Spoiler-Free Review
I rarely review audiobooks, but I enjoyed The Silent Patient enough that I felt I needed to share. If you’re looking for your next mysterious thriller with a big twist, this is the one. I can confirm it’s hyped for good reason.
What’s The Silent Patient about?
Theo, a criminal psychotherapist, is determined to unravel the mystery of Alicia Berenson, a patient locked up for murder who refuses to speak – even in her own defense.
This was highly entertaining.
I was hooked from the beginning of this audiobook, and found myself listening to it for longer stretches of time than I realized. There’s something about the POV of the psychotherapist that was just so intriguing – not only did the narrator do an excellent job, but I found myself interested by the psychological analyses, as well.
“We are drawn to this profession because we are damaged – we study psychology to heal ourselves. Whether we are prepared to admit this or not is another question.”
In fact, I liked this audiobook more than I would have liked reading the story with my eyes. I’m not very keen on expository writing styles, and this was very much that. The main character was telling us the story more than showing us. I have a low tolerance for that kind of thing, and usually finding myself zoning out while reading exposition. But with a narrator? Excellent. It actually worked so well for the audio.
“No one is born evil. As Winnicott put it, ‘A baby cannot hate the mother, without the mother first hating the baby.’”
And the twist. It was very cleverly masked, and I didn’t connect the dots until right before the reveal. It was definitely a gasp-worthy moment.
Should you read The Silent Patient?
I recommend this to fans of psychological mysteries with big twists. If writing style is important to you, as it is for me, then I definitely recommend the audiobook over the physical book. It may not be for you if you prefer a fast-paced plot.
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2 responses to “The Silent Patient: Solid audiobook”
I’m currently reading this book, the story is good and it is full of so many great quotes.
Yes, the blend of mystery and psychological elements was so on point!