Book Review: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Want to know whether The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is worth the hype? Here’s my full review to help you decide.

The Silent Patient Review

The plot of the Silent Patient is very simplistic as it mainly touches on the human aspect and the emotional burdens from it but what hooked me in was the writing.

The writing reeled me deeper and deeper into the story with one question in mind… Why did Alicia Berenson kill her husband? What happened between them?

The pacing of the Silent Patient was quite slow at first as it builds up the characters and the foundation of the story but then the pacing started to gain CONSISTENT momentum.

It was the consistent momentum that ramps up the anxiety I felt when reading as I kept thinking any moment now, something bad will happen, and the pressure continues to build and build just waiting to explode.

And when it did it was magnificent.

I loved the complexities of the characters and how people are not what they seem to be yet at the same time how could they not be when it is so plainly obvious once you get all the context.

This theme is persistent in the book and it really does make you wonder if you really know your partner as much as you claim or are you just believing the façade that they are showing.

Aside from that, I absolutely loved the writing of this book. How psychotherapy was written in and how it brings up the question of are you truly you or are you governed by experiences done unto you by your parents and can you be free of these mental shackles?

The author really shows through his writing that it is hard sometimes to separate between what the heart wants as opposed to what the mind says is the logical thing to do.

And the mirroring and intertwining story between Alcestis and Alicia is a marvel to read in The Silent Patient because once all the context is given you can fully understand why they refused to speak ever again.

I highly recommend this book and there are so many things that can be discussed about this book; all the nuances and complexities of the human mind and emotion as well as how the author weaves in the Greek tragedy aspect of the story and modernizes it to suit the modern audience.

The Silent Patient is so hypnotic and immersive and it’s such a fascinating read especially if you are interested in the psychology aspect of the human mind.

The plot twist at the end is incredible not because it’s bombastic but at how simplistic it is once you break it down and see the full picture. Again, I reiterate that the human aspect was what made me love reading The Silent Patient as well as having a mystery that I could not solve nor foresee till the bitter end.
The Silent Patient is definitely worth the hype and share with me your thoughts on the book if you have read it.

The Silent Patient Synopsis

Title: The Silent Patient

Author: Alex Michaelides

Published: February 5th 2019

Publisher: Celadon Books

Rating: 5/5

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him….

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