A painter shoots her husband five times in the face, then never speaks again. A therapist is determined to find out why.
A brilliant hook, short addictive chapters and a twist that really does reframe the book, held back by flat side characters and a hospital that makes no sense. Four out of five.
Every guide comes as a video and a full written article. Pick the one you need: the review is spoiler-free, the ending explained is not.
Is The Silent Patient worth reading? A spoiler-free review of Alex Michaelides' bestselling thriller: Alicia's silence, the Alcestis painting, Theo the therapist, what works, what doesn't, content notes and my score.
The Silent Patient ending explained, with full spoilers: who Theo really is, the timeline trick, what happened the night Gabriel died, why Alicia stopped speaking, the diary in the painting and the final snowflake.
Every clue to The Silent Patient's twist was there from the first chapter. Eight hints you probably missed, from the undated chapters and 'see clearly' to the cigarettes, the man in the painting and the bullet in the ceiling. Full spoilers.
Loved The Silent Patient? Six thrillers with unreliable narrators and huge twists to read next, from Gone Girl to Verity, and how to choose between them.
Is The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides worth reading? A one-minute, spoiler-free review: the setup, the catch, and my score.
The Silent Patient (2019) is Alex Michaelides’ debut thriller. Alicia Berenson, a London painter, is found with her husband’s body and the gun, and never says another word. Six years later, psychotherapist Theo Faber takes a job at her secure hospital, determined to make her talk.
Below you’ll find a spoiler-free review, the ending explained, eight clues you missed before the twist, and six thrillers to read next.
Alicia Berenson is a famous London painter. One night, her husband, Gabriel, comes home, and a few hours later he's tied to a chair and shot five times in the face. Alicia is found next to him, with the gun.
And she never says another word. Not to the police, not at her trial, not to anyone, for six years.
Alicia Berenson is a famous London painter. One night, her husband, Gabriel, comes home, and a few hours later he's tied to a chair and shot five times in the face. Alicia is found next to him, with the gun.
A brilliant hook, short addictive chapters and a twist that really does reframe the book, held back by flat side characters and a hospital that makes no sense. Four out of five. Read it if: you loved gone girl or the girl on the train; you want one big thriller for a weekend; you love a fair-play twist. Skip it if: implausible plots drive you crazy; you've already been spoiled on the twist. Review: The Silent Patient →
Our ending explained covers the final chapters in full, with spoilers. The Silent Patient ending explained, with full spoilers: who Theo really is, the timeline trick, what happened the night Gabriel died, why Alicia stopped speaking, the diary in the painting and the final snowflake. Ending explained: The Silent Patient →
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane, Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough, Verity by Colleen Hoover. Books like it: The Silent Patient →
Alicia Berenson, a London painter accused of shooting her husband, Gabriel, a photographer; and Theo Faber, the psychotherapist who narrates and is married to Kathy. Around them are Max, Alicia's brother-in-law, Jean-Felix, her gallerist, and staff at the Grove such as the nurse Yuri and a doctor named Christian.
A self-portrait Alicia painted while waiting for trial, named after a Greek tragedy about a woman who dies for her husband, comes back, and won't speak. It is the only clue to her silence.
Spoiler-free: why do you think Alicia stays silent, and how much does Theo's own marriage color how he sees her? After finishing: did the twist feel fair, and which clue should have given it away?
Yes, if your group can avoid spoilers. It is short, fast and built around a twist that people will want to argue about. Content notes include gun violence, suicide and self-harm, child abuse, sexual assault and stalking.
The Silent Patient is a thriller by Alex Michaelides, built around a psychological mystery.
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