The Silent Patient -- Alex Michaelides [Full Book Review] [Spoilers Second Half] [CC]

A therapist working with a convicted murderess becomes obsessed with the question of why she has not spoken since the crime 7 years ago.
0:00 Intro
1:37 A psychological thriller
2:39 Mental health portrayals
4:19 Patient and therapist
SPOILERS BEGIN
8:05 The ending
11:02 Broader investigations
13:02 The not-so-silent patient
14:02 Outro
Goodreads: / the-silent-patient
StoryGraph: app.thestorygraph.com/books/8...
Twitter: @mikegreads / mikegreads
Goodreads: / mike
Facebook: / mike-g-reads-104046585...

[@cuspaudio]

I think the silent patient title refers not only to Alicia but also to Theo. Not in the literal sense but he had suffered trauma in the past and recieved therapy, so to me he is the silent patient. To me this book is all about the suffering both main characters endured and the outcome is whay happens when this previous traumas re-surface an shape both their actions.

[@HerHomeschoolHomestead]

I agree! Absolutely. I did not think of this. Thank you for shedding light on it.

[@bristidas9640]

I absolutely agree with this. Theo was ever more silent than Alicia, just not literally. Theo never had the courage to confront to people he knew. He went straight up to Alicia to warn her about Gabriel, but never ever said anything to KATHY??THE ACTUAL TRAITOR IN HIS STORY? I was not much happy with the phsycological reason behind Alicia being silent, given the title 'SILENT patient'. Was she really silent? Or all she did was just not SPEAK VERBALLY.

[@HShravzP]

Agree to this. There was enough hype to get me to read. The writing was fast paced so i breezed through in couple of days. I was "meh" about the twist near the end of the story. Something we have seen in many other movies or other stories before. I guess 3.5 or 4 out of 5 is enough for this book.

[@kennethfharkin]

I did not like this book. I am an avid reader though not typically of this type of material. Other than the earlier Thomas Harris books, and a collection of Sherlock Holmes books I have never been a Mystery/Thriller type of reader. My favorite books have been Shogun by Clavell, Lonesome Dove by McMurtry, and Dune by Herbert. That said there are several ladies in my office who have a book club and after joking with them about other books they have used for their club I decided to give in and read this one to partake in an upcoming discussion. I am very much an engineer and the glaring errors of this book jumped out at me making enjoyment difficult. SPOILERS I can see the "twist" being effective but the narration needed to be entirely different to pull it off without being phenomenally contrived. For us to buy this twist we need to accept that Theo, who narrates the book in first person, was lying as the narrator from the very start regarding his purpose for visiting the Grove to work with Alicia. That is nonsensical. Everything in his narration indicates they have had NO CONNECTION until his initial meeting with her. This should have been handled in the third person so we were not inside Theo's head. Being inside his head would mean we knew why he was there because he knew why he was there. Additionally the author takes great pains to write in a manner that has Theo going home from the Grove each night to the unfolding mess of his marriage. There is ZERO indication of a time jump. This makes the "ah ha!" reveal late in the book nonsensical and pulled purely out of his ass. What makes a twist have IMPACT is when the clues were there but subtly woven into the tale so that we did not see them. That was not done here. The depiction of a facility used to house and care for psychotics with a history of murder and extreme violence was absolutely asinine. Our introduction to the hulking, brutish, thug Elif is her hurling a broken pool cue like a spear into a group session. What type of facility of this nature allows violent psychotics access to weapons? On the subject of Elif, she is an abject example of the author's prejudices. She is crude, violent, irrational, and mean. She has no redeeming traits. On the opposite side of the spectrum is Diomedes who is cultured, erudite, empathetic, and talented. Elif the Turk is a lowly brute while Diomedes the Greek is the most positive character in the book, beyond reproach in every way whose only flaw is how nice he is. This means little to one who is not observant of the subtext here. To pick up that subtext you need only look at the author, a Cypriot with clear Greek leanings. Look into the history of Greece, Cyprus and Turkey to get the subtext. Also note that nobody save the murdered Gabriel takes more of a beating than Elif who is almost murdered by Alicia twice along with her eye being gouged out. I get it, you hate Turks. Perhaps write a book where you don't work out your prejudice with a sledgehammer. Alicia has a diary that she somehow brings into the secure psychiatric facility for psychotic murderers and NOBODY HAS EVER SEEN IT. Seriously, this was missed by the police when they would have ripped this house apart upon the murder investigation and by her admission to the Grove where there would have been a full body cavity search and all possessions closely scrutinized. Any diary would have been completely reviewed from beginning to end by police and psychologists as part of the insanity defense as well as before admission. Theo is the most incompetent therapist ever. The idea that he would immediately disregard the opportunity to review all the notes of those who have worked with Alicia previously then fumble about with trial and error to make a connection is ludicrous. By page 10 it was clear the way to get her to communicate was with her art. How the hell has it taken a facility of psychologists and therapists seven years and half the book to figure this out? Oh that is right, the person in charge of the "art room" doesn't like Alicia's are because she is jealous... contrivance after contrivance. Theo's wife and lover magically teleport through a hedgerow to have sex but he cannot make it through although he can hear them... Perhaps that was his insanity or perhaps it happened, one does not know and never will. Either the affair was in his head or it was real, or it was real and he expanded upon it in his head. By the end though we should know. How the hell is there an illicit drug trade taking place in the, once again, secure psychiatric facility for murderous psychotics? NOTHING would come in to any of them, this includes money, without scrutiny and there is no reason for them to have money so... no drug trade for cash. The above are clear indisputable issues with the structure and mechanics of this tale within the world we live in and this book is based. Now as far as taste goes... Almost every character other than Alicia and Theo is a pitiful two dimensional image meant to serve as placeholders. Even the two main characters are abysmal people for whom I have little care for due to their abject stupidity at every turn. I guess this book is based in the 1990s with flip phones because at no point can an actual photo be taken by anyone despite constant spying and observation. The repeated harping upon true love, damaged pasts, etc. was nausea inducing and it came constantly from all angles. It is safe to say I disliked this book.

