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A review by scarlettreadsbooks
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The Silent Patient follows Alicia Berenson. One evening, her husband Gabriel returns home and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk the case into a public mystery and she end's up at The Grove, a secure health unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. We then follow Theo's plans to get her to talk and solve the mystery of why she decided to murder her husband.
I did really enjoy the plot of this book, and it was such a fast paced thriller. I became to find myself engrossed in the storyline and couldn't wait to get myself to the ending to find out her motives. I had a lot of a theories running through my head while reading (some more crazy than others) and I did not expect the twist at the end.
The reason that I deducted some stars from this was because of the author's depiction of women. A lot of women were described just by their looks, be it their 'unflattering' body or plastic surgery. I found some parts to be incredibly uncomfortable to read and took a lot away from the plot. At no point in the book were the male character's described in such detail on their physical appearance.
Even so, I really flew through this book, so I would still recommend it for those who love a good thriller!
I did really enjoy the plot of this book, and it was such a fast paced thriller. I became to find myself engrossed in the storyline and couldn't wait to get myself to the ending to find out her motives. I had a lot of a theories running through my head while reading (some more crazy than others) and I did not expect the twist at the end.
The reason that I deducted some stars from this was because of the author's depiction of women. A lot of women were described just by their looks, be it their 'unflattering' body or plastic surgery. I found some parts to be incredibly uncomfortable to read and took a lot away from the plot. At no point in the book were the male character's described in such detail on their physical appearance.
Even so, I really flew through this book, so I would still recommend it for those who love a good thriller!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Mental illness, Medical content, Gun violence, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, and Death