Absoli absolutely loved this book - it was brilliant! . I often found myself holding my breath and even though I Raced through it - I didn’t want to finish it! Definitely going to be reading more from this fab new author

This was an “edge of your seat” type read, the kind of book that you end up being annoyed with real life social plans for happening and interrupting your time with. Five stars!

Intelligent thriller with creepy One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest vibes. I read this pretty fast to find out what had happened or would happen. I didn't see the actual twist coming though I had suspicions of several unlikeable characters; it's definitely not a cosy,Christmassy read. If you like your novels as cold and dark as the bleak widwinter though, this is a great choice. Madness, jealousy, revenge: it's all in here with a few tortured red herrings to throw you off the scent - have fun guessing which is which!

This is a real gem of a psychological thriller. Alice is the eponymous silent patient who has been residing at the Grove since she was accused of murdering her husband. It has been six years since the event, and she hasn't uttered one word since that day, her only communication has been via one painting. Theo is the psychotherapist who is determined to break through her silence and find out what really happened on that fateful day and unlock the secrets that the painting holds.

I was completely drawn into this book that is told from Theo's perspective, and later with excerpts from Alice's diary. There are peripheral characters that add depth and provide potential clues as to what happened on the day of the murder, but the intrigue of the book lies in the relationship between Theo and Alice. Is she a cold blooded killer playing a long game? Is he her knight in shining armour, come to rescue her from false imprisonment? Is she a severely dysfunctional woman? Is he blinded by his fascination with Alice and vocational ambitions? These were the questions that flitted through my head as the book progressed, and I was never quite sure until the final chapters what the truth really was. It's a great reveal at the end of the book, and I would never have guessed that this is a debut novel.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Thanks to Orion books and netgalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.
What a great story, very skilfully woven. It wasn’t until the last few pages that I saw the significance of the two story elements woven together. I was engrossed in the story of the psychologist helping his patient and didn’t see his problem as being an historic one. The Ancient Greek tragedy was used skilfully to support the unfolding of events. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone who likes a good mystery.

Absolutely thrilling.
Totally amazing
Completely hooked
Had no idea how the story was going to unfold,.
It as so many twists and turns you just won't see the end coming.

LOVED IT!!!!!!!

Thank you netgalley, Orion and Alex Michaelides for allowing me to read and review this book.

Alicia is an artist,who shoots her husband 6 times, then refuses to speak. Theo is a psychologist who has been interested in Alicia's story for a while, so much so he applies for a job in the institution she is in and becomes her therapist.

The book is told from both Theo and Alicia's viewpoint. I dont know why,but I continually thought Theo was a female character which kept confusing me!

I really enjoyed this book,there's a lot of psychology in it which I found interesting. The grand finale is a little far fetched but cleverly done.

I hadn't heard of this book when I requested it but as a psychologist the premise interested me and I was very happy to receive an Arc through Netgalley and the publisher - so thank you to them.

This is absolutely a page turner and it will be a bestseller. Going between two points of view, it grasps your attention from the start.

Alicia a famous painter, is arrested after being found beside the dead body of her husband who she has apparently shot (in the face 5 times). We get her viewpoint through her diary, She is silent throughout her trial and thereafter and is sent to a psychiatric unit for treatment. There she makes no progress whatsoever - until the other point of view, Theo, comes along.

Theo is a psychotherapist and is a little bit obsessed with Alicia. He leaves his job to take up a post at the unit where Alicia is being treated and is assigned to her case. Somehow he seems to get through to her and we begin to understand that all is not how it seemed. The resolution of the story is genuinely surprising and I say this as someone who reads a lot of psychological thrillers - I did not see that coming. Full marks for that.

As I said this is a page turner but it is not perfect. For me the scenes in the psychiatric unit and around Theo were just not plausible. He seemed to have unlimited time to go and interview members of Alicia's family etc and to have no other case responsibilities whatsoever. I don't think so. Having said that, this is a very enjoyable read and I will certainly look out for more from this author.

Despite the fact that it hasn’t been released yet, you may have already heard buzz about The Silent Patient. Set to be one of the biggest thriller debuts of 2019, this book has so much hype surrounding it already. I can’t claim to be an expert on the thrillers, but I absolutely love reading them and find that a great thriller can be one of the most rewarding reading experiences for me. So did The Silent Patient live up to the hype?

