The Silent Patient was THE mystery thriller of 2019, with numerous friends and library patrons telling me I had to read it.  I don’t know why it took me so long to pick this one up but I am glad I read it because I was hooked from the first page.  I would highly recommend this book, especially if you like stories with a lot of twists and turns.

Alicia Berenson is a famous painter married to Gabriel, a photographer.  One night, Alicia kills Gabriel, tries to kill herself, and then doesn’t say another word for years.   She is admitted to the Grove, a secure unit, for treatment but still refuses to talk.  Theo Faber is a psychotherapist who is determined to get Alicia talking again, no matter what the cost…and this obsession may be his downfall.

Things I Liked:

The premise for the book was fascinating and I was engrossed from the first chapter.  I thought having Theo narrate the story with Alicia’s journal entries sprinkled throughout was a smart choice and kept me guessing the entire time.  Sometimes the use of an unreliable narrator in a book can get tedious, especially if you don’t like the person narrating but I think Theo was a great character.  There were a few twists and while I guessed the first one (but only about 5 minutes before the reveal!) I didn’t guess the others.  I could tell the story was well thought out and everything made sense in the end.

Things I didn’t Like:
If I have one complaint, I would have liked more of Alicia’s journals and less of Theo but that is a small issue.

Conclusion:

I don’t read a lot of mystery thrillers, despite really enjoying this genre, so for me, this was a well written book that kept me guessing.  People who read a lot of this genre may not like it as much, especially if they guess the twist but I thought this was a good mystery and I would definitely read more books written by Michaelides.

Favorite Quote:

“Love that doesn’t include honesty doesn’t deserve to be called love.”

Author:  Alex Michaelides

Published:  February 5th 201

Rating:  5 Stars