The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Hi there!  Today's review is book #3 of my summer reading pile, video review #2.

First off though, I definitely want to encourage everyone to participate in the West Haven Public Library Summer Scavenger Hunt.  My son and I had a really fun time crossing West Haven looking for clues, starting at Forest in Allingtown, heading to Pagels in West Shore, stopping at the beach, and ending up in the Center.  We didn't find everything, but it was nice to spend some time together.  You could certainly do the route on bikes (not this gal) or even break it up into sections over a few days and walk each district.  

I actually finished this book Monday afternoon, but I needed some time to digest and figure out how to write this review without giving too much away in the plot twist.  Theo is a psychologist with a special interest in a six year old criminal case.  Alicia, a successful artisit, was found holding a gun, her photographer husband Gabriel shot dead at point blank range.  Since his death, she's been mute.  Committed to a mental hospital, she has not spoken a word, a confession of guilt in the public eye.  Theo decides to make it a career changing goal to get Alicia to talk again.

OK, seems simple enough.  Except it's not.  Theo is also need of mental health care.  He's got severe unresolved PTSD from childhood trauma and definitely parental-relationship issues.  He admits to getting into psychology to help himself first.  But as the novel progresses, it's sometimes really difficult for the reader to decipher if he's talking about himself or Alicia or both.  They have also crossed paths before, but again I was confused at times when the plot does flashbacks and flashforwards and then to the present.  I almost began to question if the entire story was actually inside Alicia or Theo's head, or possibly both since marijuana and psychosis medications seemed to be mixed frequently, like some sort of communal trip between them!

All in all, I wasn't a fan, but I can see someone interested in psychology, criminology, forensics, or art/fashion/photography being totally into this.  I am not sorry to have ordered this for our collection and/or read it myself, just not something I personally enjoyed. 

A reminder all opinions expressed on this blog and video version of it are solely those of Mrs. W. (aka me).