Book Review: THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides

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THE SILENT PATIENT by

Alex Michaelides

B&B RATING: 5 / 5

MOOD: If you’re looking for something you just can’t put down and grips you unexpectedly, this one is for you.

Synopsis

Alicia Berenson, a renown painter, is living her dream life with her steamy husband Gabriel, a high-fashion photographer. The two of them make a striking couple, turning heads wherever they go. You can smell the sex in the room whenever the two are around each other. That is, until one day Alicia snaps and shoots her husband in the face at point-blank range. Now, Alicia is locked up in The Grove, a psychiatric facility, as she has not uttered a word since the police knocked down her door that fateful night. Her silence has been puzzling to everyone and anyone, no one can make her talk.

Theo Faber is determined to change that. A psychotherapist at an upstanding institution with his whole career ahead of him, Theo decides to jump at the opportunity to treat his dream patient: Alicia Berenson. Theo leaves his sparking career for The Grove which is under constant threat of being shut down. He is determined to help Alicia speak, and the two are set onto a twisting intermingled path that will forever bind the two of them in the most uncharacteristic of ways.

Review

I was obsessed with this book from the first few lines I read. I needed to read it, and a book is worth 5-stars to me when it consumes your thoughts. Not only was I thinking about this one during the day, I DREAMED of it the two nights in between finishing it. I had a hard time focusing on other things because I knew something big was afoot with this, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

The ending I didn’t see coming at all. It was a slow-burn with the stories interwoven so well, with just enough backstory of the characters to keep me enthralled. I was on the edge of my seat with each page turn wondering when the shoe was going to drop. The way that Theo and Alicia were brought to life in the book made me feel like I knew them, like I had known them my whole life, despite having only been acquainted with them a few days. The writing was evocative, making me feel all sorts of emotions all of the place, never quite settling on one.

Drink Pairing:

A glass of sauvignon blanc, mixed with a bunch of chocolate to help you cope.