The Silent Patient

Author: Alex Michaelides
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Rating: 3 out of 5
Pages: 336
Date Started: 19 March 2023
Date Finished: 26 March 2023

The Silent Patient was also recommended by Goodreads and a couple of my friends. The storyline sounded interesting and I had lost a couple of chances to read it earlier! And here I am, having completed it in March of 2023!

Excerpt: (from Goodreads) - Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

My Review:

The book began on a promising note, immediately capturing my interest and holding my attention throughout. I particularly admired the author's approach of keeping the cast of characters minimal and focusing on the core narrative. This decision eliminated any unnecessary subplots or characters that can sometimes detract from a story. However, while the book was compelling, I couldn't help but feel that it was longer than required. Despite its length, the ending managed to catch me by surprise, which is often a hallmark of a good thriller. Nevertheless, it's a common challenge with many thrillers that the ending might not always live up to the buildup, and this book was no exception. In the initial stages, I was drawn into the mystery surrounding Alicia Berenson's crime, eager to uncover the reason behind her actions. However, as the story progressed with its limited cast of characters, I began to feel somewhat lost in the narrative, struggling to see where it was leading. The twist in the story was indeed difficult to anticipate, which added to its allure, but the final outcome left me somewhat unimpressed. In summary, this book is a solid choice for those who enjoy a well-crafted mystery, with its tight focus on characters and plot. It manages to keep you engaged, but be prepared for an ending that may not fully satisfy your expectations.

Favorite lines from the book:

• Mental illness is precisely about a lack of this kind of integration - we end up losing contact with unacceptable parts of ourselves.

• Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later, in uglier ways. - Sigmond Freud

• Rage is a powerful communication.

• About love. About how we often mistake love for fireworks - for drama and dysfunction. But real love is very quiet, very still. It's boring, if seen from the perspective of high drama. Love is deep and calm - and constant.

• One of the hardest things to admit is that we weren't loved when we needed it most. It's a terrible feeling, the pain of not being loved.

• Remember, love that doesn't include honesty doesn't deserve to be called love.

• Sometimes it takes courage, you know, and a long time, to be honest.

• I suppose what scares me is giving in to the unknown.

Wish You Were Here

Author: Jodi Picoult

Genre: Fiction

Rating: 3 out of 5

Pages: 310

Date Started: 16 March 2023

Date Finished: 19 March 2023

Many people have recommended this book and the author. I got this book from the library several times and never got to it! Finally, got to the book!

Excerpt:

A deeply moving novel about the resilience of the human spirit in a moment of crisis.

Diana O'Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world. She's not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos—days before her thirtieth birthday. Right on time.

But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It's all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes.

Almost immediately, Diana's dream vacation goes awry. The whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father's suspicion of outsiders.

Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself—and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different.

My Review:

This book offers an effortless reading experience, with a captivating storyline that kept me engaged. However, I couldn't help but feel that, once I finished it, the narrative left me wanting more substance. One of the standout aspects of the book was the author's exploration of near-death experiences and the impact of medical procedures and medications on the human mind. The blurred lines between lucidity and reality were skillfully depicted, adding depth to the story. Nevertheless, I found the character of Diana's decision-making process less convincing. It was a challenge to understand her motivations fully. It seemed as though she had everything she desired in her life, yet her contemplation of her choices following her recovery from Covid felt somewhat contrived. I grappled with whether she had been unhappy before or if she simply lacked a clear sense of what she wanted in life, falling prey to the allure of new opportunities that came her way after her ordeal. While I can appreciate the author's perspective on the protagonist's indecisiveness, I remained somewhat unconvinced about her character development. In conclusion, this book provides an easy and engaging read with a thought-provoking exploration of near-death experiences. However, readers may find themselves questioning the depth of the protagonist's decision-making process, which could affect their overall satisfaction with the story.

Favorite lines from the book:

• When you are surrounded by desert, it's inconceivable to think there are places that flood.

• That was how I learned that the world changes between heartbeats; that life is never an absolute, but always a wager.

• The idea of being by yourself on a desert island has a romantic cachet to it, but the reality is less attractive.

• How come the people who don't even notice you exist are the ones you can't stop thinking about?

• The point is, if someone abandons you it may be less about you and more about them.

• There are two ways of looking at walls. Either they are built to keep people you fear out or they are built to keep people you love in. Either way, you create a divide.

• When you are stuck in heaven, it can feel like hell.

• You don't have to be afraid of dying, when you are already dead.

• I can no longer tell the sky from the sea, but I can hear the waves. A loss of sight; a gain of insight.

• There are experiences our brains probably forgot on purpose, so we don't have to suffer through them again.

• I've already learned today that caretaking is not a quid pro quo, that if someone neglects you in your past that doesn't mean you should abandon them in their future.

• You can't plan your life, because then you have a plan. Not a life.