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emma's Reviews > The Silent Patient
The Silent Patient
by
by
emma's review
bookshelves: non-ya, mystery-thriller-horror-etc, unpopular-opinion, eh, 2-and-a-half-stars, reviewed
Nov 29, 2019
bookshelves: non-ya, mystery-thriller-horror-etc, unpopular-opinion, eh, 2-and-a-half-stars, reviewed
The thing about this book is that it’s only the plot twist.
The story itself is just leadup to it. Everything after it is just explanation. And there’s no other substance: no compelling characters, no particularly lovely prose, nothing.
So at least I was surprised by the twist. Otherwise this would have been so infuriatingly disappointing I would have had to put the book over my face and take deep calming breaths in the dark for upwards of 45 minutes.
All of that is to say that this has a very, very, very slow start, and the writing fell very flat for me.
Plus it’s not...the least woman-hate-y book I’ve ever read.
But we all have our things.
Bottom line: Meh.
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i finished this book 3 days ago. i just didn't have anything to say about it.
review to come / 2.5? stars
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dear book,
please be scary.
or thrilling.
or plot twist-y.
or surprising.
or something. anything!
love, me
The story itself is just leadup to it. Everything after it is just explanation. And there’s no other substance: no compelling characters, no particularly lovely prose, nothing.
So at least I was surprised by the twist. Otherwise this would have been so infuriatingly disappointing I would have had to put the book over my face and take deep calming breaths in the dark for upwards of 45 minutes.
All of that is to say that this has a very, very, very slow start, and the writing fell very flat for me.
Plus it’s not...the least woman-hate-y book I’ve ever read.
But we all have our things.
Bottom line: Meh.
-------------
i finished this book 3 days ago. i just didn't have anything to say about it.
review to come / 2.5? stars
-------------
dear book,
please be scary.
or thrilling.
or plot twist-y.
or surprising.
or something. anything!
love, me
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Reading Progress
November 2, 2019
– Shelved
November 29, 2019
–
Started Reading
November 29, 2019
–
Finished Reading
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by
K
(new)
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rated it 4 stars
Nov 30, 2019 03:29AM
Good luck Emma, may your plot be surprisingly twisty.
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If this is a thriller that turns out not to be thrilling, then I anxiously await your scathing review 😁
I dont think you’ll be disappointed! Enjoy!
It was one of the most boring, predictable and disappointing thrillers I have read this year but I hope you will enjoy it more.
Welp... you might be a little upset...
It's not bad. The hype isn't completely warranted but it's not terrible... I'm predicting a 2.5 or 3 star rating from you...
I think other than a surprising ending, it wasn’t very twisty or anything, a little boring? Yeah. :/
K wrote: "Good luck Emma, may your plot be surprisingly twisty."at least there was one good twist
Herbie wrote: "If this is a thriller that turns out not to be thrilling, then I anxiously await your scathing review 😁"herbie, aren't they all (both the thrillers and the reviews)
Jordan wrote: "I dont think you’ll be disappointed! Enjoy!"it wasn't bad!
Martaiksiazki wrote: "It was one of the most boring, predictable and disappointing thrillers I have read this year but I hope you will enjoy it more."literally all it was was the final twist
Gabrielle wrote: "Welp... you might be a little upset..."a little
Tucker wrote: "It's not bad. The hype isn't completely warranted but it's not terrible... I'm predicting a 2.5 or 3 star rating from you..."king of knowing me
Jessica wrote: "I think other than a surprising ending, it wasn’t very twisty or anything, a little boring? Yeah. :/"AGREED all it really was was the ending
LMAOoooo and it was exactly none of those things! I'm salty. 😐🙄
**SPOILERS BELOW**I'm really confused by why people keep saying this book is woman-hatey... The story is told from Theo's perspective, who is a complete psycho and most likely hates women because of his wife. He also probably views men in more positive lights because of his incessant need for love from his father that went untreated and his view that other men are competition for him. I've listened to interviews of the author and he literally says his fave writers are women and how Agatha Christie's novels inspired him to write his own mystery/thriller someday. I wouldn't think the women-hating descriptions are from the author's perspective or opinion so much as they are the actual narrator, who, again, is a psycho.
