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.)
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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.
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?
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Book Thoughts from Bed 
Interesting! This doesn’t sound like a book you would normally read. Your review enthralls me.
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Thanks, George! Glad you like the review, but I’m not sure you would like the book.
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Wasnt “her” Jay actually a hs football player that she didn’t recognize as a student. So wasn’t she just as wrong?. Am I just confused?
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Yes, but I think she knew who he was. Yes, she was equally wrong. I try not to include too many spoilers in my reviews, especially things that aren’t revealed until the end. The subtitle of the book could be “Students, teachers, and family members behaving badly.” 🙂
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that revelation made me insane! even if she wasnt in her class wasnt there a chance she would have seen him in school…only part that made me insane. Kind of ruined a book i really enjoyed.
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Yes, that doesn’t make sense, especially since he was a star football player. I wonder if she was just pretending to fool herself and us?
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I enjoyed the book but the ending was…well a surprise. Hoe could Eve not know who Jay was?
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Hi! My memory is a little fuzzy, but I assumed she knew…
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She didnt “know” bc she thought he had a wife and “colicky” baby at home (actually his nephew)
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yeah, she definitely knew. Hudson/Jay was on the list of tutors that Eve gave to Addie
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I haven’t read this one yet. But Housemaid series are amazing! The Co-worker is also very good. Just got an email saying that I can check out “The Inmate.” I’ve been on the waiting list for that one over a month. Freida McFadden’s book are alwaysssss checked out!
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I’m thinking about starting the Housemaid series next. Thanks for the recommendation!
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I have read all of Freida McFaddens books and I enjoyed all of them!
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She has a lot of fans!
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Just finished it. Every character was annoying and angsty, including the adults. I definitely need to reread the shoe store chapters because that one came out of left field and made her even more annoying and unlikable. Dropped this author from my radar. One and done.
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Yes, I agree about the annoying characters. It’s hard to care what happens to them when everyone is awful. But I’ll give the author one more chance. 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
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I´ve just finished reading this book and I liked it a lot in spite of the fact that there isn´t any character to really root for. Maybe Jay?
I think the author wanted to show the weaknesses of the human being, that there isn´t a total good or bad person. The story really caught my attention and it was hard to put it down.
I read The Housemaid, just the first book, and didn’t like it so much, now with the Teacher, I liked. My next book will be The Inmate. Let´s see…
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Thank you for commenting! I’m uncertain about reading The Housemaid…
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