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A review by rosesofthespring
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
The main plot takes some interesting turns, but I didn't find the writing very engaging, especially in the chapters about Theo's home life. I actually started skipping them to get back to the Alicia sections faster. I know that decision dampened the conclusion, but the secondary plotline was so boring compared to the main mystery that I didn't want to slog through it. Part of this is definitely personal, I don't find cheating/infidelity plots specifically very engaging.
About halfway through the book, they started coming up with treatment ideas that should have been obvious from the beginning. For a small example: this guy was obsessed with a painting named after a Greek tragedy for several years, but it takes a tertiary character's suggestion for him to actually read the play.
The biggest issue I have is with Alicia's diary.How did she still have it? I know a few things about psych wards, and there's NO WAY she could have kept that thing hidden. She went through an entire high-profile murder case and managed to take a key piece of evidence with her into lockup? How? There's no privacy in a ward. I was expecting the journal to be hidden in the Alcestis somehow, because if it was in her studio it would have been found. I never expected it to be in the ward with her. Utterly ridiculous.
Lastly, this book throws in omniscient teasers like "I shouldn't get ahead of myself" and "I would soon find out that I was wrong" and "I had no way of knowing what was coming" all the time. It's way too often. You can get away with that once or twice, but when it's every other chapter, I start expecting the cover to say "Reader Beware!" You don't have to hook me into the premise anymore. I'm already reading the book.
Overall, this book has a solid grasp of mystery, but I was otherwise disappointed.
About halfway through the book, they started coming up with treatment ideas that should have been obvious from the beginning. For a small example: this guy was obsessed with a painting named after a Greek tragedy for several years, but it takes a tertiary character's suggestion for him to actually read the play.
The biggest issue I have is with Alicia's diary.
Lastly, this book throws in omniscient teasers like "I shouldn't get ahead of myself" and "I would soon find out that I was wrong" and "I had no way of knowing what was coming" all the time. It's way too often. You can get away with that once or twice, but when it's every other chapter, I start expecting the cover to say "Reader Beware!" You don't have to hook me into the premise anymore. I'm already reading the book.
Overall, this book has a solid grasp of mystery, but I was otherwise disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Ableism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content
Other potential triggers: Stalking, victim blaming, gaslighting.