Literary Kitten

Wow! Okay! The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. A book that has over 2 million ratings on Goodreads. One of the most popular books of the last 5 years. People (like me) are still picking this up every day to form their own opinions and perspectives! It’s divisive, yet it’s widely loved. When it comes to people whose opinions and ratings I respect and follow, the reviews came up as a mixed bag. I was intrigued to find out if I would love or hate this popular thriller. 

Interestingly enough, I asked my partner to choose five books off my shelf they thought I would rate five stars (just based on vibes and the blurb) and they happened to choose this novel! So I just had to know at this point: what will be my verdict? (their five books will be revealed in a blog post once I finish them all, keep an eye out!)

There were things I liked AND disliked about this book.

Let’s start with what I liked:

-In the beginning of the book, I really enjoyed the writing. There are certainly some noteworthy quotes and I enjoyed how Michaelides writes about mental health. Reading from the perspective of a psychotherapist is fascinating, something with which I don’t have much experience. I tend not to pick up books taking place in any sort of psych ward/mental health unit. It’s just not something I gravitate towards. However, I really appreciated how Michaelides talks about therapy and how he makes that type of setting a bit more captivating for me. 

“We are made up of different parts, some good, some bad, and a healthy mind can tolerate this ambivalence and juggle both good and bad at the same time. Mental illness is precisely about a lack of this kind of integration – we end up losing contact with the unacceptable parts of ourselves.”

-The mystery of Alicia is what drove a lot of my engagement with this story. Alicia is a very intriguing character, probably the main reason anyone picks up this book; why is she silent? I enjoyed any interactions our main character, Theo, had with Alicia and I almost wish we got to spend even more time with her. Theo is also a great, nuanced character which I enjoyed reading about. Theo’s perspective has much wisdom to offer… and not always in the best way (people who have read this book will know what I mean haha). 

“You know, Theo, one of the hardest things to admit is that we weren’t loved when we needed it most. It’s a terrible feeling, the pain of not being loved.”

-And what do you really want to know about this review? The twist? How did I feel about it? Well I loved it. The twist really carries this book for me. Anyone who says they saw it coming, I’m like HOW? I had some guesses that were kind of close, but definitely not what ended up happening. I think this book is worth reading because there is a reason the twist is hyped up. There are some good and bad things about a twist being so hyped up, but for me, it worked. 

Okay… now what I DIDN’T like: 

-Sighs, alright. You know how I said I love Alicia? The character of Alicia is so intriguing, the motivation of the story. Well… I didn’t love how things ended for her. I also wasn’t satisfied by the reason for her silence. This is a spoiler-free review, so I will keep it minimal here by saying: I appreciate the connection Michaelides makes with Greek tragedies, but overall that conclusion fell flat for me. 

-Although I loved the writing in the beginning half of this book, it fell off for me at a certain point. What started off with beautiful, quote-worthy lines, ended up feeling more rushed and like less care was put into it. This isn’t to say the writing is bad, I just felt like at some point it deteriorated.

-Okay my biggest gripe with this book: Theo spends the majority of this book interviewing people associated with Alicia. We learn a variety of things about these people and we assume it will somehow lead somewhere.

Minor spoilers here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!: ⬇⬇⬇⬇

none of it means anything. We are taken on this journey and the majority of this book is just a huge distraction. The ending explains why we were taken on this journey, but it still led to an unsatisfying reading experience in that way. Like I said, the twist really carries this thriller, but when you are including a big twist in your story, I think it’s still important to make our stops along the way meaningful.

The author was heavily inspired by Agatha Christie (whom I love and have much experience reading), which I learned through his Goodreads, and that partially explains to me why there were so many misleading distractions. The problem is: Agatha Christie is so good about making these distractions a necessary part of the huge web she makes, whereas Michaelides almost made no attempt to weave these distractions into his web by the end. 

-end of minor spoiler-

Overall, I ended up in the middle of the road for the book. The twist was enough for me to view my reading experience fondly. I love Alicia, I love the painting imagery, I love some of the quotes here; but overall her conclusion fell a bit flat for me, and the side characters fell extremely flat.

“Somehow grasping at vanishing snowflakes is like grasping at happiness: an act of possession that instantly gives way to nothing.”

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Song: Human Behaviour by Bjork

originally posted on: January 29, 2024 (on previous site)