I have mixed feelings about this one. It was good to be back in this fandom after reading TMI, however, I expected something a lot more different. I was told the storyline and the characters are way better, well...they were so wrong.
on the one hand, there were some character I quite enjoyed reading about. Such as Henry, Charlotte and maybe Jem to some extent. The plot twist at the end was pretty good too. But... I cannot find ant other positive comment about this book :(
 on the other hand, there are plenty of things about this book I didn't enjoy:
1. I gained close to nothing by reading this book. It could be summarized in 50 pages and I wouldn't have missed anything! 
2. there was no character study. I still don't know anything about the characters. There were just dialogues between them, and not very good ones that could tell me anything about them...
3.  it was like I was reading TMI all over again. A girl belonging to the shadow World without her knowledge and come across it when looking for a beloved one. A betrayal from someone in the institute. The handsome boy who hates himself and ready to fall for this girl...
4. and for the worst part, not a single question was answered in this book! Who is Tessa? What is Tessa? Who are her parents? What is the magister's plan? What is will's story? And so on...
 

I truly hope the second book would be better than this.
      

        It has been a while since I couldn't put a book down... This book was amazing!!
I might have some criticism about Leigh Bardugo's writing style, but that has nothing to do with the great story and characters.
And JESPER!!! MY NEW FAVORITE CHARACTER
      

        It's funny the decisions you make because you like someone, and then your whole life is different. I think we're at that weird age where life can change a lot from small decisions.
 
اولین کتابیه که تو این سبک خوندم واسه همین نمیتونم بگم خوب بود یا بد. شخصا لذت بردم تا حدودی ازش.فضای کتاب خیلی  افسرده و غمگین بود ولی برای سلیقه من. کتاب  تاثیرات آدما تو زندگی هم دیگه چه خوب چه بد رو قشنگ توضیف کرده بود.
داستان خیلی مهمی نداشت. اتفاق شوکه کننده ای نمیفته توش و هیچ پند اخلاقی ام نداره که  دوس داشتم این یه موردو.
صرفا درباره دوتا ادم با زندگی کمی تا حدودی عادیه که در طی سالیان همدیگه رو تو زندگیشون پیدا میکنن.

فکر نمیکنم زیاد سمت این کتابا برم دوباره. ولی تجربه جالب و عجیبی بود خوندش
      

        It was such a cliche fantasy...and yet an interesting one.
The ending and the rapid pace of the story were a bit disappointing for me, but I guess that is because I should've read this book when I was actually a young adult!
      

        I feel like I'm missing something
There were too many plot twists for my liking, and so many things were left open.
Legend's identity doesn't sit right with me AT ALL
      

        Where there is milk, there is hope

I don't know how to say this, but Neil Gaiman has a way with words that I enjoy so much, no matter the story.
I mean, just look at how he talks about dinosaurs extinction:
All the dinosaurs have gone off into the stars, leaving the world to mammals. 
For me, no one can top his storytelling
      

        Death is the mother of beauty

Amazing ending, terrible narrator!!!

Before I start the real review, I need to say this: NOT ALL WRITERS ARE GOOD AUDIOBOOK NARRATORS! Listening to the audiobook of this book was the worst part of the experience for me. It was like she is reading the most boring newspaper EVER.

But about the book:
I started this one with high expectations, and soon I found myself disappointed. The pace was too slow for me, there was no actual cliffhanger there and it was very descriptive. So, for someone like me who is not interested in classics and is used to fictions with good and bad sides, the book was somewhat boring! 
However, after a while, I could see the writing style. It was a diary like, written by a highly unreliable character (which the author did a fantastic job in showing it). There was no actual "good and righteous" character in this book. It wasn't about solving a murder mystery. It was simply about a murder.

What are the dead, anyway, but waves and energy? Light shining from a dead star 

One of the most interesting thing about this book is how confused I was after it! The line between fantasy and reality is a blur. I still don't know what exactly happened and if Richard's dream at the end was real or not.
I think I just added one start just for the ending!! the moment that Henry killed himself and the story was finished, I finally understood!! Donna Tartt did not mention anything about the characters and their actual thoughts and feelings throughout the story, which was actually quite helpful for this ending. You don't realize what is real to each character, you will never know the reason behind their actions, and I really enjoyed that.

Overall, not being a fan of detailed descriptions of actions and surroundings, I still think the book was too long for such a story (22 hours!) but I am glad I did not drop it and finally finished it. Totally worth it!
      

        You were interesting today, hija. Interesting! You played in a way that kept us all glued to the TV.

