I would enthusiastically recommend it to people who have little or no knowledge of mental health issues. The author does a great job of debunking the Hollywood perception of sociopaths, and providing some insight into what sociopath really looks like. That said, as someone who has worked in mental health, some of the author's descriptions didn't quite ring true. I don't mean that she was disingenuous, but much of how she described herself came off as more narcissistic that sociopathic. Still, it was an interesting read.

I found "Sociopath" to be a one of a kind memoir. Patric does an excellent job of explaining the term, or lack there of since it really is no longer found in any sort of psychological research.

She really opens your eyes on what it is like to live with and the daily struggle of what its like to be sociopathic. I found it extremely interesting that all the way from her young childhood, she knew that something about her was "off" and even then, she was wise enough to try and control it to the best of her ability. Then to use that as her drive to find the root of what was causing her mental anguish and urges was extremely inspiring.

I cannot fathom the feelings of confusion, isolation, abandonment, and frustration that Patric felt before having anyone understand her or her diagnosis. I give her the utmost credit for writing this book and her passion to help others who are going through similar feelings (or lack of). Although her attempts at self "therapy" and "treatment" were often tines illegal, I believe it was necessary in helping guide her to where she is today and in finally understanding her condition, especially when there is not a whole lot of support.

I do feel like the people she did have in the book endure a lot in trying to navigate life with a sociopathic daughter, partner, friend, coworker, etc. Her relationships and ways of coping and trying to control and understand her condition are what make the interesting parts. After reading several other reviews, I did learn that her "degree" may nit have come from an accredited school, and people wuesrion the legitimacy of her condition and studies, but regardless I believe she is true to herself and did what she could with the resources she had to educate people on mental health, which in these days is much needed!

Whoa. This book is a journey! The author is, as you can probably guess from the title and "a memoir," a diagnosed sociopath. The memoir is focused around Gagné's journey to understand himself within the context of his diagnosis. From an early age, he recognizes that he doesn’t feel the same emotional connections as others do, and this lack of empathy shapes much of his life. We all love to throw around the word "sociopath" to talk about people we don't truly know, and it's fascinating to read someone's thoughts as they work through what that means for their own life. The book is incredibly candid, and that authenticity gives the book an undeniable emotional weight. We get into nature v. nurture as well, and the author's straightforward writing style serves the subject matter well. I'll be buying this for a few people to discuss!

This compelling and enlightening memoir offers a rare glimpse into the reality of sociopathy—a condition often misunderstood and frequently confused with psychopathy. Patric Gagne's intimate narrative masterfully weaves personal experience with scientific and psychological insights, challenging readers to reconsider their preconceptions about sociopaths.

I really wanted to like this, but I just found the author to be insufferable and couldn't wait to be finished with this.

Sociopath by Patric Gagne is a brilliant, unrelenting masterpiece that grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go. Gagne’s writing is razor-sharp, perfectly capturing the chilling and complex psychology of his characters, while crafting a narrative that is as suspenseful as it is thought-provoking. The tension is palpable throughout, building to a crescendo that is both thrilling and deeply disturbing. With its dark, intricate plot and relentless pace, Sociopath is a tour de force in psychological horror, offering a haunting, unforgettable reading experience. It’s a must-read for fans of twisted, deeply engaging thrillers.

Holy smokes this memoir was awesome! I knew literally nothing about sociopaths (hence why the author wrote this book as most people probably do not) and yes, I did think negatively about them. I didn’t think they could be capable of living a normal life. I didn’t know there was a spectrum of sociopathy.

I really respect this author as a person and a clinician. Using their own life to help progressively understand this disease. I guess it’s good to be apathetic because I’m sure a lot of people had some opinions!

This book has also allowed me to see people in my life differently. Like maybe someone close to me is on the sociopathy spectrum and that’s why I didn’t like their reaction to XYZ…. So, overall I felt like this book had been super impactful in my life.

I even recommended it to my therapist!

An excellent example of memoir, but also an informative look into the life of a sociopath. Few books describe how it actually feels to live with it, instead providing pure clinical descriptions. Gagne humanizes the condition through her own lived experiences.

I started out loving this but my interest waned and by about two-thirds of the way through, I put it down and just never picked it up again. The first part of the book is a compelling tale of growing up (extremely) different from everyone around you, and trying to make sense of what that means for your place in the world. Once she reached adulthood, however, the story becomes a bit boring. It felt like way too much time was spent on the author’s time in Hollywood and the music industry. Also, I thought the book would start to incorporate more of the author’s research on sociopathy (she must’ve done some to earn that PhD, right?), but frankly it does not seem that she did not carry out the kind of rigorous academic work I would’ve expected. I finally did some googling (I was suspicious after the graduate school was specifically not named) and it seems that the institution she got her degree from is a bit of a degree mill, a rather disappointing discovery. All in all, this really did not live up to my high hopes.

Finished Reading

Pre-Read notes:

I'm really interested to read this book. Like Bipolar Disorder, Sociopathy is popularly and widely stigmatized by people who don't know better. Since I know this experience from one of those angles, I thought I would learn a lot from the other.

This is another arc that got away, ironically because NetGalley doesn't always provide accessible copies.

Final Review

Most kids seemed to inherently get the idea of limits. They understood when to stop and when to go. They had an emotional connection to right vs. wrong. But that was never the case with me, particularly when it came to rules that I felt were open to interpretation. (1:47:09)

Final Review and recommendations:

This was a riveting read for me, a book I related to in a dozen unexpected ways. It was actually therapeutic for me to read about the childhood experiences of someone else whose had mental illness since early childhood. Like my diagnosis, sociopathy is widely stigmatized. In fact the top two reviews for this book suggest Gagne is actually wrong about her diagnosis, but let me make something very f-cking clear about those reviews: they are ableist as f-ck. No one can determine a diagnosis for someone just by reading a book. And as far as the author's credentials being circumspect, it's just ridiculous to assume the author *must* have papers published. But even if she did lie, what do you expect? Sociopathy is *marked* by the patients' inability to tell the truth. But the bottom line is, it is radically unprofessional and damaging to psychiatric patients to engage in armchair psychology because it stigmatizes everything it touches. So go ahead and be a soulless windbag if you must, but I'm going to call ot as it is. Ableism.

