Book review: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Well hello to you my reader chums! Books bring me so much joy and as much as I love pretty much most books I read, there are only a few that I'm like wow, that was sheer brilliance. And, that was The Silent Patient. It gripped me on every page and there were a few jaw-dropping plot twists that I couldn't put down. 

This post contains affiliate links.

Here is my review of The Silent Patient:

Book review: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Plotline

The book is about Alicia Berenson who lived a normal life until she shot her husband in the head five times one day, six years ago. Since the incident, she hasn't spoken a single word and now it's time to find out exactly why that is. The storyline is written from the perspective of the psychotherapist and also includes snippets from Alicia's diary, and the structure goes hand in hand- and thickens the plot as the pages go on.

Characters and relationships

The characters in this book are incredibly interesting as my perspective of them changed as I read through the book.  Alicia is the sole focus of the novel and you learn more about her and her life as the pages go, and she is the most complex character. Her relationship with Gabriel, her late husband is described so poetically at the beginning of the novel but as things unravel, the description changes. The narrator, Theo comes across as a troubled and nice guy from the off and he is a likable character, however, as events unfold, another side of him comes out which really intrigued me.

Other characters included Theo's wife Kathy, Alicia's cousin and aunt, Paul and Lydia, the care workers at the psychiatric ward, and Gabriel's brother Max. Each of these characters intertwines into the story and has their impact on the overall plotline and turn of events.

The best relationship in the novel is Alicia and Theo's as this changes the most throughout when the novel goes on as he becomes her psychotherapist in the psychiatric ward. Their bond is strange and at the start, you sympathise with them both and really wonder where this is going. I'm not going to give anything away, but things change slightly as the plot goes on and their bond is interesting to note.

Overall thoughts on the book

Overall, I cannot recommend this book more! It's one of those thrillers where I was hooked from page one and literally couldn't put the book down. The plotline is written in such a clever way with added layers as you go through, complex situations and plot twists that it's such an intriguing read. I don't even know how to put into words how phenomenal it was. It's certainly an unforgettable read and the pace of how the story pans out is written in a steady way that entices you to read more so you can find out what's going to happen. If thrillers, murder mysteries, and physiological thrillers are your types of things, this book needs to be top of your to-buy-list!

The ending

Like every book review, I won't give the ending away. However, what I will say was how incredible the last few chapters were and how the ending of the novel panned out. There was a moment in the last few chapters that my mouth actually dropped in shock, the plot twist was that good. 

I hope you enjoyed this review. Which thrillers would you recommend?

Thank you for reading <3

No comments

Thank you for reading my blog! I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful in anyway. I'd love to hear any feedback you may have.