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Title: The Silent Patient
Author: Alex Michaelides
Genre: Thriller, Contemporary Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: E-book
My Synopsis:
Theo is a pyschotherapist who is somewhat obssessed with the story of Alicia Berenson, a successful painter who murdered her husband, a celebrity photographer. After police find her holding the gun over her dead husbandโs body, she doesnโt say a word. She paints one more picture and thatโs that. The courts send her to a psychiatric hospital, where years pass and she largely fades from the publicโs short-lived memory. Theo takes a job at her hospital and hopes to succeed in reaching her though so many have failed.
My Review:
Iโm in the minority here, but I was not impressed. My contrarian streak shows up in all these twisty thrillers about women, which all seem to have the word girl in their title. I gave up on Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train; this one must be better since I actually finished it. Maybe the title wasnโt as derivative so it didnโt bother me as much. Who knows?
I was searching for something like Shutter Island, which is one of the books that really had a twist that blew my mind. Itโs a high standard to meet. I found The Silent Patient high on a list of twisty thrillers and decided to give it a try.
Did it twist? Yes. Did I anticipate the twists? No. But did the twist make sense? Not really, not to me. It was just a shocking revelation for the sake of being shocking. I felt there was absolutely nothing that led to the conclusion. Call me naive, but do real people act this way? I donโt think so.
I initially rated this 3 stars on GoodReads because I thought it was forgettable. Two months have passed since I read it and I pretty actively dislike it now. Iโm knocking it back to two stars.
The Silent Patient has ridiculously high ratings on GoodReads and itโs been optioned for a movie. I am very much in the minority in my dislike of this novel, so give it a try, especially if you liked Gone Girl, etc.
Similar Books:
If you liked The Silent Patient, you might also like my reviews of
- Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
- The Woods by Harlan Coben
- The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
Purchase:
Buy The Silent Patient from Malapropโs Bookstore in Asheville, NC.
I have an affiliate relationship with Malapropโs Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.
5 Comments
Oooh, I loved Shutter Island! Such a great twist, much like The Sixth Sense. I just finished Behind Her Eyes, which was pretty good if you don’t mind suspending disbelief.
Shutter Island was so good! I think I passed that book around to everyone in my family after I read it, even the non-readers. I’ll look for Behind Her Eyes. I read a lot of fantasy so I am okay with suspending disbelief, I just ask that the world I’m reading about be consistent with itself. Thanks for the recommendation!
Nice review, Jen. I too recently finished this book and as is my wont, am scanning blogs for othersโ reaction to the book. I stand with the majority on this one in that I enjoyed it. Youโre right in questioning โif normal people act this wayโ but I think a central theme of the story is psychotherapyโinherently dealing with people whose mental states are outside the norm.
FWIW my own review here:
https://www.starvind.com/bookreviews/the-silent-patient/
I tried to tell myself that the book was centered around people with forms of mental illness but I questioned everyone’s motivations. Not just the ones who are obvious after reading the book but even the other doctors and family members. I’m glad you enjoyed it though!
I appreciate your honest reaction Jen, thanks for sharing.