I don’t want to give anything away, so this review will be pretty short. The answer to my above questions is that, well, no. It just didn’t live up to the hype for me. That’s not to say that The Silent Patient isn’t a good book -- it is an incredibly well-paced page turner that will keep you reading late into the night -- but I didn't think there was anything incredibly unusual or groundbreaking about it. This probably has more to do with my expectations than anything else. The way it is being marketed made me think that it would be a genre-redefining book like Gone Girl was. In reality, The Silent Patient is a pretty standard thriller with the standard twists and turns that a reader would come to expect. My reaction to the big, twisted ending was ‘huh, interesting’ and nothing more -- I certainly didn’t see it coming, but it didn’t blow me away. I feel that if The Silent Patient was published 3-5 years ago, it would have been a much more explosive book for me.

I liked the characters in this book well enough, particularly Theo, but I didn’t get too attached or invested in any of them. There was something about Alicia’s characterisation that unsettled me, and I don’t think it was intentional. She feels like a hot, empty vessel for the men around her to react to. In this way, she felt so flat and one-dimensional when she should have been intriguing and fascinating. I think this kind of female character just isn’t for me.

Overall, The Silent Patient is worth your time -- it is a fun read and will pull you in. But is it the next big thing in the genre? Probably not.

I am excitedly reading the ladt pages of The Silent Patient at 5am one morning because I have to find out about Alice Berenson and whether she did murder her husband and why as well as lots of other questions which have arose.
Silent she may be as her Therapist’s patient but her story is told through her Therapist Theo who is keen to help her.

Full of suspense with Agatha Christie-like characters who all possibly could be lying or telling the truth this story kept me guessing and wanting more. I was gripped from the start and the unravelling of this murder mystery is kept tight until the end. Thrilling!

Those of you who follow my blog or are a member of THE Book Club on Facebook will know that I suffer from chronic FOMO and despite having over 400 books on my kindle, when a new book is being discussed over on Twitter and all the bloggers are literally salivating over it and the publishers have allowed some of them to read the sampler and it appears the entire blogging community are involved EXCEPT ME, I immediately contacted the delicious Ben Willis of Orion and said those 6 little words “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?”. Obviously he does and immediately sent me a copy of this book which I started reading and devoured in a day.

It’s taken me almost a week to write this review because I genuinely don’t know how to put my thoughts down and give this book the justice it deserves so I shall start with the basics. It’s a psychological thriller, so you know to expect a twist or two along the way and therefore I’m not even going to mention twists.

The story is about a famous painter, Alicia Berenson who kills her husband Gabriel, a famous photographer by shooting him point blank 5 times in the face when he comes home late from work (yes I know, we’ve all been there) and then she basically stops talking. Staying absolutely shtum, not uttering a word Alicia is sent to a secure unit in my childhood home town Edgware where she remains THE SILENT PATIENT for years.

Then we meet Theo Faber, a young criminal psychotherapist who is obsessed with this case and feels he can help Alicia talk about her crime and why she did it. So, when an opening at the secure unit comes up he grabs it with both hands and starts his journey to uncover the truth and be the “hero” who can get through to Alicia and get her talking.

The story unfolds through Theo’s point of view and then through Alicia’s journal which she was keeping up until her husband’s murder. A fascinating and totally addictive story which kept me turning those pages (actually I was swiping my kindle but it sounds better the other way) faster than a contestant on Who Wants to be A Millionaire Faster Finger First.

I’m not going to divulge anything more, except there comes a point in this story when I had to STOP reading, take a huge breath and tip my hat to the author and think “Holy Motherf*cker, I did NOT see that coming”, and from that point onwards I read the book with a wry smile on my face, shaking my head in admiration and respect to Alex Michaelides for creating a story which I believe will be HUGE when it is published next February 2019.

Just in case you weren’t sure – YES I LOVED IT. 5 HUGE STARS from me and totally recommend it to everyone who loves dark, psychological thrillers.

I am fairly new to this genre and am enjoying discovering new writers. The Silent Patient started off very well and I really liked the writing style that flips between the patient 'Alicia' point of view retrospectively via her journal. To Theo the criminal psychotherapist who is drawn to Alicia and is determined to help fix her at any cost.

I was reading this very happily and with 20% to go I was thinking that this book is a good three stars, and then 'BAM' the story really picks ups and takes you somewhere else entirely! When I finished the book (late at might I must add) I just could not stop thinking about it. It was a very good ending indeed. Any book that still lingers in your mind afterwards is a good book I think!


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this in exchange for a honest review.

The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides (pub. Orion Books)

“ I don’t know why I’m writing this.” Begins the prologue to The Silent Patient, and do you know what, that is pretty much how I feel typing up this review. For there are no real words, other than “Go and beg, borrow or buy a copy” that you need to know.

