⚠️ cw: murder, mental health issues, self-mutilation

One evening when her husband Gabriel returns home late, Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk turns a domestic tragedy into a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations and a search for the truth that threatens to consume him.

Girlie pop book club book for this month! This was a super quick read for me and I read it in two nights. The story was fast paced and kept me turning the pages to get to the bottom of what happened, and I loved the plot twist at the end! I loved the symbolism of snow throughout the novel as the unattainable fleetingness of joy and happiness for Theo. Themes of empathy and boundary setting for therapists and patients were also well explored, both in Theo’s relationship with his own therapist and his relationship with Alicia, and he straddles the fine line of empathizing with his patient’s mental state and embodying her emotions as he tried to understand her. I also really enjoyed how the novel took on destiny versus tragedy with how interwoven the Greek tragedy of Alcestis, and how the plot almost mirrored that of Alcestis with Theo almost becoming a tragic hero. I really enjoy the incorporation of Greek mythology in Michaelides’s works. This was a great thriller filled with twists and turns that also employed some great literary themes and devices.