Looked this up to see if anyone talked about this recently and was happy to see other complaints, but it’s not enough because jfc this book was SO STUPID.
I was literally in a mental hospital for a week reading this because for some reason they decided it was a good book to let a bunch of suicide and homicide risk people read. I read it, and it was stupid asf.
This is a rant but if anyone can make the ending make sense to me- I’d be so happy. Please tell me your thoughts, even if you absolutely loved this book(because there are things to enjoy!).
I guessed what the twist was was so quickly and was internally begging for it to not be true.
So the whole time main character guy was actually cheating on his chick with silent lady, and Gabriel was cheating on her with main guy’s chick? 69 cheating??
Why.
So many points in this book seemed put there purely for a haha! Gotcha!
And then he murders her because he was stalking her the whole time and now she remembers but he was also trying to figure out who was stalking her, because he’s sooo deranged and sooo crazy he can’t remember the awful things he did, but then at the end he does.
Unless he’s just lying to the audience? But I couldn’t tell if the book was trying to be that way?
So many things in this book were hinted at but just were absolutely neglected. Like I felt like even though there was a good bit of flair and flowery writing, it wasn’t like- actually used to demonstrate anything remotely useful.
His sexual desire for silent girl is hinted at and even directly called out, and I ate that shit up because- wow so unprofessional, how unethical, how *complex*… and then it’s just kinda forgotten about.
Or his own mental Illness. Several times I remember seeing main guy refer to himself as not normal and mentally ill, and like okay cool you’re not like other girls, interesting. But I feel like that was all we got? Just him saying it and not really showing it in any meaningful way.
If it was purposely hidden because he’s an unreliable narrator- why say it directly at all?
And then the art gallery guy who loves her for her art. I’m not as upset about this because he’s a side character anyways, but I found that concept so interesting. Yet it was just kinda stated as a fact and never said again.
Regardless I enjoyed the writing style and thought it was cool reading from the perspective of a dude guy working in a mental place. I wish mine had an art teacher and an art room but to be fair it’s not a long term stay.
Just very frustrating that I found myself so invested only to just get the worst taste in my mouth- and then try to tell my cellmate that it sucks only for her to say it was the most brilliant bizarre read ever and then not like me anymore for the rest of my stay.
by Rooster_Riot
43 Comments
Look, I hated the book too. Poorly written with too many gotchas and plot points that go nowhere (like the sexual attraction and art gallery, as you said) and remain unresolved. But:
> >!So the whole time main character guy was actually cheating on his chick with silent lady, and Gabriel was cheating on her with main guy’s chick? 69 cheating??!<
No, >!Gabriel and the protagonist’s ex were the only ones cheating!<
> >!And then he murders her because he was stalking her the whole time and now she remembers but he was also trying to figure out who was stalking her, because he’s sooo deranged and sooo crazy he can’t remember the awful things he did, but then at the end he does.!<
>!He’s withholding that information for dramatic effect. In the present-day storyline, he knows the whole time that it was him, but he’s trying to figure out why she never turned him in / is morbidly obsessed with her because he’s still not over his ex. Really he’s continuing the stalking!<
> >!Several times I remember seeing main guy refer to himself as not normal and mentally ill, and like okay cool you’re not like other girls, interesting. But I feel like that was all we got? Just him saying it and not really showing it in any meaningful way.!<
Aside from >!The stalking? Believing that as a therapist he absorbs his patients’ mental illnesses in order to experience them himself? Getting hired at a mental institution specifically to interrogate the woman who he stalked?!<
The worst part, though, is that the author is a trained therapist EDIT: or psychotherapist, whichever one is not a protected title in the country where he practiced therapy (or “therapy” as the case may be) in a secure unit for minors. I forget which; I’m also unaware which (if any) is protected and which (if any) is unprotected in your *own* locality, dear reader.
That book was corny as hell, I hated it when I read it and was so bored and the twists were so lame that I didn’t even care. In fact I already forgot 99% of it 2 years later
Definitely one of the stupidest book I have read.
I can’t belive that book is so heavily recommended. I really really hate the unreliable narrator trope. Not every book needs some crazy twist.
The book would’ve been good if it was just figuring out why she killed her husband or if one of the red herrings did it.
