Some okay ideas in it but I'd recommend staying away.This book is #98 in our 2022 Top 101. But nobody wants 8 hours of pompous voices to listen to. Both characters are incredibly pompous, so maybe that's what they were going for. The female voice for Alicia's extracts is quite annoying, and so is the narrator for Theo. I won't spoil it, but it's disappointing, and Alicia's silence is really unconvincing. I read to the end not so much out of enjoyment for the novel, but because I wanted to know what really happened. We didn't pick the book up to read about a failing relationship. 'The Silent Patient' is quite a misleading title, and the vast majority of the book revolves around the much less interesting subject of Theo's relationship with Kathy, an intensely annoying character.

Come on, who's going to continue to write in their diary when you're under attack? There's no miraculous reason for Alicia's silence, which I think is a big factor in getting the reader to keep on reading. 'He's coming in, I can hear someone downstairs, they're here!'. The diary extracts read a bit like Pamela (again, in a bad way) with some ridiculous bits. At times it's laughable (in a very bad way). In other words, the author did some cursory research on it and then tried to make a book revolving around the subject. Theo, the psychotherapist, doesn't seem to have much understanding of therapy at all. But it's a disappointment - spend your money elsewhere. There's been a lot of hype over this book, which was the reason I went for it. It is a gem a holiday from the smut of popular culture. Perhaps not everyone will enjoy it because it is an introspective experience, but it is such a breath of fresh air in comparison to other popular literature that is churned out using the winning formula of sex, money, greed and revenge that leaves me feeling dirty afterwards even if it is entertaining. Wonderful book and really good narration. I hope his other books are as good, because I am going straight back to buy more. it feels cathartic in a way that is also surprising. The plot is at the same time both familiar and surprising. He writes simply with a gentle clarity and no wasted words, in a way that is respectful towards the reader, the subject matter and the characters. Every single one of them relatable, and every viewpoint engenders empathy. The characters are developed so well that they feel real to me. I was thoroughly immersed in the plot which is woven so subtly I hardly realised how good it is until it had drawn me in.

The story starts at a gentle pace and gradually reveals itself to be an astonishingly good book in every respect.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides