What can I say about The Silent Patient?
Everyone was recommending this book and talking about how shocked they were by the mind blowing twist, so I was looking forward to reading it. However, I was underwhelmed.
The story was slow and I couldn’t get into it; usually I devour these sorts of books in one sitting but as very little was happening, my attention wandered and I actually found it quite boring. However, I persevered because I was curious about the ending.
I came up with three possible theories (within the first couple of chapters). After discarding the idea that Alicia was actually the psychiatrist (and treating Theo, the patient), I was still convinced about the other two. Turns out they were both right… And then the whole story seemed a bit pointless, because only his arrogance would have led him to wanting to make her talk!
Although I guessed the ending, many people haven’t so I will give some credit to the author. That said, it’s a shame Michaelides didn’t spend more time on the rest of the book, making the events more plausible and filling in the plot holes (and correcting a few typos – but we’ll blame the editor for those). Parts of it showed a distinct lack of research into the subject, as well as an old-fashioned view of mental health, women and the practice of psychiatry.
The concept for this book was there, but the writing was dull and not engaging. Few of the characters were believable, in fact they were static and listless; I just didn’t care what happened to any of them.
Sadly, I won’t be recommending it.
Everyone was recommending this book and talking about how shocked they were by the mind blowing twist, so I was looking forward to reading it. However, I was underwhelmed.
The story was slow and I couldn’t get into it; usually I devour these sorts of books in one sitting but as very little was happening, my attention wandered and I actually found it quite boring. However, I persevered because I was curious about the ending.
I came up with three possible theories (within the first couple of chapters). After discarding the idea that Alicia was actually the psychiatrist (and treating Theo, the patient), I was still convinced about the other two. Turns out they were both right… And then the whole story seemed a bit pointless, because only his arrogance would have led him to wanting to make her talk!
Although I guessed the ending, many people haven’t so I will give some credit to the author. That said, it’s a shame Michaelides didn’t spend more time on the rest of the book, making the events more plausible and filling in the plot holes (and correcting a few typos – but we’ll blame the editor for those). Parts of it showed a distinct lack of research into the subject, as well as an old-fashioned view of mental health, women and the practice of psychiatry.
The concept for this book was there, but the writing was dull and not engaging. Few of the characters were believable, in fact they were static and listless; I just didn’t care what happened to any of them.
Sadly, I won’t be recommending it.