The real impact comes not in flash or drama, but in the quiet, methodical way in which Michaelides lays bare the innermost workings of his characters ... an outstanding debut crime novel that forges its own path, delivering intelligent character study and masterful plotting, all wrapped up in hypnotic writing from which you won’t want to tear yourself away.
What begins as a mere mystery transforms into a thriller delving into the psyches of patient and therapist. In a final climactic chapter, it is shockingly shown how alike their shared experiences are ... The Silent Patient dramatically proves no man is an island and whatever happens in one person’s life may in turn affect another, for better or worse.
Would you judge me if I said I did not see the ending of The Silent Patient coming? That I read all 323 pages of Alex Michaelides’s best-selling psychological thriller and did not deduce the twist until he wanted me to (page 304)? And that I still did not understand the hows and whys until he fully explained, in elementary-my-dear detail, the convoluted psychology at play (pg. 312)? ... a deft thriller that will surely cost you sleep as you try, and fail, to put it down ... The plot of The Silent Patient, with my limited experience in the genre, felt fresh to me. What did not—what I’d certainly seen before—were some of the novel’s hacky horror tropes ... Trite scenes pop up throughout.
Impressive ... I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the psychology at the centre of the story, but The Silent Patient is intelligent, imaginative and a terrific read.
With a nod to Greek mythology, art, and love, debut novelist Michaelides effectively blurs the lines between psychosis and sanity. Multiple story lines are told with a writing style that combines past diary entries with present-day prose, becoming more tangled as they weave together, keeping readers on edge, guessing and second-guessing. The Silent Patient is unputdownable, emotionally chilling, and intense, with a twist that will make even the most seasoned suspense reader break out in a cold sweat.
The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen ... While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud ... Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
