Review by megan_wy - The Silent Patient

megan_wy 's review for:

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

4.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Such an intense and extremely thought provoking book! I was really wanting to read a good psychological thriller book, and I heard many good things about this one. The chapters are short, so it was perfect for me, as I often struggle with holding my attention for a long time if a chapter is boring. I love the author’s writing style, and I loved getting to see both Theo and Alicia’s perspectives. I knew there was a “twist” in this book, but no matter how many predictions and guesses I had, I would have never thought it was going to go that way! I started becoming suspicious when Theo was following Kathy and watching a house. I was noticing how both Alicia and Theo’s stories were overlapping. However, I didn’t ever think the way he led Alicia to kill Gabriel would be like that. It was just a total mind f*ck moment! I felt for both Alicia and Theo by the end of the book. More so for Alicia though, considering that Theo just got to live his life after and not suffer like Alicia did. My only thoughts left would probably be, did Alicia ever have any mental health issues, or were they all constructed and manipulated by Gabriel and not wanting to get caught in his affair? It was noted that Dr. West treated her in the past for similar issues. I think he was just covering for Gabriel and his affair, sadly. Poor Alicia 💔

Overall, an outstanding book! It’s perfect for readers that love short chapters and also want to get into psychological thriller genre books. I will be thinking about this one for a while…

Content Warnings