Alice LeFae's Blog: Book Reviews with your pal LeFae

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


It's a shame to me that such an interesting plot with, what I'll admit, concluded in a pretty good twist, was handled by such an inept writer.

This is not to say that his writing was bad- I understand he has experience writing screenplays, and I think having actors portray his work would go quite a long way to improving the emotional experience. As it stands, the characters in this book were quite unaffecting and one-dimensional. I read this book to the end out of idle curiosity, not a burning thirst for answers. Furthermore, despite his background in psychology Michaelides only handles it in the broadest of terms. I'd be more inclined to believe that this book was written by someone who had only just looked up the Mirriam Webster definition of "psychotherapy" and then found a few supplemental quotes online.

These are only a handful of my qualms with this book. I found myself muttering under my breath quite often while reading this book. Always the same phrase- "no shit, buddy." Consider me entirely underwhelmed.

Perhaps Michaelides only needs to shake off his screenwriter past in order to press forward and become a stronger author- time will tell and with a twist as interesting as this one, I'm willing to give him that chance. I'm not, however, willing to give him more than two stars.

P.S. If a person believes their life to be in immediate peril, they will not continue journaling through it. If someone broke into your house and held you at gunpoint, would you continue scribbling away? Just a thought for all you authors out there considering using a character's journal entries to tell their story.



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The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


If nothing else, this was a passably enjoyable read. Its biggest failing was a cast of entirely unlikeable characters. It is unfortunate that the most potentially likable characters do not receive hardly any attention from the author- instead, we dive headfirst into narratives of the worst of the bunch. The writing is good, but the plot is sadly predictable. Distractions such as drugs, unsettling outsiders, and an unrelated serial killer only serve as halfhearted red-herrings- like an informed but misguided addition of tomatoes to a fruit salad.



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Breathe My Name by R.A. Nelson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Frances Robinson is Not Like Other Girls. For one thing, she's painfully quiet. For another, her mother tried to murder her when she was seven.

Breathe My Name comes so close to being a good book and falls short in its inability to settle on a motif. Many interesting elements are presented throughout the book with huge potential for a payoff, but instead of reincorporating these elements the author drops them entirely. A lot of these elements pertain to character growth- does Frances get better at asserting herself? No. Does she learn to have more faith in herself? Possibly, but again, arguably, no. Does she forgive her mother, even though it doesn't feel entirely earned? Unfortunately, yes.

Loose plot threads aside, the romantic aspect of the book also leaves a lot to be desired. I would argue that this would have been a much more compelling read altogether if, instead of going on a possibly deadly road trip to confront her insane mother with a boy she only just started dating, Frances instead went on this road trip with her incredibly patient and selfless best friend, Ann Mirette. Instead, she bonds with new boyfriend Nix through shared trauma and exposing him to all the nitty-gritty details of her deep dark past. Hey, Frances, you've only known him for like a month.

Still, Breathe My Name is not without its charm. Despite a few poorly structured sentences which inhibit the flow of the story, there are several chapters that are quite beautifully and evocatively written.

Ultimately, this book has a promising concept but could use a few more rounds of rewrites.



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