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lindsayreadingthings 's review for:
The Silent Patient
by Alex Michaelides
I hated this book. The women are all tired, cliched stereotypes that often veer into misogyny. For example, Alicia’s aunt is described the first time you meet her as an ugly, old face pressed to a window, and it only gets worse after that because—of course—she’s fat. Her “grotesque” (a word actually used in the book) appearance is apparently a mirror of her evil personality. How creative! The author takes that approach over and over again: young, naturally beautiful women like Alicia and Theo’s wife are worthy of interest, while the female characters Theo can’t find attractive—because they’re ugly, old, large, fat, fake, stupid—are only worth his disdain.
Beyond that, the prose was tough to get through. And don’t even get me started on the diary sections, which portray Alicia as a woman who either sits in a coffee shop for hours on end, has sex with her husband, or paints him as Jesus (no, I’m not kidding). The chapters where she couldn’t speak were almost a relief.
Overall, the author just seemed more invested in getting to the the clever twist ending than in writing a full-bodied story with women who seem like, you know, actual people.
Which is a pity, because that clever twist ending had potential.
Beyond that, the prose was tough to get through. And don’t even get me started on the diary sections, which portray Alicia as a woman who either sits in a coffee shop for hours on end, has sex with her husband, or paints him as Jesus (no, I’m not kidding). The chapters where she couldn’t speak were almost a relief.
Overall, the author just seemed more invested in getting to the the clever twist ending than in writing a full-bodied story with women who seem like, you know, actual people.
Which is a pity, because that clever twist ending had potential.