Having read this in about four hours, all I can say is that this was a total mind-eff!!
The Silent Patient is a psychotic psychological thriller that kept me up reading through the night. Alex Michaelides created an incredible page-turner that completely exceeded all my expectations of a murder-mystery/psychological thriller.
Alicia Bereson is a married painter who on a seemingly normal day suddenly shot and murdered her husband when he arrived home late from work. She then never speaks a word again. She didn't speak in her defence or justify her actions. Just complete silence. She is sentenced to a life doped on antidepressants to cure her 'madness' at a psychiatric institution - The Grove. Enter psychotherapist, Theo, who takes up the opportunity to work with Alicia and resolve the mystery.
I initially thought that the book was a bit slow-paced but then as I read on, it picked up and I became more engrossed in the story, the mystery and the investigation. I started reading this book at about 11 pm and almost put it down after about an hour. But then fast forward to 2 am, I had finished the book and was reeling from the end!
I went through a whirlwind of emotions throughout this read. I was anxious, nervous, intrigued, scared, angry and sad. But I truly enjoyed the rollercoaster of thrill which came with each of the short chapters.
Given the chapters were short, once I got into the novel, it was easy to think - maybe one more chapter, and another, and another, until I finished the book. These chapters were creatively put together and presented through a combination of diary entries from Alicia, conversations between characters and the thoughts of Theo, our resident psychotherapist.
The plot had a good balance of mystery and revelations to allow the reader to follow along and solve the mystery of the silent patient along with the psychotherapist. The ending was most certainly unpredictable and left me shocked.
Without giving any spoilers, there were some minor plot holes and errors which I found. However, overall I do not think they contributed to the premise of the novel and story. Given this was a debut novel for Michaelides, I can only expect his novels and writing to be on the up and up from here.
If you're looking for a heart-racing, body-numbing and brain-muddling quick read, I would highly recommend The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides.
Completed on: 19th September 2021
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