This book was so stupid
I had fun reading it but it was definitely silly.
I LOVE unreliable narrators and this book sucked lol. I really loved that he just waltz in and seemingly within DAYS, possibly HOURS he’s working with their most infamous patient??? Would that not raise some red flags to his supervisors?? Wouldn’t he need to work for them longer before having access to her? So ridiculous.
Edit: Despite hating it, I read his other book – The Maidens. I hated it but I also recommend checking it out because it’s a good hate read.
His other book The Maidens was even worse. I actually enjoyed the Silent Patient in a kind of campy twisty way. At least from a plot structure point of view it had catharsis. But the ending to The Maidens was SO unearned. Hated it, made me so mad.
I really liked this book. Perfect by-the-pool vacation read that kept my attention and was a good enough story. Suspension of disbelief is necessary for sure though and I agree that it could’ve used some editing but it was otherwise fine.
Yes, this book was dumb as hell. Using mental illness as a scare or thriller tactic is so cringe.
I hated it too. I was expecting it to be great with all the hype around it but I just found it so incredibly predictable and the twists weren’t even twists, it was just what made sense. At the time I was like “this should just be the plot of a film not a book” and it turns out the writer is a film/tv writer which makes so much sense.
I absolutely adore this book. Gave it 5 stars not too long ago.
I feel like we read completely different books! I remember being so shocked at the plot twists, I couldn’t put it down. But I will say it was the first psychological thriller book I read -ones I read after were a bit more predictable, so maybe the genre is just very predictable.
I also vaguely remember at the end when he went to see his therapist who was now an old lady who he became friends with (that might not be 100% correct recollection), but how it was conveyed they had such a strong bond but in reality he was holding up a facade since he was a young boy. And how he learned to manipulate people into thinking the best of him, that really opened layers to his character.
In the end when the police came to get him, he left almost nothing in those moments. Like he breezed over his wedding and other life events
As someone with bpd this book grossed me out. The author wanted to write a book about mental illness and clearly didn’t do any research, only perpetuated outdated stereotypes from the 80s. It’s stigmatizing, the writing is lazy and the twist is flaccid. Like, dude, talk to a therapist or two and open the DSM5. Bothers me so much that some people are going to have their first introduction to the world of mental illness by this book. I only finished it because of spite.
I hope you’re feeling better after your mental health stay ❤️
I tried to read it after a friend recommended it to me and I couldn’t finish it. I ended up skipping to the end about halfway through and just got so mad at the twist. I don’t mind campy and contrived (I love romance and cozy mystery), but the main character was insufferable. I don’t often DNF books, but this was one
Ah, this whole time I am reading the OP and the comments and am really confused because I was thinking about the *English Patient* (who was also silent).
I haven’t read either book but I have the EP on my to-read list that’s what tricked me, lol.
This book reminded me of the dinner theater episode of bobs burgers.
“Hint: it’s nooot meeee….”
“It’s not a twist, it’s just a lie.”
The impression I had after reading Silent then trying to read Maidens is that the author wrote the books with the sole purpose of getting a movie deal. The twists are just so over the top and the plot lines and characters so poorly thought out that I can absolutely see both books being made into a made for Netflix movie or something similar.
Total shit. This book somehow convinced me that Goodreads ratings can be bought.
Apart from the logical flaws, even characterization was poor and hackneyed.
Not sure why and how it gets so many rave reviews!
Personally I liked the book, but I can see why some people dislike it. Apparently his other book, I think it’s called The Maidens, is good.
Go read the Perfect marriage and tell me which is worse
I mean, it wasn’t the greatest book ever but I found it to be a fun thriller. I feel like most thrillers require some suspension of disbelief. Though, I also listened to it as an audiobook while commuting to/from work, so maybe that made it more palatable.
Would I read it again? No. Would I recommend it to someone as a lighthearted read? Maybe.
Oh man this was the ok-est book I’ve read in a while, I literally forgot I read this book RECENTLY until I saw this post. I remember thinking “oh so THIS is what a book written by a male Colleen Hoover would be like.” I just hate reading books that give off the vibe that the author thinks they’re more clever than you, and this book just felt very pretentious idk. I did finish it, I didn’t HATE it but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else…
I thought it was freaking terrible.
