There are no British cultural references and or British expressions. They talk like Americans (or what Americans sound like in a CSI episode). The dialogues/monologues came across as being incredibly silly and they make the characters sound like children. ~“ But remember, with greater feeling comes greater danger.” You two need to work with each other, not against each other.” Any aggression or competitiveness interferes with the work. But I’m sensing something… Keep an eye on it. It would work if what they spoke like actual people rather than this: Michaelides’ writing mostly consisted in a series of dialogues between two characters and it reads like a script. The descriptions she provides perfectly render the characters’ mannerisms and surroundings. The many conversations that her characters have are witty, amusing and or entertaining. ✖ I like Agatha Christie and she has what I would call a ‘dry’ style of writing. ✎ THE WRITING ( idiotic dialogues + inane monologues + ham-handed metamorphoses + a complete lack of a sense of place)

I will try to tackle what I personally thought were the major problems this book had ( for me, personally): The Silent Patient is a really flawed piece of work. This reads more like a incredibly unbelievable script. In short: Calling this a novel seems somewhat misleading.

This book seems to me yet another weak attempt of jumping on the domestic thriller bandwagon. The book hinges completely on its “twist”, a twist that (view spoiler)

There is no suspense, no mystery, no tension, none whatsoever, zilch! The psychology in this one is…well, the depiction of psychiatrist and psychotherapists is at best, laughable, at worst, ignorant. Just because The Silent Patient has a “twist” that doesn’t mean it should be labelled as being a psychological thriller. I didn’t hate The Silent Patient but I did find this novel both ridiculous and incompetent. However, since Goodreads allows us to express and respect our different opinions I don’t see any harm in being honest. I’ve been a bit hesitant about writing this review since the majority of readers really enjoyed this debut. ★★✰✰✰ 1.5 of 5 stars (rounded up because this is a debut so…)

The silent patient back of book