I've finally finished the first book by Alex Michaelides after reading The Maidens last month and it wasn't bad. I certainly didn't see the twist coming though I'm sure I probably could/should have!
Apparently the film rights to this have been snapped up so it'll be interesting to see how it pans out on the big screen.

"The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive."

This is a fast paced read with many twist and turns to take through the journey, which made perfect sense when it came together at the end,

This book seems to be dividing readers straight down the middle, but I would encourage any fan of past paced thrillers to give it a go.

Thanks to Netgalley for the read. I have read a lot of psychological thrillers and so always expect some sort of big twist in the tale. This story has a great premise and the writing is quite gripping. The build up is ok, passes at a decent pace but I was able to figure out the 'big twist' fairly early on and, once it's exposed, the story is very much explanation. This did not diminish my enjoyment of the book, but I found the characters a little flat and I had probably read too many thrillers before getting started with this one.

CW: murder, suicide, self-harm

I've seen this book around Instagram a fair bit lately and then I was scrolling through my Kindle when I spotted I had it (memory of the proverbial goldfish me) and thought now's a good time to read it.

For me while the story was intriguing I'm not sure if I really cared. Even with her diary entries Alicia didn't seem a very solid character. She didn't have any interests or personality. Theo was an arrogant dick and to be honest I'm not sure how much of his story was true and how much was manipulation. He was very controlling for a therapist and the way he went out searching for Alicia's family was pushing the boundaries a bit too much.

The twist was interesting but the ending on the whole felt a bit rushed and the timelines in the end were a bit muddled as to what happened when.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

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The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides
★★★★★
352 Pages
POV: 1st person, dual POV
Content Warning: mentions of stalking, mental health, suicide, murder, violence, sexual assault, off-page childhood beatings, psychiatric care, cheating, drug using, drug dealing, addiction, suggested hereditary insanity, obsession, paranoia, mentions of Broadmoor psychiatric hospital.


Wow! The Silent Patient was the kind of intense, psychological, twisted story I've been searching for, lately. It's got crime, mystery, thrills, and a huge question mark that isn't fully resolved until the end. Although I somewhat guessed the ending, I wasn't entirely convinced or sure of myself, as there were so many other options to explore.

I won't spoil the book by exploring the intricacies of the twists. But, here's the gist of what's going on:
Alicia is a talented artist who was found – six years ago – standing over her husband, in the living room. He'd been strapped to a dining chair and shot five times. Alicia was found with her wrists slashed, and the knife and gun lying on the floor at her feet. She was in shock. From the moment they found her there, she hasn't uttered a single word in 6 years. She has produced one painting, in the months after the murder.
Theo is a psychoanalyst who is intrigued and fascinated by Alicia's case. Sometimes to the point of obsession. He leaves Broadmoor hospital and takes up a position at The Grove – the psychiatric clinic where Alicia is being held. His intention is to make her talk again. To confront her past, and find out what had triggered her to kill her husband. To do this, he begins one-on-one therapy sessions, and begins to investigate Alicia's past. All the while, his personal life begins to unravel.

I found the whole plot to be clever, well paced and well executed. When needed, and where it seemed most appropriate for the plot to take a slight break, there were recaps of past events. Some diary entries of Alicia's, or explorations of Theo's life, in ways that gave us more background on both characters.

It's a sort of enclosed environment crime, because although Theo is free to travel around and go places, the main action takes place in the psychiatric centre. So, although Theo does investigate Alicia's life, by venturing outside to talk to her family members, and also for snippets of his own life with his wife, everything central to the plot and the unravelling story happens inside the psychiatric centre.

As central characters, it's interesting. You don't ever see Alicia really talk on page, until near the very end. Everything we know about her until that point is gleamed from her diary entries, which are scattered throughout the story at appropriate intervals.
Similarly, we know quite a bit about Theo, as he's the main character and the one we see most events through his eyes. However, there's also an air of him being slight unhinged himself, with a long psychiatric background, mental health issues, and troubles are home.
Neither are perfect. But, despite us seeing both in different ways, I feel that we get an equal view of each character, and that I felt like I knew them both well. I got a very clear picture of their lives, their personalities, their quirks, even from the beginning.