 It's very hard to describe how I feel about this book, but the quote above is pretty much what this book was to me. The book, much like Carrie herself, was not lovable, but interesting AS FUCK!
Carrie Soto Is Back is purely about tennis, almost no drama, or any strong plot. Which I cannot say that I enjoyed
Also, there was way too much Spanish in it, WITHOUT TRANSLATION. It pissed me off sometimes cause I thought I was losing some part of the story.
But regardless, as always, Taylor Jenkins had me hooked till the end. Her writing and the way she describes events and her characters are always interesting to me. 

Talking about the characters! Although I really didn't like Carrie for the tantrums she threw whenever she heard something she didn't like or lost a game, (I mean come on you're 37!) but I kinda found it very reasonable considering how she was brought up!
But the peak of the character development was at the end! I LOVED THE ENDING!
Sometimes, you will not change unless you have to, or you've lost the thing that describes you, And that is exactly what happened to Carrie Soto
      

        Well, that was...disappointing.

The Idea? GREAT
The writing? WEAK
and the rest was kind of a disaster...

There was no reason behind many actions, and the pace was just SO SLOW! I think 4 chapters is too long for setting the scene.

The plot twist was interesting for me, though the explanations were not convincing to justify some of the actions that took place

Overall, it was such an average book that made me think about DNFing the rest of the series...
      

        This book reminded me why I enjoy reading so much...
      

        This was the most teenager romantasy book I've ever read.
But I enjoyed the ride!
      

        روند داستانو دوست دارم تو این مجموعه. سرعت کتاب خیلی مناسب اتفاقاییه که میفته به نظرم. 
اینکه همه ‌ی اتفاقا کم کم میفتن تا هرکدوم به یه نتیجه برسن اخرای کتاب خوب نوشته شده و پلات توییستا جالبن.
      

        I won’t let your ignorance silence my pain

I loved the idea, I HATED how it was written. It also hit a little too close to home.

I always find these west African fantasy ideas so cool. How different clans have different magic and their own god or goddess and how most of it has a slight dark theme.
I really liked that it was not just a soft young adult fantasy and people actually died and got tortures in it! That is how it happens in the real word you know?
The books started very good. But slowly the main plot was pushed to the side and the love story became bold. There was a lot of romance, lots of fights and barely anything about the main story.
Also everything was kinda predictable? like the concept was new(-ish) but the quotes or the romance or most of the things that happened was somewhat cliché!

 “Your people, your guards—they’re nothing more than killers, rapists, and thieves. The only difference between them and criminals is the uniforms they wear.”


I mean, look at this quote! I like it due to personal reasons that IYKYK, but this is such a common thing. The book was filled with these stuff.

I hope I enjoy the second book more than this one
      

        Despite the first book, I liked this one!
The pace was much faster, and a lot of things happened
Unfortunately, almost none of them were crucial to the storyline I guess...
I still don't know what to make of this series. I like the idea but after reading 2 out of 3, I feel a trilogy was not a good idea and was too long because it has so many fillers and side stories
      

        I have so much to say about this book. 
But why? Why doesn't she speak?
I think what you need to understand is that this question, is THE ONLY question in the book. I realize it now. We assume Theo wants to understand what exactly happened that night. But the truth is, he is seeking to answer this one question.  He already knows what happened. He was there.

Looking at the big picture, it was an amazing book, it kept me on my feet and did not get boring. The one thing that amazed me was the Author's style of writing. author: Alex Michaelides was on point with this book. He avoids unnecessary descriptions. Even though I still cannot imagine the places and the faces presented in the book, I kinda like this feature. Made me feel like reading a fanfiction of a fandom I already am familiar with the characters. Like… a script or something. But not in a bad way. 
And at the end of the book, he didn't try to explain what happened in details and wrap it completely, he didn't need to. 
I really liked the plot twist, I could feel there was something wrong with Theo and his personal life from the beginning, it was like the distances he walked did not make sense or something? 
The more the story was developed, the more my mind was screaming unreliable narrator!.
However, the time difference between the two stories was still unexpected to me! And the fact that there was no trace of misleading or distraction along the story just made it way better
But the details..., from the very beginning, there were so many little mistakes when it came to little things. How could anyone smoke so easily in the Grove when it was said that they can't have any lighter on them?
How could Alicia be injected enough to fell into a lifetime coma and still be able to write so vividly about Theo and the night of the murder?
Also, there were so many characters that didn't have any contribution to the story, and boy were the characters the most stereotype ones I have ever read!

Overall, although The Silent Patient was not at any level a well written book, I enjoyed reading this book a lot. The drawbacks were not a big issue for me to drop it or be disappointed in it.