The Silent Patient

I found the book a fast read that kept me intrigued from beginning to end, The ending certainly was a surprise . The book was a bit dark for me, so my rating reflects that. The book starts out about Alicia Berenson, she was written as an intriguing character, although initially I didn’t like her and found her boring. She is a talented painter and happily married to her husband, Gabriel. They live in London and have a cozy life. She has a great art studio, which I did admire and would enjoy myself, and she is a sort after Artist. Why would she want to murder her husband, she seemed too benign to me as a reader. The novel is narrated by Alicia's psychotherapist Theo Faber,  He seems unnaturally determined to find Alice within herself and help her. The book weaves you in and out of the lives of Alice and what may have created her silence. I really liked this phycological thriller as I avoid many due to them generally using women and children as victims . Yes Alice was a victim but the book was more thriller and mystery than crazy violent. It kept me reading and that’s a good thing. This book was a page turner once I got stuck into it. I loved how the story was developed and I liked the final twist and ending of the book. This ending was a surprise to me although I did get suspicious that something was wrong but not enough for me to be too suspicious and I got tricked, which is what I enjoy in a Novel. I was surprised this was debut I thought it was well put together. It was fast moving with a dark dubious atmosphere. Theo Faber was an interesting character on the surface he was caring and a straightforward loving husband. But you knew something was amiss but what. I really enjoy how this story weaves together Theo’s work with the famous murder, his life and love of his wife. The way the seperate stories were told created an intriguing story. The twist at the end surprised me, and the reveal was handled in a very intelligent way and it was an interesting reading experience. The book was dark but not too dark and I found that helped me enjoy the book so much more. I don’t enjoy torture and gore particularly if it includes Children and women.

Such a thrill! Didn’t see the ending coming and could not put it down. My favorite psychological twister in a long time

In my younger years I was a keen diarist, having been inspired by 'The Diary of Ann Frank', as well as encouraged by a great English teacher in high school. I was hooked straight away by the opening pages of 'The Silent Patient' which reveal parts of one of the two main characters, Alicia Berenson's diary. For the majority of the novel Alicia remains silent. Her voice is not heard, other than in the sections of her diary. The second main character is Theo Faber, a Psychotherapist, who sought employment at The Grove, with the intention of becoming Alicia's therapist. The novel is as much his story as it is Alicia's. I must say that I did not anticipate the twist at the end and immediately wanted to go back to the beginning to see how I could have missed the clues!

THE ENDING🥹😤 so good

After reading books that were 800 pages long, this one felt like a breeze. I loved how short the chapters were. Page 303 and 304 were the biggest plot twists ever. This whole time I had thought that Theo’s wife was cheating on him in real time while he was working with Alicia but it was him telling a story from the past. I loved how the book brought attention to the impact of childhood trauma. (Alicia’s father “killing” her on the roof and then her husband doing it again.) I wish that we had Kathy’s POV on this. Does she know her husband played a roll in killing her lover?? In the end, she is clearly depressed which is ironic because while trying to save their relationship and Alicia from her cheating husband, Theo has destroyed his wife. What does the snow symbolize in the book? Peace? Does Theo feel peace after getting caught? Peace from childhood trauma? The lines between patient and therapist were crossed so many times in this book. Theo showing up to Ruth’s house unannounced (while covered in his own blood after he cut his hand while reading Kathy’s emails). He shares a cigarette with Alicia. He also shares his personal life and childhood abuse with her and states that their lives are getting too intertwined and he’s not sure if he’ll be able to depict his story or feelings from hers. The fact that this could all happen in life DID make me a little🤏🏼 nervous. Putting the blame on different people in the psych ward was genius because it took the attention away from Theo. Would read more from this author ◡̈