The Teacher by Freida McFadden is a layered psychological thriller set against the backdrop of a high school, complete with teen angst and torment. But who is misbehaving the most – the students or the teachers? (Hint: It’s kind of a tie.)

This post may contain Amazon Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you, from qualifying purchases. (This in no way affects the honesty of my reviews!) All commissions will be donated to the ALS Association.

First, a quick summary of The Teacher:

Most of the story is told by Eve and Addie. Eve is stuck in a loveless marriage to a fellow teacher, the very handsome Nate. Eve is a tough, exacting math teacher with a fetish for expensive designer shoes, while Nate is a popular English teacher who fancies himself a poet (spoiler – he’s a bad poet).

Addie is a high school junior who is also into poetry and, like Nate, she’s awful at writing it (I’ll give her a break since she’s only 16). Addie had an incident with her math teacher the previous year that forced him to resign. Now she’s ostracized and bullied at school, and even her best friend, Hudson, won’t sit with her in the cafeteria for lunch.

But her English teacher, Nate, is kind to her, crinkling his chocolate brown eyes at her and sending her an occasional wink. He even defends Addie when Eve catches her cheating on a math test, negotiating for a lighter punishment with his wife. Nate may write bad poetry, but he’s very skilled at manipulating people.

Eve has been warned about Addie by the teacher who had to resign. He described her as a “troubled girl,” so Eve is wary of her, but a confrontation between the two turns out horribly for one of them.

That’s probably all I should say about the plot. I wouldn’t want to give anything away.

Buy now on Amazon!

I enjoyed the way the author slowly revealed the characters’ secrets, kind of like peeling away the layers of a rotting onion (how poetic is that?!). The story was structured to build suspense and succeeded in doing that. The characters’ behaviors and actions were outrageous and appalling. Okay, and entertaining. It was hard to put down, kind of like taking your eyes off a train wreck is difficult.

On the other hand, I didn’t like a single character, and I was disappointed that there wasn’t a moral reckoning at the end, unless you consider cold-blooded revenge as a moral reckoning. Additionally, the two plot twists at the end were easily predicted. And wouldn’t all that pumpkin goo have been frozen?? (Long story.)

Despite these drawbacks, I would recommend The Teacher to fans of psychological thrillers. The structure is solid and there is plenty of fast-paced suspense.

If you’ve read The Teacher, I’d love to hear your opinion. Additionally, this is the first Freida McFadden novel I’ve read. Which one of her books should I read next?

If you enjoyed this book review of The Teacher, how about pinning it?