A review by whatsmomreading
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

🚨SPOILERS AHEAD!🚨

The Silent Patient is the story of criminal psychotherapist Theo Faber as he begins his work with infamous artist Alicia Berenson. Berenson had shot her husband 5 times and remained silent there afterwards, only creating one painting that offered any form of communication. No one had been able to breakthrough to her in 6 years.

I am SO late to this book and honestly avoided it for fear it was overhyped. I enjoyed Michaelides writing for the most part, it was engaging and the short chapters were perfect for my short attention span at the moment. 😂 I think Alicia’s story and character were really wonderful and I wish there had been more from her perspective! I think if you’re looking for a fast paced thriller that keeps you on your toes a bit then this would be a good read.

🚨🚨Now spoiler time! 🚨🚨

I was able to guess the twist BUT I think that’s because of two different reasons, one being I went into the book knowing there would be a ‘big twist’ so I was trying to figure it out most of the read. 🙃 The other reason was, as I mentioned in my stories, that the narrator of the audiobook was giving me the creeps! So I was starting to think ‘this guy has something to do with it’ but I wasn’t entirely sure how. As the book progressed I started to change up my ‘theories’ but it was really satisfying to have guessed it during the big reveal and the way it was presented was interesting!