When I first heard of The Silent Patient, I had finished The Secret History by Donna Tartt about a month prior. I was worried that The Silent Patient would be something horror related and not up my alley but I was very wrong. I’m so glad that I picked up The Silent Patient because it is now one
Book: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: February 5, 2019
Tags: Adult, thriller, psychological thriller
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Thrift Books
Read: June 10, 2021 to June 20, 2021
Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.
Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.
Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him….
Spoiler Free Review
When I first heard of The Silent Patient, I had finished The Secret History by Donna Tartt about a month prior. I was worried that The Silent Patient would be something horror related and not up my alley but I was very wrong. I’m so glad that I picked up The Silent Patient because it is now one of my favorite books. The Secret History really pushed me to discover my love for psychological thrillers and that made me thoroughly enjoyed reading The Silent Patient.
The Silent Patient was beyond my expectation and something that completely shocked me. Alex Michaelides did such a job well done when it came to gripping the readers and then turning them around because that’s exactly how I felt by the end of the book. I had been nervous at first because I was not sure if I would like the aspect of the story but I was wrong.
The story of Alicia Berenson murdering her husband only to become silent, like the Greek mythology Alcestis was phenomenal. You dive into the point of view of psychotherapist, Theo Faber who had heard of Alicia’s crimes when it happened, becoming invested in wanting to hear her story, except, she doesn’t talk.
So when Theo begins working at the psych hospital where Alicia is, things really become interesting. This is where we begin seeing how things truly happen, for both Alicia and Theo. As the narrator, we are dived into Theo’s past and Theo’s present. This was something that made me even more interested. I remember hearing that past experiences can heavily influence a person, so when we were able to see into Theo’s past, that’s when I felt that things were really getting interesting.
The Silent Patient was a new discovery that I’m glad to have explored. I currently am reading The Maidens, a recently released book also by Alex Michaelides. If you have a chance to pick either The Silent Patient or The Maidens, I highly recommend both of them.
I hope you guys have a great day, please like and comment down below if you enjoyed this book as well or if you plan on reading it!
Loves,
Veronica Chen