A review by emmita
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

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

4.5

I went into The Silent Patient knowing there was a significant amount of hype around this book, and luckily I was able to avoid spoilers (which I HIGHLY recommend you try to do as well if you want to read the silent patient). That said, I do think it lives up to the hype, if you like a good psychological mystery this will definitely be your cup of tea. Also, special shout out to the audiobook narrators, they do an INCREDIBLE job at bringing the story to life. If you pick up the novel and struggle, I definitely recommend giving the audiobook a try before you DNF. Hearts and kisses and all the love to Louise Brealey and Jack Hawkins (the voices of Alicia and Theo)!

Things I loved: the references to greek mythology (especially a myth that doesn't get a lot of mainstream attention), the dual POV between Theo and Alicia, the Red Herrings (I love when you get to a point where everyone looks suspicious), the big reveal (it is guessable but still leaves you with more questions),
Theo is objectively bad, I understand, but I love that he's also complicated enough that you're kind of in his corner for most of the book


Things I didn't love:
as a law student, the fact that Alicia's lawyer was the brother of the man she was being charged with murdering was insane, idk about the UK but most legal ethics codes would never let that conflict of interest slide


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