[@Sunflower-lv9iu]

Yes. I even thought Theo had DID personality disorder when halfway thru the book I figured it was him. Just thought he wasn’t aware of what he had done and that another one of his personalities had done it, but as you say it’s just nonsensical.

[@janicemacintosh5804]

I finished reading this book and promptly forgot about it. 2/10 and that’s being generous. There was nothing memorable at all.

[@sohelysajleen4904]

I really agree with you. Theo already knew Alicia killed her husband+why she became silent from painting's mythical story as Theo himself created that situation..So why Theo constantly pricked Alicia to talk,to say something?! This seems so silly,no logical purpose. Besides,For whole Time Alicia's diary how could she save up from doctor's,police's investigation in jail/hospital? Moreover no Alicia's stuffs were allowed even to get Attached!I didn't get why Alicia handover the diary to Theo as Alicia already recognized him. Theo seriously told other staffs,members that it was not suicide attempt,someone tried to kill Alicia.where Theo already knew it was him from the first place. It was like he wanted to get caught up again doing blah blah not to get caught!!!

[@arbazsayed]

The book is hyped, just finished the book and shocked by the ending but it didnt lived up to the hype. Definitely not the best thriller.

[@mikegseclecticreads]

Yeah I hear you, it's hard to live up to that much hype. I thought the atmosphere wasn't bad for suspense, but then it kind of fizzled out in the second half when he leaves the psych ward to go around interviewing all the suspects

[@ankitakumar9181]

I didn’t get why did she hand over her diary to Theo when she had recognised him already

[@taylaswiff7785]

May be she wanted him to know her mental state at that time and it somewhat answered his question like why she murdered her husband...

[@kresnawirdana]

But my next question is why did he have to return the diary back to her considering it could be lost or stolen. It would be safe for him to keep it to himself.

[@ShannonsChannel]

Getting ready to start this book so I stopped at your spoiler alert but enjoyed your comments on it and looking forward even more now to read it.

[@mikegseclecticreads]

Nice, I hope you enjoy it!

[@ShannonsChannel]

@@mikegseclecticreads Me, too. I'll be sure to do a review of it when I've finished.

[@kresnawirdana]

It reminds me one of Christie's book The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Somehow, I already suspect it would yield similar conclusion in the second half of the book.

[@MulattoMayaa]

great vid!

[@Troy-ol5fk]

I'd love to see your videos about Emily st john Mandel novels, she also likes telling a story from different perspectives

[@mikegseclecticreads]

I haven't read any of her novels yet but I've had my eye on them for a while ... I definitely am thinking about reading and reviewing one! Any recommendation for where to begin? (I think Station Eleven is the one that's mentioned the most, but I know she has a few popular novels.)

[@LongdogBookReviews]

Really enjoyed this review! The time jump was the part that really got me. I didn’t like thr book- too many plot holes and red herrrings- but I think the time jump was done well, since Theo never actually mentions Alicia when he goes home to Kathy.

[@mikegseclecticreads]

Thanks! Yeah it seems pretty unanimous in the comments I've received that most people like parts about the book, but find it doesn't quite live up to its reputation.

[@sohelysajleen4904]

Theo already knew Alicia killed her husband+why she became silent from painting's mythical story as Theo himself created that situation..So why Theo constantly pricked Alicia to talk,to say something?! This seems so silly,no logical purpose. Besides,For whole Time Alicia's diary how could she save up from doctor's,police's investigation in jail/hospital? Moreover no Alicia's stuffs were allowed even to get Attached!I didn't get why Alicia handover the diary to Theo as Alicia already recognized him. Theo seriously told other staffs,members that it was not suicide attempt,someone tried to kill Alicia.where Theo already knew it was him from the first place. It was like he wanted to get caught up again doing blah blah not to get caught!!!

[@kleesmcdonald5140]

I just finished it, I mean it's readable but not the best people overhype the book too much so I have a big expectation but j was disappointed by it, especially the diary part like who the hell would write a diary like that

[@jillywonker]

Hi Mike! I have similar thoughts shared on my review of this book. I did find the twist okay, but I don’t think the novel lived up to the hype, I think it would work better as a movie. I just uploaded my review if you want to check it out.😊

[@mikegseclecticreads]

Just checked out your review, it's a good one!