Book Review : The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Genre : Thriller, Mystery
Page : 325 pages
Published : 5th February 2019

---

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…

---

“We’re all crazy, I believe, just in different ways.”

THIS. BOOK.

Where do I even start?

This book is the reason why I → go to sleep at 3 in the morning, overthink about everything I’ve read, woke up with puffy eyes and blurry mind to start my day.

The Silent Patient has the power to make you read till you drop on your bed. Immobilized and until you can’t really bare to open you eyes even a centimetre.

Alicia Berenson — infamous for killing her husband ( Gabriel ) went into a long silence and never speak a word since the tragedy. Meanwhile Theo Faber— a criminal psychotherapist, attracted to the case and longed to help Alicia. But first, he has to make Alicia talk.

The plot itself is exciting and thrilling as it can be! It’s interesting to read how the book project Alicia as one of the main character. Alicia refusal to talk has render her lifeless. Unaffected by the outside world and never again give any response to anybody. Even a slight nod. Here, we get the mysterious wordless woman as the main spotlight.

The book provides proper introduction to the characters – both in physic and emotional state of each character. The description almost immediately made me form a vivid image of the character. I can picture it really well about their whereabouts now, especially the setting, what’s the character doing and so on. This book is so good at writing narrative details without having to confuse the reader.

One of the most exciting part?

Is when psychotherapist parse the significant events happened in their patient’s life. I enjoy psychology and it’s comforting also exciting to read how one’s action is to be interpret. Not only the interaction between Theo and Alicia but also for the rest of the patient with each of their assigned psychotherapist.

“Our character was formed without our even knowing it. In my case, I grew up feeling edgy, afraid; anxious. This anxiety seemed to predate my existence and exist independently of me.”

Just like quotes above, the mental state discussions are on point and can be easily understood without too much scientific terms. Short and impactful.

The story unravels as Theo starts to cross the line when he works alongside Alicia with the objective to heal her. Theo begins to questioned Alicia’s past and therefore, can’t help himself to find answers outside his boundary of psychotherapist to find out the truth of the tragic night.

Let me warn you beforehand. This book is unputdownable! My eyes skimmed faster than a horse on a run trying to absorb all those lines in one go. I can barely open my eyes to glance the clock and usually I would just stop to get some sleep or rest my eyes. Look at what this book has made me. A peeking zombie. I peeked to read the words and crammed them inside my lifeless 3 A.M brain.

The story didn’t seem to be fast pace but it has the power to piqued your interest to just read. I was hooked the moment I read the first line and the story just flow. I don’t know about you, but maybe because I have read a bunch of thrillers, I could roughly guess the ending. And I was right! Still, the tiny twist every now and then are worth to wait.

Recommended? Oh, yes. Very.

I manage to guess the ending correctly but my fingers itch to press five stars rating on Goodreads for the book due to it’s compelling story! Trust me, you don’t wanna missed this thriller read.

“There’s so much pain everywhere, and we just close our eyes to it. The truth is we’re all scared. We’re terrified of each other.”

Author : Celine