This story is a murder mystery, a tale told in dual timelines, enthralling the reader as it grabs them by the reins. Michaelides writes a compelling page-turner, full of twists, turns, and a shocking conclusion that will chill you to the bone. 

Review

Our story starts with psychotherapist Theo Faber, whose character seems especially unremarkable, he’s a blank slate, your average middle-aged man. Instead, we learn he has his own secrets, as well as his own traumatic childhood. Over time, we come to see Faber as our sympathetic protagonist, who takes us into his professional life, filled with unprofessional endeavors.

Right at the beginning, the mystery of the book is introduced to us, and we learn about Alicia Berenson an artist infamous for murdering her husband Gabriel, a genius photographer. The real tragedy of the murder was that after Alicia killed her husband, she never spoke again.

Faber ends up becoming a fan of Alicia and consequently seeks to solve the reason behind her silence.

As the story progresses, the perspectives of Theo and Alicia are depicted through the author’s poetic prose. Speaking of writing style, Michaelides has to have the ability to use a million metaphors without ever making it seem like he is overusing them. 

Meanwhile, the delicious details of the murder are recounted several times until they’re revisited one final time, with the true events of the murder crowding your imagination.

As the lines between professional and unprofessional blur together, the nail-biting climax of The Silent Patient comes to a head. (I could feel the tension creeping through my veins, people. It was scary…) Finally, the surprising resolution slaps you across the face. Surprise paints your features (the surprise painted mine for sure), and you realize just how the human perspective can twist a story.

Personal Thoughts

This is (I’m not lying) the first serious thriller story I have ever read. I’d never read a thriller story before this. And I’m happy to say that I am very satisfied with this first read. Now, Michealides’s book is intriguing at first, the way he summarizes the entirety of Alicia’s story without giving anything away, causing readers to become slowly invested in the why: Why exactly did Alicia kill Gabriel Berenson? Why did she kill her beloved husband? Michaelides artfully illustrates how infatuated Theo is with the idea of solving the mystery behind the murder, and his so-called ‘motivations’ for doing so.

Also, I NEVER realized there was a dual timeline in the narrative until the end of the book, where Theo’s motivations and true colors are revealed. On the other hand, I’m concerned that no matter how you look at it, Alicia was already crazy, way before she murdered her own hubby in cold blood. It makes you wonder: what sort of decisive moment pushes someone over the edge, all the way to the point of no return? 

Thinking of comparing this to the books I’ve read in the past, I usually only read YA fiction, mainly because of the trashy and overused tropes that stay close to my heart. 

As this was an adult novel, the character-building drastically differed from the way character building is in YA. Adult novels have a focus on adult characters, who are already fully developed, and if they are normal, have no reasons to make irrational decisions due to immaturity (like most teens do).

Meanwhile, teenagers are still in the key stages of mental and physical development, their fears, worries, thoughts are all either outrageously stupid or make complete sense. As a debut novel, I quite liked the book. It’s obvious that Michaelides knows what he’s doing when it comes down to his writing, compared to other authors without formal degrees (whose writing reads more like a badly written fanfic). Overall, I loved this book, and will probably reread it in the future. Happy Reading!