Good Evening All,

What a beautiful day it has been. We’ve been blessed with some beautiful weather over the last week or so and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. Although we’re still confined to our homes, sitting outside and taking time to just do nothing has been awesome. 

Book 📖

I’ve had The Silent Patient sat on my TBR list since it was released but have never gotten around to reading it. I realised this week that I have maxed out on Audible credits (no driving anywhere means I don’t listen to audiobooks) so I decided to go for it and use one on this book.

Description 🔖

Alicia Berenson is a patient at The Grove. She shot her husband Gabriel and since doing so, hasn’t spoken a single word. No amount of therapy or drugs seem to help her. 

Theo Faber is a psychotherapist and is convinced that he can help Alicia. He gets himself a job at The Grove and pitches for Alicia to become his patient. The more he works with Alicia, the more he reveals a darkness within her but will he get her to speak? And if he does, is he prepared for her truth?

General Thoughts 🤔

The concept of this book really interested me. I was intrigued to find out how Alicia’s story was going to be told given that she herself will not/can not speak. I wasn’t disappointed and I think that it was done brilliantly. 

I got deeply drawn into the notion of those that work in psychology, themselves having struggled with their own demons. Theo obviously has his own troublesome childhood that he’s still working through as well as his adult problems and I think I got distracted by that. It threw me completely off the scent of the truth and it wasn’t until I could look back retrospectively at the story that it all made so much sense. 

Characters 👫👭👬

The characters in this book are so complex, I don’t know where to start. 

I battled with myself on my thoughts about Alicia. I wanted to know if she couldn’t speak or wouldn’t speak and I’m still not 100% sure of the answer. I feel like maybe at times she couldn’t and at times she wouldn’t. One thing I am certain of is that she was always conscious and always absorbing her surroundings. 

Theo was a really interesting character. He never glossed over the fact that he was fighting his own demons and that made me question whether that put him in a stronger or a weaker position to help Alicia or other patients. 

Writing Style ✍🏽

I loved the way this story was written and narrated. The perspective is split between Theo and Alicia (Alicia’s perspective being from the past). Hearing Alicia’s story from the past didn’t reconcile with the Alicia I heard about in the present and it just made me want to know more and more about how she got to her current state. 

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

 I really enjoyed this story. I was constantly questioning throughout and that’s what keeps me hooked on a book. I’d definitely recommend the audiobook if you’re into them. The narration is fantastic. Fabulous story telling with a fantastic twist. 

😍😍😍😍😫