“Yikes” might be the most accurate word for this read. Granted, I knew going into it, thriller and mystery books like this have a high fail rate in my eyes. It was better than Michaelides other book, The Maidens, but pretty slightly. In fact, the books are so similar I was confused. Theo Faber and Mariana Andros suffer similar paternal abuse, find solace in the same therapist, Ruby, have the same job (psychotherapist), and have the exact same thought processes. I couldn’t differentiate between the two, Michaelides was practically continuing The Silent Patient’s narration.

Ignoring the jarring similarities, the book independently had various flaws. Plot holes, too many red herrings, and unrealistic characters sank its teeth deep into this read. Broad diagnoses and inaccurate psychology information was everywhere, something a 17 year old like myself could notice easily. “Every abuser must’ve been abused in childhood” isn’t true factually, and only served to remind me of male, white murders being historically defended instead of sentenced. Without spoiling, the read felt incoherent and so lost in its own plot twist. The writing simply wasn’t immersive.