Were there cons? Of course. This was an ARC – an advanced reader copy – and it had quite a few flaws in it. However, I try not to judge ARCs too harshly for those flaws, trusting they'll be fixed by publication. But, I will list them – there were instances where the formatting was completely off. Sometimes there was one full line, then just two words on the next, and a full line after, all being part of the same sentence. There were times when spaces were missing between words or extra words were in a sentence, e.g. day-today instead of day-to-day; and “Initially all I was felt a little”.

Also, the author's name, and the book title, were spread throughout the novel in weird places. I presume it was a footnote gone wrong, but sometimes I had to re-read a sentence or passage, because the words fit into the context. All in all, I counted 7 of the author's name and 14 of the book title.

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Overall, I thought this was an engaging, clever novel with a lot of unexpected twists. The characters were intriguing – though, honestly, neither were likeable despite their brutal relatability – and it all unfolded with well thought out care and attention to detail. I would definitely read more from this author.

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Favourite Quotes

“But that's what Alicia did for you. Her silence was like a mirror – reflecting yourself back at you. And it was often an ugly sight.”

“That's the truth. I didn't kill Gabriel. He killed me. All I did was pull the trigger.”

Oh. My. F*ing. Days!

The Silent Patient is bloody brilliant!

A main character who doesn't talk? Well, that was enough to get me hooked on the premise and I couldn't wait to get stuck in.

We start off in Alicia's diary which gives us an instant insight into the woman who no longer speaks. She's a happily married artist who is struggling to finish her latest work for an upcoming exhibition.

We then jump to the present, Alicia is now in a secure hospital following the murder of her husband. She hasn't said a word since the police found her with the gun in her hand and her husband's dead body in the chair next to her.

Then we meet Theo, the forensic psychotherapist who has followed her story in the papers and is fascinated about the so-called silent patient.

He convinces himself that the experts who have been working with her so far are missing something and manages to get himself a job at the facility she's been kept in and then convinces them to let him be her therapist.

Theo is convinced there's more to the story and is determined to get to the bottom of it. He starts taking it beyond therapist and patient and starts looking into her past, finding family members, and ruffling feathers everywhere he goes.

Theo starts to build up a very different picture of Alicia's life than the one told in the papers.

Told in now and then chapters that build up to the present, Michaelides has brought us a deliciously wicked and completely absorbing psychological thriller that will get under your skin and have you hooked from the first word to the last.

I adored this one. It's a total mind-f*ck. Excuse the language but it is!

One minute it's clear as day, then it's not, then bam – something else happens to make your jaw drop; it's one heck of a roller coaster and one you do not want to get off!

Michaelides is a wonderful writer and has the ability to suck you into the pages and keep you hooked the whole way through. This is a slick and completely compelling thriller which you will not want to put down.

I seriously recommend this to everyone!

Love a good thriller and this was right up my alley. Really could not put it down and loved the ending. Definitely a recommendation to family and friends.

This book had me utterly gripped for so long. I was really enjoying it, until I got to the ending. Although I understand how the ending fits in, I just found it too coincidental and also quite rushed. A shame, as the writing style was really great

Huge apologies, but owing to a complete oversight on my behalf I have had this book for three years without reading.

Well that has certainly turned out to be my loss, as once I started on it, I simply couldn't put it down and read it all on the one day relaxing in the sun.

An absolute stonking debut from this author, with a major twist I for one certainly never saw coming.
An outstanding five stars and away to check out what else this author has had published

This book. Highly anticipated and once I read the snippet I wanted more which luckily I got more. I loved this, it was a refreshing read and I highly enjoyed it.

Heard rave reviews about this book but was really disappointed. Did not like any of the characters and the story was back and forth too much which ruined the flow.

Now that's what I call a Page-turner (with a capital P!) I enjoyed this book immensely. Right from the off I was thoroughly engaged, just totally invested in the thing to the point of frenzy - I just had to find out the truth! Thus the pages were turning fast and furiously in a manner that is becoming rarer and rarer these days - so many examples of the psychological thriller genre are blurring into much of a muchness. But not this one.

