The Teacher by Freida McFadden
The Teacher by Freida McFadden
Published by Poisoned Pen Press on February 6, 2024
Page count: 400
Genre(s): Thriller, Mystery, Psychological Thriller
Find it on Goodreads
Rating: 4 stars
Summary
After a student-teacher scandal the previous year ends with a beloved teacher losing his job, everyone is wary of high school student Addie at the start of the new term. She lies, she cheats, and she’s dangerous–or is she? Math teacher Eve believes there’s more to Addie’s story–and Addie will do whatever it takes to keep her secrets.
Likes
Writing style: McFadden’s writing style is engaging and fun, and The Teacher is no exception. Her books are fast reads for me. I only had this book for about a week due to my library’s policy on certain copies of popular books, and I flew through it. Definitely a great way to beat a reading slump.
Dual-perspective: This is a dual-perspective narrative and I don’t know about you, but those can sometimes read as if there’s only one true voice. Not The Teacher. Eve and Addie’s voices are inherently different, which should be a given considering one is an adult and the other is a fourteen-year-old high school student. Logic, reasoning, thought processes, etc., all read in an age-appropriate manner. I could truly imagine Addie as a young teenager who’s been through a rough time and just wants to be as inconspicuous as possible in her school. This is definitely one of McFadden’s strengths in all of her books: she really brings characters to life and that makes the story engaging, despite being somewhat predictable.
Eh
I don’t want to use the term “dislike” here because it feels a bit… harsh. And really, the book is well-written to the point where I could push past the parts I didn’t love with very little effort.
A bit predictable: Something that fell into this category was the predictability of a major plot point. Maybe it’s because I’ve read so many of McFadden’s books or because I read thrillers a lot in general, but I was able to guess what was going on (and what was going to happen) pretty early on in the book. And there were still a couple of twists, especially toward the end, that surprised me. But I personally feel like McFadden’s books are largely predictable in general, especially the more you read consecutively.
Recommendation & Rating
Do I recommend? Yes! I will always recommend everyone who likes thrillers (especially domestic thrillers) to read McFadden’s book, and this book reinforces that tendency. Even with a level of predictability, her books are genuinely enjoyable and fun, and there’s always something that happens that I do not expect. She is definitely an auto-buy (or auto-borrow) for me!
Book source: I borrowed this book from my local library.
