Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - The Silent Patient

While the rating may not show it, i actually did have a fun time reading this and feeling immersed. the pacing may through some people off, but i don’t mind a slower moving book. and, the plot twist did catch me off guard. but, i do wish the ending was a but more cleaned up. definitely a hit or miss book considering how hyped up it was.

also why was the mc doing literally any and every side quest beside their job💀

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marlee_grace's review

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. Smashed though it. Couldn't put it down. I loved that I found myself jumping to conclusions but I was all wrong. The book wasn't predictable at all!

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dudecahedron's review

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

It was a pretty easy read with very pleasant pacing. The plot isn't entirely linear, there are lots of flashbacks, the chronological order is sometimes scrambled which adds on to the mystery of the slient patient. Following along with the POV chatacter, trying to figure out the mystery and understand the life of the main character, the enigmatic artist constitutes most of the fun. This book really keeps you on the edge of your seat!

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asipofcozy's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The Secret Patient is a book that falls into a genre that I very rarely read. I have heard a lot about it and I wanted a break from reading fantasy. And let's just say I have a lot of thoughts and not many thoughts on this book. I was expecting thriller/mystery and what I got was - some thriller with a lot of bullshit characters and a whiny main character.

Let's start with what I liked about the book. I really loved this premise of this women (Alicia) killing her husband and never speaking another word. I enjoyed some of the plot building up to it and weaving in the story of Theo (the psychotherapist). When we were given the diary of Alicia, I devoured those pages. Towards the end I did start to see the story weave together, and I can see why many people enjoy the suspense of this book. And the ending does leave you with that "oh my god" moment. That is, if you don't read spoiler reviews or watch tik Tok videos on it.

Now let's get to the parts I really just do not like.

None of the characters are lovable/redeemable - especially our main character Theo. A lot of the time I was annoyed with Theo and his internalized monologue. I can't even begin to explain where this dislike comes from. Maybe it was his righteous attitude and how he feels that patient's need to be "saved" and he is the one to do it. Maybe it's because he thinks he is above all and that his feelings are more important than others. Or maybe it's just his smug attitude.

Every therapist in this book is professionally unqualified - I don't think Michaelides knows much about psychology and/or psychotherapy. As someone that went to school for psychology there was a lot of inaccurate statements given whether it was giving "advice" to the medication suggestions. Once again, this is fiction and I understand that, but it irked me in the wrong way. For example, you don't just decide to lower a dosage for a patient without a lot of consultations and tapering - meaning you do it in very small increments over a period of time. Second, these sessions that Theo has and his clear obsession would not be conducted in any manner. In fact if a board of director saw you becoming obsessed with a patient you would normally be taken off said patient. There was also a lot of "off the books" situations which is very unethical. In fact most of the male doctors would have their licenses stripped if they pulled half that shit in any real clinic.

How women are viewed - not saying that Michaelides views women in a bad light, but he definitely paints it that way in The Secret Patient. Every single patient in The Grove (mental hospital) are women. Now, if this is mentioned in the book earlier, I missed it. However, it's how the women are treated. Instead of saying these women have mental health issues that they are battling, the male doctors will say they are "crazy" and or "bitches" or "crazy bitches". Even the main female characters Kathy (Theo's wife) and Alicia will call themselves crazy at times. As if as a woman that's all we can be is crazy or bitches. On top of that it's how the male doctors treat the two female doctors. It seems like there is a female board of director but the manager of the grove will consistently talk over her or is okay with going behind her back. Theo will do the same thing with the other female doctors in the book. The females in this book are not taken seriously nor do they get much of a voice. Women are portrayed in the darkest stereotypical light - we are gossipers, liars, crazy, tiresome, disloyal, delusional, vengeful, insecure, and annoying.

While I did enjoy many parts of this book, there was just too much that I felt like I could skim over and still get an understanding of what was going on. Not only that but there were a lot of pieces that really didn't fit into the story and I wish we had more of the psychology aspect and less of Theo's internal dialogue of being a "savior". I wanted to enjoy this more but there were some things I couldn't look past.

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