The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is one of those books I went into with low expectations and came out of slightly stunned—and honestly, impressed. It’s a psychological thriller that’s made the rounds enough to earn the “hype train” label, which usually means I end up feeling underwhelmed. And for the first few chapters, I kind of was. The writing felt just fine, the setup was intriguing but not mind-blowing, and I kept waiting for something to really grab me.

And then it did.

A Promised Land covers everything — with some potential excess information sometimes.

We see Barack before being President was even a blip on his mind. We see the struggle he had with his family coming to terms with his decision. Every detail is covered all the way until the conclusion of the upcoming re-election in 2012.

Obama took us into his daily life and peppered us with the details of it.