The Silent Patient
Ratings1,239
Average rating3.8
What an amazing read! I did not see the twist that happens at the end. HIGHLY recommend this book!!!!!
Hands down best suspense novel I've read in a while.
Hard to believe this was the author's debut novel. With unexpected plot twists and an epic reveal, the book won me over. Had my jaw dropped towards the end. Given the amount of murder mysteries I read, that level of shock is rare.
Would 100 % recommend to any suspense fan.
I've always been a fan of these types of stories, if there is a mystery to be solved I'm into it. So for that reason, I loved it. It was well-written, the story unfolded in a way that didn't give away too much too fast, yet just enough to keep me intrigued. It takes a more emotional connection to the story, pulling at my heartstrings, for me to give it 5 stars, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The light bulb went off around 70% I don't like it because it's such disrespectful fluff. I hate fake cheesy romance and if Gabriel is such the perfect, loving husband where are those actions? I understand that Alicia is an unreliable narrator but the way I interrupt this is either Gabrielle is a manipulative asshole and most of the others are so self interested – that or Michaelides didn't write Alicia crazy enough because all I hear is Alicia being gaslit, insulted, victimized, and mishandled.
I hated that Alicia was put on house arrest and that the door/gate was left unlocked - as a person who has experienced (mild) trauma that is simply unbelievable to me.
I hated Theo, he was unethical, gross, very negative, fairly stupid (climbing up to a roof with a guy that hit you in a head with a baseball bat), and bad at both being a psychotherapist and a detective; apparently was only a decent stalker.
I am also disappointed because I picked this up expecting a lot more Alicia and got about 80% Theo, like a bait-and-switch.
The book also barely passes the Bechdel test; the only conversation that two women have that isn't about a man is between Stephanie and Barbie, where Barbie demands to see Alicia and Stephanie is attempting to stop her. It's a short conversation because Theo interrupts and let's Barbie see Alicia, which I consider to be a violation of Alicia's right of freedom of association.
Other things that bothered me:
Gabrielle seems rich, why have sex in a park?
I read Alcestis, at the end of the play it's said that “She (Alcestis) is still consecrated to the gods below. Til she is duly purified, and the third dawn has risen, it is not lawful for you to hear her voice.” I get that Alicia being in a bad marriage and the killing of her husband may have left her impure or whatever but I dunno, it just seems like something that could have been expanded on and make it much more interesting.
Everyone at The Grove seemed to speak poorly of Stephanie when she was the most professional person in the book.
Jean-Felix, the gallerist, is French but says he feels more like a Londoner seemed like bullshit to me.
Actual rating: 3/5 stars
I did enjoy my time reading this book and I was hooked. The writing made me want to keep turning the page but honestly, the middle did drag for me a lot and I kept feeling like nothing was going on. I did partially guess the twist at the end but not the full thing. I honestly think it was pretty obvious tho and it definitely did not have my quaking in my crocs like twists normally do. I think this would have been better as a short story tbh.
I wasn't sure if I should give this 3 or 2...mystery books are rarely as good as I want them to be, but this was fun/enjoyable to read. Definitely a lot of plot holes but most of them are ignorable if you want to ignore them. The ending also felt like it wrapped up a bit suddenly compared with the drawn out suspense of the rest of the book. But overall it was a good suspenseful book to read on my bus rides to work.
This was a really good read. It was exactly what I was needing. It was my first time reading anything by Alex Michaelides and I'm curious to read more of his works.
This isn't hella fast paced, but it isn't boring as well. Also, can we talk about the plot twist near the end? OMG!!
EXCUSE ME, WHAT DID I JUST READ?
I was trying so hard to figure it out. Who killed Gabriel? Was it truly Alicia? But why?
I never would have imagined the story going the way that it did. I'm shocked. What an amazing book.
I enjoyed the twist and ending. But everything leading up till the last few chapters, it wasn't my favorite. Maybe it was the writing style/narration voice.
3.5 stars
I thought the book was gripping and couldn't put it down. The ending was a surprise for me and I didn't love it - seemed more improbable in a couple things than I wanted to accept. I read the author's 2nd book, The Maidens, first and this book suffers from the same problem as that one. It created a myriad of questionable characters that the reader is supposed to suspect, but none of which turn out to be involved in the situation and whose storylines are never resolved. This book doesn't have as many of those characters as The Maidens and I enjoyed the story quite a bit more, at least til the end. It had too much unnecessary swearing (f* words) for me. This will be my last book by this author.
This book didn't move as quickly as I would've expected it to. About midway through I got hooked, but it took a while. I was eager to figure out what happened to our silent patient but when the denouement came, it felt rushed. Or maybe hard for me to get my head around. I'm not sure yet.
I don't know how I feel about the ending. I'll need to let this one marinate for a bit. But I'm definitely glad I read it. After further marination I definitely think the ending was strangely rushed and the pace was too slow.
Such a good plot twist! Wanted to continue reading and never put it down. Had this on my shelf for at least a year but finally picked it up and I do not regret it!
Waffling between four and five stars, but there were a few things that made me go “ehhhh” that I'll go with four. But what a wild ride! Such good suspense and playing with assumptions. I figured it out slightly before the reveal but definitely thought it was other people and thought it was different than it was. (Don't mean to be vague but really don't want to be spoilery!) I flew through this, which I needed, and I may give Michaelides' other work a try now too because he tells a good story.
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!
*
this book was eery, suspenseful, unputdownable, and infuriating.
I ended up skimming through it after reading it to put the pieces together.
It was nice that Alicia gave dates in her journal for point in time but we were not afforded the same luxury for the narrator.
It was clear toward the part where Theo finds his wife cheating on him but other than that, the timeline felt unclear once you know the twist. How was Theo not affected by Alcestis when he first read it? Knowing it was how it all went down with Alicia and Gabriel? I am not sure why Alicia gave the journal to him if she knew after the second meeting about him. Did she feel she had the upper hand? Perhaps she didn't care if she lived or died as long as the truth came to light. Thoughts?
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Als je veel thrillers/mysteries leest, dan begin je op den duur wel een beetje de gimmicks te herkennen. De hype rond de verteller-die-je-niet-kan-vertrouwen is de laatste jaren heel sterk, dus bij dit boek was ik me er ook direct van bewust dat niets waarschijnlijk is zoals het lijkt. En toch hadden ze me liggen. Mijn brein had vanalles van scenario's bedacht, de ene al meer overdreven dan de andere. Wat het uiteindelijk bleek te zijn gaf mij toch dat leuke verschietachtige moment van blije schok. Weten dat je misleid wordt en toch de aanwijzingen, die achteraf zo overduidelijk zijn, niet opmerken. Ik ben tegelijk onder de indruk en een beetje beschaamd in mezelf, lol.
A great thriller! Had me hooked from the start and I couldn't wait to see what happened next. Great twists at the end made it a totally satisfying read. Highly recommended.
3 stars well, I admit this was a great plot twist and I didn't see it coming, but as a whole it wasn't mind blowing. I have to say I was disappointed since the book is so hyped.
It really is the perfect thriller. A perfectly paced combination of domestic suspense and crime thriller. Exceptionally plotted. I'm in awe.
Alicia murders her husband, and then stops talking. Theo starts a job as her therapist at the hospital where she is held. Determined to get Alice to crack, he plays detective and starts asking around for clues, which is a pretty weird thing for a therapist to do. But the twist at the end was pretty good.
honestly i'm not even in the right headspace to write a review right now LMFAO. what the fuck did i just read