Chelsea Humphrey's Reviews > The Silent Patient

CONGRATULATIONS-Goodreads Choice Awards Mystery & Thriller Winner!

I feel like I should preface my review by stating that I have read A LOT of psychological thrillers, and coupling that with the fact that this was my most anticipated read of 2019 gave The Silent Patient a great deal of pressure. This will still be an overall positive review, but I felt I had to include some honest thoughts here as well for those readers who may need their expectations in line like I clearly did.

The premise here is simply incredible; we have a woman named Alicia Berenson who is accused of murdering her husband and proceeds to clam up and keep quiet for the following six years, living during this time in a mental care facility called The Grove for highly dangerous folks. Enter Theo Faber, psychotherapist extraordinaire and flawed individual. He already has a respectable job elsewhere, but decides to transfer over to The Grove, even though it is a sinking ship, because he is obsessed with Alicia and solving the mystery behind why she murdered her husband. Along the way, we get snippets into Alicia's diary leading up to the murder, alongside of Theo's POV.

I can't really give you anything more than this, because this is a novel that depends on you being fooled by the twist. You know, the big twist, the one where every blurb on the cover and every early review gives you a heads up, and perhaps that was part of the issue here for me. It seems these types of books that pull the wool over your eyes and take you by surprise are best enjoyed before anyone else has had a chance to read them. Let's come back around to the fact that I've been reading mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels for decades, way before Gone Girl was written and these domestic dramas with tricky slight-of-hand became all the rage. If you are new-ish to the psych thriller scene, and you whole heartedly enjoyed recent novels such as The Woman In The Window, you will adore this. It was a well written, compulsive, slow burning build up to an explosive ending. Structurally, it had everything you could ask for, as it was well researched, engaging, and the perfect length of "includes what we need without being overly winded".

Unfortunately, I've seen this particular twist done numerous times, so I was clued in fairly early to what the big twist would be, and without spoiling or giving anything away, the lay out of the narrative in the second half of the novel is what fully clued me in, because it was too neat and tidy to end any other way. I will say that I was so satisfied and pleased with the way the author chose to close out the final chapter, and regardless of being surprised by the twist or not, it was a classic wrap up that will stand the test of time over the years.

I think I'm going to wrap it up here, and please don't let my 3 star rating dissuade you from giving this one a try. Michaelides is talented, and his writing is gripping and keeps you turning the pages regardless of the big twist. I would be honored to read his next novel and will most certainly look for his name in the future. In the meantime I have found so much in this novel worth discussing, from the portrayal of mental health care to the inner workings of various marriages, and think this will make a great winter book club choice for readers around the globe.

*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy via NetGalley.