A review by skroot
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

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

3.75

In my opinion, a good premise and a good ending are two things that can take a book a very long way, and this one nails both. The ending was something I did not see coming, even though others say they found it to be predictable. I thought it was unexpected and very well done.

My main qualm with this novel is that it kind of became a detective mystery halfway through, which I did not find to be very well done, or particularly engaging. Besides that, there was also a portion of the book focusing on the early part of Theo's relationship that I found to be a slog (it wasn't that long thankfully), and I kind of just wished that we were back with Alicia. Everything that involved her I found to be very interesting, and I couldn't wait to learn more about her.

Also, I have to say that I absolutely loved how the author made it seem like Theo's relationship stuff and his work with Alicia were happening simultaneously, even though they weren't. Absolutely blew my mind.