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A review by euthalia
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
Okay, so this book was really difficult to put down after reading the first few pages, I completed it in 1 day. It really builds up the mystery all along the plot but I think it fell short on the character development because even towards the end on the book I was like What?, Theo literally made no sense to me, he was badly written and the author could have added more depth to his character, even after knowing the big reveal at the end I found the story lacking key elements like what happened to the relationship between Kathy and Theo? Why did he not just confront her? Why did he tortured Alicia like that when she was also a victim of her husband's infidelity?
Also, the character Alicia is a bit naive and underdeveloped, like throughout the book she is described as charming and attractive, but she had no friends. Why? She plays the role of a tragic beautiful heroine. None of the female characters in the story are represented well. They lack dept and familiarity which makes them unrelatable.
Then one thing that frustrates me is involvement of irrelevant characters and unnecessary subplots which have nothing to do with the main plot. Also all the seemingly suspicious characters have nothing to do with the main story, but they are portrayed as suspects. All in all, anyone who has read many mysteries would not be so astonished by the ending, I saw it coming because Theo was not a reliable narrator .
This book was not too good or not too bad but it definitely could have been better, only if the author focused more on the characters and not rushed the plot towards his big reveal.
Also, the character Alicia is a bit naive and underdeveloped, like throughout the book she is described as charming and attractive, but she had no friends. Why? She plays the role of a tragic beautiful heroine. None of the female characters in the story are represented well. They lack dept and familiarity which makes them unrelatable.
Then one thing that frustrates me is involvement of irrelevant characters and unnecessary subplots which have nothing to do with the main plot. Also all the seemingly suspicious characters have nothing to do with the main story, but they are portrayed as suspects. All in all, anyone who has read many mysteries would not be so astonished by the ending, I saw it coming because Theo was not a reliable narrator .
This book was not too good or not too bad but it definitely could have been better, only if the author focused more on the characters and not rushed the plot towards his big reveal.