I just read The Teacher by Freida McFadden and gave it 4 stars
The book was good, but I hype myself up too hard for these psych thrillers
hhh
Synopsis:
The Teacher follows a woman named Eve who’s a (you guessed it) teacher of high school math. She’s not a loved teacher, and she’s crotchety, but she takes her job very seriously.
Eve is married to Nathaniel, a teacher at the same school who is very loved by both his students and his staff. Eve is 29 and Nathaniel is in his mid to late thirties. As a way to cope with her loss of control, she buys designer shoes often and that’s a point of contention between the two of them when he sees the credit card. (She’s also cheating on him with a shoe store salesman, so there’s that).
Her frustration comes from the lack of sexual attention from her husband, and her insecurities on what people may see when they see them together. She thinks people wonder why they’re together.
Eve is worried when she finds out a student named Addison is in both her and Nathaniel’s classes that year, because another loved teacher was recently fired for inappropriate behavior with her. She swears it never happened, and he swears she’s trouble. Eve believes him and becomes especially irritated when her husband seems to pay special attention to Addison.
My thoughts without divulging spoilers
Books that have “shocking” twists are harder for me to review because it’s hard to share what you really think without ruining it.
I will say: I expected one twist, half expected a second twist, and fully did not expect a third twist.
Was the shocking one enough to feel like it was worth the read? Yes. I ended up on Facebook groups specifically for this book and genre that allowed spoilers so I could figure out how I missed this twist. I was sure there had to be a plot hole somewhere, but there wasn’t. I aspire to be that good as a writer one day.
I felt like the characters were sort of flat, but I also think that might come with the territory from this sort of genre. It’s not meant to be a really deep and thought provoking read, it’s meant to entertain and it did.
Addison was infuriating by the end because she was just so stupid, but what teenage girl isn’t? I also hated Eve, and when the twist came I hated her so much more. Her husband wasn’t likable either, and I think that’s what really stopped me from loving the book. Not one character was likable.
I would recommend it if you’re in a reading slump with nothing else going on and you’re trying to just get back into reading again.
Be sure to check out my novels 12,775 Days and Hometown Revenge: A Cruel Reckoning on Amazon!
Stay tuned for my upcoming YA thriller this summer! More to follow soon…
This is a working title; the final title will be similar but I just wanted to give a glimpse into the vibe!