*spoiler-free*
The Silent Patient is a psychological thriller which tells the story of how Alicia Berenson supposedly shot her husband, Gabriel, five times in the head. Ever since she has remained silent and so psychotherapist Theo Faber takes it upon himself to try and help Alicia.
From the start, the narrative is gripping as the book is primarily told from Theo’s point of view with snippets of Alicia’s diary intertwined. I liked how many of the questions I had about the murder were also addressed by Theo’s train of thought, making me more invested in solving Alicia’s silence. The Silent Patient includes many troubled characters all of which are interesting to learn about. The book is also separated into lots of short chapters which made it easy to get through.
As the book progresses, we learn that both Alicia and Theo are unreliable narrators making the read even more intriguing. We also discover that these two characters are actually quite similar in the sense that they are ignoring huge realities of truth, both relating to their partners. With these types of books where the reader is unsure of what to believe throughout, I always think it would be interesting to re-read to see if we can spot anomalous behaviour in earlier parts of the book.
Her silence was like a mirror – reflecting yourself back at you. And it was often an ugly sight.
p101
I didn’t find The Silent Patient the most ground-breaking thriller I have ever read but I am glad I gave it a go. As I was advancing through the book, I did feel like something was missing, and I believe that may have been down to a pacing issue and an oversight of some of the character’s behaviours. In terms of pacing, I felt that so much of the book was taken up by Theo’s efforts to make Alicia talk again that the unravelling of the main plot twist was quite rushed. As we learn about Theo’s true character mainly in the second half of the book, I was frustrated to see he did not confront his partner with any of their issues, despite his confrontational attitude in other scenes. This book also reminded me a lot of The Therapist by B. A Paris and so that may have contributed to the predictability of The Silent Patient’s story.
Whilst this is not my favourite thriller, it was a quick and easy book that got me out of a reading slump. The plot was interesting but not overly complex, which was refreshing. The main plot twist was definitely worth waiting for! I am also looking forward to reading The Maidens by Alex Michaelides as I did enjoy Michaelides’ style of writing.
3.5 stars
Soph's Library 
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