There is a thrilling and unsettling quality to the narrative - vague and indefinable - that ramps up the suspense and tension to nail-biting, breath-holding levels. That said, I'd figured out what was going on but I was still enjoying watching it all unfold...

...Except I really hadn't. Not in the slightest. And I've never enjoyed being wrong more!

The denouement twist is an absolute doozy! Just a really fantastic little moment of stunned surprise that I did not see coming. The structure of the narrative is as unreliable as the narrator and I appreciate its cleverness. I totally just assumed the chronology of events and I fell for the most obvious of red herrings.

And as well as the devious narrative trickery, I really loved the allusions to Greek myth.

A well written, thoroughly enjoyable thriller with a hugely shocking and satisfying twist.

This book was a rollercoaster ride, just when you thought you had figured something out, it took a dramatic 180 degree turn to the complete opposite of what you'd first thought. It was a gripping read that I couldn't put down and sat thinking about when I had to put it down to work.

Yes, yes, yes!!! This book was everything! I was so so surprised by every twist and turn. I did not guess one bit of the plot and there were audible gasps repeatedly. Definitely a book and author I'd recommend

How do you even review a book like this?! The title of this book really hits the nail on the head as it’s pretty much about a patient who is silent. The thing with that though, is that the patient hasn’t always been a patient, nor have they always been silent.

At the beginning of the story, the readers are introduced to Alicia indirectly, by psychotherapist, Theo, whilst also being introduced to him via the man himself.

Psychology is at the heart of this novel, and I thought that it was written brilliantly via different points of view. Alicia is in the spotlight due to the death of her husband, and Theo is in the spotlight due to being the new guy in his place of work, yet somehow their paths meet and fireworks fly.

Before I read ‘The Silent Patient’ I had heard so much about it on social media. I didn’t want to invest too much into what people were saying about it, yet I had everything crossed that I was going to like it. And did I?

Yes, i really did! I wouldn’t say that i was bowled over by it the whole way through, but i certainly enjoyed a good majority of it! The uniqueness of the storyline really grabbed my interest, and the fact that it was full of psychology was even better. Delving into the mindsets of people really intrigues me, so it’s safe to say that I was in my element!

I can see why a lot of people have been raving about this book because it is, without a doubt, a very cleverly crafted novel. I am so impressed by the complexity of each main characters journeys, and the way the author delivered their flaws alongside the positives really made the characters very relatable. Even though Alicia was the one under the spotlight, I found it quite difficult not to feel some level of empathy towards her and the circumstances she found herself in.

I never would have thought a character being silent would be so intense, yet here we are! A brilliantly thought out, unique, intense, and gripping novel. More please!

My 3* review for The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

"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"

This was a great pacy book, full of intrigue and mystery and I was swept along with the desire to know more about Alicia, the shooting, what happened that night and what would be the trigger that would make her talk at last. Although the book delivered in most of these areas, I found it a bit longwinded and unbelievable and I could not take to Theo at all and found his character implausible.

This just wasn’t for me unfortunately. I feel this may appeal more to someone new to the genre. As someone who reads a lot of thriller and crime this just didn’t deliver. Great idea but messy and dull execution. This really dragged, there was no excitement or tension until literally the very end when everything was revealed. This would have been a 1 star if it wasn’t for the clever idea, however even that wasn’t enough to save it so 2 stars at best.

A book about a woman who kills her husband in a intense, passionate life changing moment.

I felt the writing was special... The careful unwinding of a story being told, I’ve never seen it done better!

I could not get into this book. I did not like the way it was written as it did not grab me. This book is not for me.

Is it a quick, easy & intriguing read? Yes

Is it over-hyped? Yes

The idea is original and promising but for me, it lacks polish, the writing is flat and cliched, the diary sequences aren't particularly convincing.

It does have some interesting twists & turns but it certainly isn't the most gripping psychological thriller out there.

A huge thanks to Orion & NetGalley for gifting me a copy in return for an open & honest review.

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