Alex Michaelides | THE SILENT PATIENT

Plot (via Goodreads):

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....

Review:

At least once a year a debut author releases a novel that is so hyped up, it'll leave even your non-reading friends inquisitive. Now, I'm not big on the comparison of novels to those that really don't relate to each other....but I'm talking about the Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, the next big psychological thriller. And earlier this year, it was The Silent Patient. The debut novel from Celadon Books (a new imprint of Macmillan) was buzzing all over Bookstagram and I was dying to be a part of the celebration. Luckily for me, Book of the Month chose this as one of their February reads and I added it to my cart faster than any online purchase I've ever made...and that includes my amped fleece blanket from Urban Outfitters that is probably my most prized possession.

The Silent Patient is a prime example of a glittering and intricate psychological thriller that will take its reader on a powerful journey that questions sanity, love, and trust. AKA - it is THE perfect psychological thriller. Right from the haunting and rather violent opening, it was very clear to me very early on that this was going to be something that was way beyond hype and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Maybe with some books, I'm a mood reader as I try to save my most anticipated reads for the weekends because it kills me to have to spread out a book throughout the week. Thankfully, this was a Sunday read for me...otherwise I would've called into work and taken a sick day. And I'm being dead serious. The pacing with this story is so tightly wound and stunningly executed that it is near impossible to believe this is a debut novel. With a quick introduction to where this story was headed, Michaelides really takes his time letting the reader gobble up all of the information that is divulged in a timely manner and before you know it, you're down the rabbit hole at 50 pages in and there's no looking back. What I enjoyed most about this plot was that the violent and insanity is in the beginning, then Michaelides reels it in, and then the pacing starts to pick up from there - whereas typically it's the violence and insanity at the end. I loved this unique approach and can tell you that it not only made this read more immersive for me, but provided the ominous feeling that you have no clue where this story is going to go.

The characters in this read are so three-dimensional that sometimes it's eerie. The novel goes back and forth between the diary of Alicia prior to the events leading up to the beginning of the novel and present day with her psychiatrist, Theo. These are two of the best characters I've gotten to get to know and at times - as much as I wanted to continue reading this story - I felt that I wanted to really take my time reading it because I absolutely loved them flaws and all. Are they necessarily likable? Not really, but that didn't stop me from becoming immersed into their lives...and their lies. As for the secondary characters, I would gladly read spinoffs of them as they are quirky, mesmerizing, and at times terrifyingly disastrous. Syncopated right along with the pacing of the story, the pacing of the characterization in this read is beautifully done. Even down to the small details, to say that these characters shine off the pages would be an understatement.

So as I traveled along with Theo and Alicia, the twists and turns in this novel were not large, but like breadcrumbs - allowing the reader to snack their way into the finale. I liked this approach because it didn't seem like Michaelides was trying to necessarily rely on major revelations to make the story enjoyable, he just relied on good old fashioned brilliant writing. The reveals were paced really well...until the ending. The last 100 pages of this novel left me feverish, anxious, and ravenous. The monumental reveal at the end left me flabbergasted and chilled to the core, featuring (in the best way possible) an ending that was so beautiful and daunting that I read the last five pages three times before I realized how in love with it I was. It was the most exceptional ending with the most fantastic last line in a book that I've gotten to enjoy in a long time. So thank you, Alex Michaelides, Theo, and Alicia. Thank you for this story, for the sensational writing, and for an ending that was not only perfect, but still gives me a bittersweet sensation when I remember the experience in reading this twisted tale.

Rating: 5/5