Birdyline Book Blog

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On the front cover of my most recent read, a review reads, “The perfect thriller.” After reading it, I am inclined to agree. Based off of the past reviews I’ve shared here alone, anyone who reads this blog most likely can tell that thrillers are my favorite genre.

The Silent Patient follows a psychotherapist who became fascinated by an artist named Alicia. Alicia murders her husband one day, seemingly out of the blue, and then never speaks a word again. Her silence is what draws Theo (and many others) to be fascinated by the case. Why wouldn’t she speak in her defense? Did she truly murder her husband that night with no apparent motive? If not, why would she not even try to defend herself in court? Theo thinks he can find all these things out, and ultimately fix her.

What do I look for in a thriller, and which of these aspects did The Silent Patient Satisfy? I’m glad you asked. 🙂

First off, I don’t want to guess the ending. I want to be guessing at the ending throughout the duration of the book. The Silent Patient handled this excellently. From early in the book there were multiple people who acted suspicious. In other words, Michaelides didn’t wait to introduce the bad guy until late on in order to keep us from guessing. Even better, I was still unsure of which suspicious character was responsible (or if any of them were) until very close to the end.

Secondly, I crave a plot that dives into the psychology and motivations of characters. I want to feel unsure of who’s morality can be depended on, and who has gone too far. When I tell you Michaelides nailed this- he nailed it.

Theo Faber is a flawed and unreliable narrator. His obsession with solving the mystery of Alicia Berenson borders on unhealthy. He defies doctors’ orders, breaks patient confidentiality as a therapist, and intertwines his own life with his patient/psychological muse far too deeply. I enjoyed this thoroughly. I rooted for Theo, yes, but I also felt the ways with which he justified his fascination with Alicia’s case were inappropriate. At times, I even doubted his true motives. In a slightly unrelated note about Theo, I think having a therapist as the narrator also helped, as much of the character analysis was done for us.

Parallel plotlines ran throughout the book, and they were beautiful. Theo identified himself closely with his patient, and I loved that. Events of Theo’s life echoed certain things about Alicia, and even the crime itself, and while Theo never admitted that had anything to do with his dedication, it was clear. I love a good unacknowledged metaphor, and as the individual plotlines drew to a close, they got even better.

The ending is very satisfying. There isn’t too much book left after the ‘reveal,’ so we aren’t left to drown in epilogue. I would have liked to know a bit more of what happened to Alicia or Theo after the book. In fact, I would have liked to know the truth about the innocent people Theo suspected, and what happened to those who weren’t so innocent. At the end of the day, though, I think that’s a good thing. Yes, I must admit there were a few characters I did not care about. (The annoying neighbor introduced annoyingly late to share one bit of groundbreaking information and cease being relevant immediately after to name one.) However, the vast majority of characters were mildly interesting at the least, and multiple of them were very captivating.

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