The book tells the story of silent patient Alice Berenson, who is under the care of psychotherapist Theo Faber, following her conviction for the brutal murder of her husband Gabriel. Alice hasn’t spoken since the day of the murder, but Theo feels he can find a way through the silence to get to the truth of what really happened that day. And this is what drew me into the book, the desire to know what the truth was. Told through the voice of Theo, we’re drawn into his both his professional life at The Grove, and his personal life with wife Kathy. And it is primarily through his sessions that we become familiar with Alice. There are intermittent diary entries from Alice throughout that transform her from the silent patient into a more rounded, likeable and animated character.

The characters are written in a controlled way that meant that I had complete faith in Michaelides’ words, and was more than happy to just relax into the story and enjoy it. And what a story it was; nothing was rushed, it felt like a naturally opening bud rather than forced scenes that shatter when you think about them too much. As usual, I will give nothing away, but I do just have to say that the ending did not disappoint - it’s blooming marvellous, really great. Please do put this on your to-read list you’ll love it.

Oh this was a page turner! I loved it and just kept wanting to know what happened. Was she mad or not? And the shocking twist came out of the blue! Highly recommend @NetGalley@TheSilentPatient

3.5 stars
This book was good but I didn't love it. For me personally, there was nothing special or memorable about it. It was well structured, quite well written and I must admit that I didn't predict or guess the main twist. I found the setting of a mental institution interesting but there wasn't really enough detail of it for me. I liked the link to Greek mythology and thought it was rather clever how it all came together at the end. However, the characters didn't have much depth and the plot felt a little contrived, with many lines that were there just for the purpose of red herrings and had no baring on the story.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Orion Books publishers for the ARC.

I read this book over 2 sittings and could not put it down it was so amazing.

This is a crime thriller with a twist at the end that you absolutely don't see coming. Theo is the psychotherapist intent on solving why Alicia has become mute since she was found with her husband Gabriel's body. Did she do it? Will Theo ever work out what has traumatised Alicia so much? Is she innocent?

The author makes many twists and turns throughout the story, they develop the characters in such a way that you form sympathies with them and want it all to turn out good and let there be a happy ending. I would compare this to the girl on the train. I really didn't guess what had happened and found that the ending was perfect. It didn't leave me disappointed at all as some crime thrillers do. I give this 5 stars and will definitely recommend to friends.

Although I’ve read and experienced these type of twists before in other books I have to say that this authors premise was excellent.

I loved that it was based in an Asylum. Around disturbed mental health patients.

Alicia is an artist, a painter.
Gabriel her husband.

When Alicia is found by her husbands body all clues point towards her as the killer. But Alicia is silent.
She neither speaks, or defends herself.
Did the shock or terror make her loose her speech, has she frozen? Or doesn’t she want to speak?
What lays behind the mystery of Alicia?

The Grove where she remains in care has not been able to break through. Can Theo the new Carer break through and get her to talk?

There are twists within twists in this subject matter that I did tie in and guess, but I couldn’t think why until it was revealed then a light bulb went on in my head OF COURSE!

Reading this carefully, slowly and devouring it without haste to pass onto my next book I found that I chewed over the workings of the authors mind in this.

I wondered why the person who was caring for Alicia was acting like a detective! Of course it all makes sense in the end. As with books like this so carefully woven must be carefully read and never rushed. You need to sit, chew and enjoy the tasty bits.

For those that read psychological thrillers it will appeal to you. It may not be new in its stinging tail of twists but it’s cleverly done and for that I appreciate my enjoyment of it.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides a five-star read with more layers than an onion. This was one of those stories that will have you wondering where the rug that beneath your feet five seconds ago has gone, it has it all drama, mystery and wonder, throw in a who done it and you have it all. Even those who always see the end six steps away will never see this one coming, there are twists a plenty and each is more dramatic than the last. This is definitely an author to look out for you need this novel in your life.

Just finished reading this last night, and eeeeeeeeeeee!!!!! THAT TWIST!!!!!!! I never, ever saw it coming (thank God, because I normally always do and it totally ruins the reading experience for me), and I just sat up and actually yelped with pure delightttttt. LOVE this thriller. I'm not usually a crime and thriller reader because of how I always guess what's what far too early on, but this one is written so exceptionally well, truly. There's an air of authenticity about the whole thing, too, and you're sucked in 100% from the opening sentence. Normally too much hype can RUIN a reading/viewing experience because you set your expectations sooo high. But that moment the twist was revealed (ack, just wait till you get to it!!!) was the best feeling everrrr, and instantly justified all the hype. Remarkable achievement, truly well written––and superbly executed. HIGHLYYYYY RECOMMEND!!! :-)

This is quite the unsettling read but it comes with a brilliant twist and not one I even hazarded a guess at!

This is a tale of mental health and jealousy - it definitely becomes a page turner.

I recommend you read this book :)