It’s not just that it was bad. It had serious racist undertones.
Why was the violent crazy person who is a mass murderer Turkish? She is painted as this bad, aggressive, “massive” and purposely unpleasant character and emphasised that she is Turkish. Why did her nationality matter? Why was it important for Alex to have everyone know that this character was Turkish? Is it a complete coincidence that this unpleasant character in the novel is Turkish but the doctor at The Grove is a wise Greek man? Is it a further coincidence that the author is Greek Cypriot who has said that he lived through “the Turkish invasion” thereby personally knows of the long history of the feud between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots. The fact that he continued to paint the unpleasant character in the novel as Turkish and the wise, pleasant character as a Greek man is blatent and clear discrimination.
I hated this book so much. I gave up around 50 pages in, after yet another character was described as “good looking.” Such bland boring writing. And the therapy stuff made me want to throw it out a window. Utter garbage.
I tend to hate novels written by screenwriters because they read like pitches not literature.
It was hard to care about any of the characters.
If you want a good, albeit not modern, book set in a mental hospital, try Asylum by Patrick McGrath.
I had a blast reading it. Haven’t rifled through a book that quickly in years
Yes!! I cringe every time I see this book recommended. I somehow finished it but ended up feeling angry at myself for wasting precious reading time on something so dumb.
I’d heard from someone that it was terrible, but it was only in passing and I was wondering if I should pick it up.
Thank you for confirming that’s a no.
After losing actual time on earth to 100-something pages of A Little Life I do not fuck around with ‘bad read’ warnings
Completely agree, I thought it sucked ass. Protagonist would mansplain random psych terms, author’s voice was not compelling, characterization was weak- can’t believe it was as hyped as it was
As a counselor i literally detested it. Psychoanalytic theory is so old school and boring and the way the author focused on it so heavily made the book feel like a joke since psychoanalytic is rarely used by clinicians anymore. It was basically like someone took an intro to psych class and was like “I’m gonna write a book now from the perspective of a therapist.”
I saw that apparently the author did some work in “psychotherapy” and studied it but I really don’t buy that he had any level of expertise before writing this book- in one interview he said that he had studied individual and group therapy (not clear if that independently researching it or receiving formal training) after being in therapy himself and then his sister who was a psychiatrist at a teenage unit got him a part time job at the facility.
I despise it. Convenient plot devices that are utterly ridiculous abound. They have a pool table on a forensic psych ward. With a broken pool cue. Who the fuck provides a handy dandy bludgeoning weapon to a unit full of people who committed crimes and claimed insanity? Why were the art supplies not locked away? I have a master’s degree in psychology, so I’m not totally stupid on the topic.
This book infuriated me. Absolutely infuriated me. Most overhyped book I have ever read
Same here. It was awful. I also just couldn’t get over how misogynistic the protagonist/author was. Every female character he views as a bitch, a sex object, or a maternal figure. The writing style was fun I will concede that, but there was just so much wrong with the plot. I can respect that fiction requires a certain amount of suspension of disbelief but the author did not seem to have even googled anything about psychology or how that system works given the fact that someone’s violating patient privacy laws or committing medical malpractice on every other page. Not to mention the randomly inserted sex scenes? Or that’s how it seemed to me. I mean >!”I went back home, and Gabriel was in bed, asleep. He had a five a.m. call for a shoot. But I woke him up and we had sex.”!< What? This is now one of two books highly recommended online that I have read and completely loathed.
thank you for saying it. i hated that stupid book. i have so much unreasonable anger against that book
I hate the silent patient lol
I literally complained about this book in this subreddit not too long ago! There’s so many of us that hate this book!!!
Jesus Christ, I was in treatment for 7.5 weeks and that book made the rounds there too! I tried but it was awful.
Oh my god I spent a good 5 minutes wondering what the hell you were talking about and then I realised I was thinking of the wrong book.
The English Patient. Ffs.
Totally agree. What a nonsensical book! The reveal at the end made my eyes pop out at the sheer dumbness masqueradibg as mystery.
I absolutely hated this book. Violently. I wanted a fun thriller but this was just terribly written.
LOL, I feel you! The Silent Patient had me like WTF too. Twist after twist, but the pieces just didn’t fit right.