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A review by arialovegreen
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I kept seeing this book here and there and gave it a shot. Sometimes the simplest statement is the best: It's *really* good.
I'm not usually one for inconclusive endings, and I'm usually the first to sniff out and predict a plot twist in books but the twist in this one took me very much by surprise. I gasped out loud when the major story reveal occurred, I'll admit.
I took this book down in about a couple of hours of reading. I kept finding myself wondering about the world of Theo and Alicia until I finished. The mystery, the will-they, won't-they of it all kept drawing me in until I saw the story to it's conclusion. Michaelides did an amazing job of pacing the story, and I loved the transposed inclusion of Alicia's diary as the plot progressed to reveal more to us about certain characters and their motives as the story went on. I saw in the back that Michaelides mentioned this was to make the reader more invested/caring of Alicia and it definitely worked. I found myself sympathizing with her more and more as the story went on, despite her present lack of communication.
I could go on, but the bottom line is (haha): if you are even mildly intrigued by mystery or thriller novels, please pick this one up. It's worth it.
I'm not usually one for inconclusive endings, and I'm usually the first to sniff out and predict a plot twist in books but the twist in this one took me very much by surprise. I gasped out loud when the major story reveal occurred, I'll admit.
I took this book down in about a couple of hours of reading. I kept finding myself wondering about the world of Theo and Alicia until I finished. The mystery, the will-they, won't-they of it all kept drawing me in until I saw the story to it's conclusion. Michaelides did an amazing job of pacing the story, and I loved the transposed inclusion of Alicia's diary as the plot progressed to reveal more to us about certain characters and their motives as the story went on. I saw in the back that Michaelides mentioned this was to make the reader more invested/caring of Alicia and it definitely worked. I found myself sympathizing with her more and more as the story went on, despite her present lack of communication.
I could go on, but the bottom line is (haha): if you are even mildly intrigued by mystery or thriller novels, please pick this one up. It's worth it.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Rape and Vomit