I was also highly disappointed in this book. I didn't even think the twist was that good. It felt cheap and I felt cheated as a reader. I was more angry than anything else.
Danielle (reading) wrote: "LMAOoooo and it was exactly none of those things! I'm salty. 😐🙄"truly same
Jasmine wrote: "**SPOILERS BELOW**"this is a fair argument, but for me the distinction is that the women in this book are ACTUALLY terrible and ACTUALLY do horrible things - nearly all of them. so that is outside of the narrator's perception
Casey wrote: "I was also highly disappointed in this book. I didn't even think the twist was that good. It felt cheap and I felt cheated as a reader. I was more angry than anything else."my feelings exactly
Women can be shitty people who do terrible things. In the past women were only ever depicted as virtuous and moral. So think depicting women as shitty people shows the complexity of women. I by no means am making a case for this author because this book was trash. The only thing that it had going for itself (like you stated) was the plot twist and that was something that completely pissed me off. The timeline was not linear and if that was what the author was going for it definitely was done poorly. Ugh just writing this makes me want to change my rating from 2 stars to 1 stars. This book was utter trash.
I think I’ve just read too many psychological thrillers that I’ve figured out the formula. I predicted the plot twist pretty early into it. Then I spent the next few hundred or so pages hoping I was wrong just so I’d be blown away and the book would be redeemed. I was not wrong...
MeaganCM wrote: "Women can be shitty people who do terrible things. In the past women were only ever depicted as virtuous and moral. So think depicting women as shitty people shows the complexity of women. I by no ..."i agree that women can be bad - i just found the women in this to be totally uncomplex and without nuance
Sara wrote: "I think I’ve just read too many psychological thrillers that I’ve figured out the formula. I predicted the plot twist pretty early into it. Then I spent the next few hundred or so pages hoping I wa..."oh i hate that feeling
Was I only confused by the narration? I don't want to throw any spoilers... But I need to ask.... so spoilers may arrise so go away!!!*
*
Was I only confused by the narration? I mean Theo's narration about his wife affair, thought it was sync with our story not it was kinda old. I hope you get what I mean. That's why I didn't enjoy the twist. Because I felt kind of misleaded. Although, everytime there is first person narration I am more careful if I read the true facts or just the point of you.
I gave 4 stars because I enjoyed it till this point.
I completely agree with this review!
Katerina wrote: "Was I only confused by the narration? I don't want to throw any spoilers... But I need to ask.... so spoilers may arrise so go away!!!*
*
Was I only confused by the narration? I mean Theo's..."
i was confused too!!! it wasn't neat / clean as a twist at all
Katy wrote: "I completely agree with this review!"woo but also :(!
Emma you should read Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent, imo it's a good thriller.
This book was boring I physically had to stop myself falling asleep while reading it. I swear it could double as sleeping pills
Carol wrote: "Emma you should read Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent, imo it's a good thriller."thank you for the rec!!
Aisha wrote: "This book was boring I physically had to stop myself falling asleep while reading it. I swear it could double as sleeping pills"lolol
I felt the same way! It was all about the twist – nothing else. I felt like other thrillers I have red I’ve been more about events leading up that kept my interest..
I read this book yesterday. The ending was so unticlimatic, so lame. It was a huge "Ugh!" to me.
the narration is not confusing lmao, the chapters are literally labeled diary otherwise it’s not
In the book, it was stated the “woman” kissing Theo was blonde. In the kitchen. Which was Alicia. But her hair is orange. All in all the book was slow, extremely slow up until you’re 80% through it.
You’re right, but what scared me most was thinking how many people in my life do I really know? How many are doing crazy shit that I’ll never know about, people I trust even.
100 pages in and I'm quite bored
I felt the exact same thing. This review spoke to me way more than that book 😅
