've read recently. I audibly said WHAT multiple times. I would avoid this if you like more traditional aspects and don't like magical elements thrown in, but I had a really good time listening to this. It took me a little bit to get used to the narration style, but I think the whole cast was brilliant. Don't go into this expecting anything normal.