The Silent Patient features Alicia Berenson, an ordinary women who seemingly had a good life until she murders her husband, Gabriel, by shooting him five times in the face. As her case is further investigated, Alicia refuses to speak or utter a single word throughout it all. Theo Faber, a psychotherapist, is eager to figure out why Alicia committed the crime she did, and why she chooses to remain silent. As he dives deeper into his investigation, he comes across various relatives as well a diary that belonged to Alicia herself. But can he trust his supposed witnesses? Can he trust Alicia when she finally speaks her truth? The more closer Theo gets to Alicia’s case, the more secrets and lies he will uncover.
I really enjoyed this novel, which is a statement that I do not say often. The pacing was perfect and the story kept me engaged throughout. The book left almost every character as a suspect but the true mystery left me even more surprised (I kind of guessed it 2 pages before it was revealed so I’ll give that credit to myself). I have to admit, I was a bit confused with the timelines at first and then I reread the book and realised I was just stupid. Needless to say, all the characters felt alive and I loved the different personalities that were featured on the page. The novel dives into a little bit of mythology and psychology as well as the whole aspect of betrayal. It was really interesting to read and I loved how there wasn’t a single aspect of the story that was left unsolved. I honestly really enjoyed the main character and how complicated he was, as well as Alicia mostly because we get her perspective solely through her personal diary entries. Overall, this book will make you think and feel accomplished when or if you connect the dots. For me it was right before the mystery was revealed but it might be a different case for someone who actually has an attention span!