The Silent Patient (Book Review)

I've always almost depended on bookstagram, booktok, or a friend in helping me pick a book to read. Most of the time, I read a book based on what someone who've read it said about it, or an edit i saw on bookstagram or booktok.
Yeah, I've tried picking a book myself, but I usually end up picking a book that I won't like, and then leave it unfinished.

But when I see a continuous edit about a particular book online, and I think it's something I'll enjoy, I read it. Although, not all from online ends up being good. But most of the time, they are good.

I've always been a romance girlie (dark romances and soft romances). It was only about a year ago. I developed a likeness for psychological thrillers. The first book I read with a psychological thriller genre was "The Housemaid by Freida Mcfadden".

So, yeah..... I was scrolling through Instagram that day when I came across an edit on the book "The silent patient." It said, "convincing you to read the silent patient." I read people's comments, and I said to myself, "Yeah, this might be a thriller I'll enjoy."

Dear readers, the book I'm about to review is The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides.

Thriller. Mystery. Suspense. Crime. Are the major genres of this book. It's a 368-page book.

This book actually started off really strong. Fascinating and mysterious right away. For me, it was just a 7 hour read that kept me intrigued until the very end, and of course, the bombshell 💣 came at the very end.

As I read the last few chapters, I was like "wait, wait, what..... what just happened?" And then my mom who was sitting near me at the moment, looked at me with all seriousness and worry asking what happened.

I laughed 😅 and assured her its nothing serious. But it was actually something serious, it was like my brain was in a rollercoaster ride trying to comprehend what I was just read. (My brain worked overtime that day 😅🙃)

So guys, The books tells the story of Alicia Berenson, an artist, who was found standing by the fireplace in her apartment, with her wrist slit open and her husband, dead, tied up to a chair and shot five times in the face, his brain matters on the wall.

Alicia was accused of killing her husband but no one really knows what happened, or if she really was the killer, because Alicia never spoke a word after what happened.

She said nothing even when she was taken to court and accused, she didn't plead innocent nor guilty. She was then taken to a hospital to receive treatment.

They believed that she had refused to talk because she was still in shock but years passed by, without Alicia saying anything at all.

Theo Faber, a psychotherapist, left his job and transfered to The Grove, where Alicia was being admitted, even though the place was already a sinking ship because he was interested in Alicia's story and wanted to help her.

He thought, he could get her to speak again, to say what really happened that night and if she really did kill her husband.

What comes after, is the search for the truth of what really happened between Alicia and her husband.

I was hooked from the beginning of the book, because even I was interested, to learn more about Alicia story. How her husband was murdered. Did she really kill her husband. And why she had remained silent 🤫 🤔.

The end was a plot twist I didn't see coming at all. Believe me, you'd be shocked too. Maybe those of you who have read a number of mystery thrillers, would have likely known the truth earlier than some of us but it was still so enjoyable. Well, it was, for me.

I had a lot of suspects and suspicion in mind but I was not prepared for how it ended. The author actually worked in pointing our suspicion in the wrong direction. Like when Theo, was investigating Alicia's family - her cousin, her aunt, her gallery manager and even her brother in law. I was actually suspicious of them all.

I can't really give more than this, because this is a book that depends on you being shocked by the twist. Believe me, it's undoubtedly an incredible book.

The book is worth reading in every way.
I was really satisfied and pleased with how Michaelides chose to close the book. I don't regret picking the book to read after the edit I saw on Instagram about it.

Overall, it was beautifully written and I'm still reeling from the ending. It's definitely worthy of a reread. 😌😊

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IMAGE ABOVE IS A SCREENSHOT FROM MY GALLERY

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