THE SILENT PATIENT — BOOK REVIEW
“The Silent Patient” is a psychological thriller novel written by Alex Michaelides. It unravels the story of a woman named Alicia Berenson, who is accused of murdering her husband, Gabriel. Alicia refuses to speak or explain why she committed the crime, and she becomes known as the “silent patient”.
The story is narrated by a forensic psychotherapist, Theo Faber, who is determined to unfold the mystery behind Alicia's silence and uncover the truth about what happened on the night of Gabriel's murder. Here, the author lays bare the complexity of the human psyche. Artfully painting a picture of the inner workings of the human mind and the many factors that can influence a person's thoughts and actions. Suggesting that people are not always fully aware of their motivations, there are often deeper psychological issues.
As Theo begins to work with Alicia, he becomes obsessed, an obsession that clouded his judgments and led him to make questionable choices while trying to uncover secrets from her past that may hold the key to understanding her motivations.
The author delves into the theme of love, its power, and its ability to both heal and destroy. Love plays a central role in the novel, and it is depicted as both a positive and negative force. On the one hand, it can be a powerful motivator and a source of healing and redemption. On the other hand, it can also lead to destructive behavior and lead people to do things like grabbing a gun and pulling the trigger six times on their husband's faces.
When I came across a picture of this book on Olivia Sose’s Instagram page, with the caption, “I was awake reading this book until past 2 AM this morning. I couldn’t keep it down, it’s the kind of book that sucks you in and hold you bound until you finish it”. I didn’t think I would be one to read a book past midnight, but Olivia was right, I had to force myself to close the book around 3 AM.
The suspenseful and twisty style of the author kept me guessing until the very end.