I recommend this book for fans of psychological or medical memoir, and seekers of realistic mental health rep. I abjectly refuse to recommend this book to anyone who has ever said something like, "that guy's just a psycho" or "you're crazy" or especially "You are definitely neurospicy, did you know that?"

I'd gotten my wish. I was invisible. At least as far as my diagnosis was concerned. (3:47:13)

Reading Notes:

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. Like my limited grasp of emotion, the concept of boundaries was muddled for me. What’s more, it solidified my understanding that I was very different from other people. (1:47:00) I remember the feeling of being different when I was a kid. It's uncanny to read an account that is so different from my own experience, and to see the overlap in how we each lived mental illness in childhood.

2. “You introduce pressure so they learn to release their will," he demonstrated. “And most importantly,” Granddaddy reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of sugar cubes, “you reward their progress to encourage obedience.”The horse munched eagerly on his treat, and I giggled. “And that,”he said, winking, “is how you break a horse.” (00:00:00) Life unexpectedly and inevitably finds a way To teach those of us with mental illness.

3. I can really feel Gagne's pain, especially when she was a teenager and young woman. Such a confusing time, with difficult hormones coming home to roost. She wanted so badly to fit in and connect to our society, like we all do, but her makeup caused her to make unusual, sometimes violent, decisions in that pursuit.

4. "People are f-cking amazing, you know?" (08:03:55) I happen to agree with her about this. We are resilient little guys.

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. TW animal cruelty. She couldn't really leave out the cat story altogether because, at least diagnostically speaking, it's pretty relevant. But maybe, less details?

Rating: 👤👤👤👤👤 /5 diagnoses from the masses
Recommend? Yes. Please read this book and learn to empathize with mentally ill people, even though they're different from you.
Finished: Jan 6 '25
Format: digital arc, NetGalley; audiobook, Libby
Read this book if you like:
🗣 memoir
👤 mental health rep
🤥 unreliable narrator
🏥 medical memoir

Thank you to the author Patric Gagne, publishers Simon and Schuster, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of SOCIOPATH. I found an accessible (audiobook) copy on Libby. Read by the author. All views are mine.
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I am so grateful for this book but it was unfortunately not for me. I appreciate it and see it’s allure to others.

I honestly found this hard to get into, maybe because it read with the flat affect that a sociopath might exhibit. The descriptions of her childhood tendency towards violence felt very clinical and detached. I think it's an important read to understand that sociopathy is a condition that can be managed but in terms of enjoying the read I did not.

This book kept people talking and for good reason. Sociopath by Patric Gagne is a thought-provoking memoir that made me reexamine some of my biases. It's one I frequently recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

Patric knew she was different from a young age. She didn't feel remorse or experience emotions as her peers did. Her mother calmed her and helped her cope until her parents' marriage fell apart. She entered young adulthood lacking boundaries and self-control and then discovered psychology. Finally, she had a word for who she was, but it was charged with negative stereotypes and psychology lacked a methodology for coping with her neurodivergent condition. Patric's fearlessness and desire to understand how quiet her restless mind in a less destructive way led her to study psychology and pioneer treatment for and create a better understanding of sociopathy.

This memoir reads much like a novel while fostering awareness of a misunderstood mental health condition. Patric's journey to help herself and others like her is inspiring as she works through her frustration to change the perception and treatment of sociopathy.

Patric shares her struggles to understand herself and find a way to live her life and have relationships without negative impacts from her sociopathy. It's easy to read and kept my attention.

This is the review I posted on Goodreads.

I gave up on this one. I read other reviews that debated whether Ms. Gagne was indeed a sociopath but ultimately, I just didn't care. I was tired of her uncaring ways and how she continued to do things that could and did hurt others. She sought out help, but then, didn't take the advice of those who cared about her or the therapist she hired. I just didn't want to spend any more time feeling uncomfortable reading it.

This book was interesting but covered a lot of already well-trod ground for my taste. I happen to read a lot of memoir and especially a lot of mental health memoir that ties in histories of disorders. So! With that in mind, I was drawn in to this book but felt some sense of "why was this written?" by the time I got halfway through. I would recommend it to someone who hasn't read a bunch of mental "illness" memoirs already. The writing is decent enough but the author doesn't have anything particularly interesting to say if you're familiar with sociopathy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for providing me this Digital Advanced Readers Copy of the book!

This is a tough book to rate/review. I'll start by saying I thought the writing was engaging and easy to follow. Patric is certainly not a conventionally likable narrator, which is sort of the point. I found the aspects of her memoir that dealt with ...more

[4.5 stars]

There’ve been many nonfiction books about sociopaths, BUT I don’t think I’ve ever seen a nonfiction book written about sociopaths BY a diagnosed sociopath…and Gagne also has her PHD in Clinical Psychology. The Prologue is jarring and SUPER compelling. The entire book is deeply uncomfortable and I could not look away. Gagne helps readers understand what it's like to actually BE a sociopath and she enabled me to have some empathy for these types of people. They are aware that they don’t feel and they WANT to feel, but they just can’t. She also talks about the lack of research into and treatments for sociopathy and she say that she hopes this book will help sociopaths feel less alone. Raw, uncomfortable, and honest!