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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
fast-paced
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The plot sort of gave me the ick. But in true Freida fashion it was twisty and dark.
Got the ick from the ages of the characters and what I could see would unfold.
Let me start by saying this: I had DNF’d this book two weeks ago. Yep, I dropped it like a hot potato — not because it wasn’t good, but because I was juggling Libby’s evil seven-day limit and a shinier new book waved at me. So I thought, eh, I’ll get back to this later. Well, I finally finished it today, and my god… my brain feels like it just did ten rounds on a rollercoaster with no seatbelt. I cannot believe what I just read. I literally slammed my Kindle shut at the epilogue, screamed “I told you so!” at my poor cat, who now thinks I’ve officially lost it, and sat there in stunned silence.
This book is messy, scandalous, disturbing, and utterly addictive. And I mean that as a compliment. People say Freida McFadden books are wild — but this one? This one grabbed me by the throat, dragged me through hallways of chaos, and then had the audacity to laugh at me when I thought I knew what was happening. Spoiler: I didn’t. I’m usually the one in the room who predicts the movie plot or the twist ending of a book halfway through. Not this time. When that epilogue dropped the final bomb, I didn’t see it coming. At all.
Let’s talk characters. Eve. Oh, Eve. Our math teacher living a marriage that’s as lifeless as day-old coffee, who decides that slipping into a shoe store is the gateway drug to chaos. She thinks she’s cheating with “Jay,” the mysterious, older, married shoe salesman who claims he has a wife and kid. Lies, lies, lies. He was never married. That baby? Not his — his sister’s son. He played the role so convincingly that Eve bought into it and even started dreaming of divorcing Nate to marry Jay. But plot twist of the century? Jay is actually Hudson, her own damn student. Yep. She’s not just cheating, she’s doing exactly what she condemns Nate for. And the irony is deliciously cruel.
Now Nate… oh, if I could, I would yeet this man straight into a pit of fire. His smug, predatory affairs with students, especially with Addy, made my blood boil. And yet, Freida forces us to swallow this twisted mirror image: both Nate and Eve are guilty. Two sides of the same f***ed-up coin. It’s the kind of writing that makes you question, who’s actually worse? Nate, who we all want to beat the hell out of, or Eve, who masks her sins behind denial and fantasies?
And Hudson/Jay. Whew. Manipulator of the century. On one side, he’s seducing Eve, making her feel alive while she’s actually sinking deeper into delusion. On the other, he’s fiercely loyal to Addy — his girlfriend, his partner in crime, his ride-or-die. He helped her cover up killing her father. He matched her darkness with his own. Addy and Hudson’s twisted little love story had more substance than Eve’s entire affair. Addy was his heart, while Eve was just…lust. A conquest. A game.
Addy, though… what a trip. One minute, I adored her, thought she was clever and brave. The next, I wanted to punch her square in the face. She’s brilliant in English, uses that to balance Hudson’s math brain, and together they form this Bonnie-and-Clyde duo of dysfunction. But she’s also manipulative, selfish, and dangerous in her own right. And that makes her captivating. Freida gives us characters we don’t really like, but can’t stop obsessing over.
The pacing? Perfect. The alternating POVs? Delicious. The way the story unfolds, layer by layer, lie by lie, until you’re neck-deep in scandal and betrayal? Absolutely brilliant. I don’t care that some people didn’t like this book — I’m firmly in the “mind blown, 5 stars” camp. Some of the scenes (shoe store sexcapades, the baby lie, the twisted epilogue reveal) are just chef’s kiss outrageous in the best way. Freida McFadden had me gasping, cackling, and talking to my cat like she was my co-reader.
And then there’s the poem woven into the book — symbolic, eerie, and haunting. It hits differently once you reach the end, like a soft echo of all the chaos you’ve just survived. It’s the kind of detail that makes you want to reread immediately, catching all the little breadcrumbs you missed. And yes, I am rereading it. Because now that I know the truth about Jay/Hudson, Nate/Addy, and Eve’s hypocrisy, I want to experience the whole rollercoaster again with my eyes wide open.
So here’s my final verdict: The Teacher is scandal on steroids, irony on crack, and the kind of book that will have you questioning every single character while also screaming at your Kindle in public. It’s dark, it’s messy, it’s problematic — but holy hell, it’s unforgettable. My mind? Blown. My cat? Traumatized. My bookshelf? Demanding a reread. Bravo, Freida. You got me good.
This book is messy, scandalous, disturbing, and utterly addictive. And I mean that as a compliment. People say Freida McFadden books are wild — but this one? This one grabbed me by the throat, dragged me through hallways of chaos, and then had the audacity to laugh at me when I thought I knew what was happening. Spoiler: I didn’t. I’m usually the one in the room who predicts the movie plot or the twist ending of a book halfway through. Not this time. When that epilogue dropped the final bomb, I didn’t see it coming. At all.
Let’s talk characters. Eve. Oh, Eve. Our math teacher living a marriage that’s as lifeless as day-old coffee, who decides that slipping into a shoe store is the gateway drug to chaos. She thinks she’s cheating with “Jay,” the mysterious, older, married shoe salesman who claims he has a wife and kid. Lies, lies, lies. He was never married. That baby? Not his — his sister’s son. He played the role so convincingly that Eve bought into it and even started dreaming of divorcing Nate to marry Jay. But plot twist of the century? Jay is actually Hudson, her own damn student. Yep. She’s not just cheating, she’s doing exactly what she condemns Nate for. And the irony is deliciously cruel.
Now Nate… oh, if I could, I would yeet this man straight into a pit of fire. His smug, predatory affairs with students, especially with Addy, made my blood boil. And yet, Freida forces us to swallow this twisted mirror image: both Nate and Eve are guilty. Two sides of the same f***ed-up coin. It’s the kind of writing that makes you question, who’s actually worse? Nate, who we all want to beat the hell out of, or Eve, who masks her sins behind denial and fantasies?
And Hudson/Jay. Whew. Manipulator of the century. On one side, he’s seducing Eve, making her feel alive while she’s actually sinking deeper into delusion. On the other, he’s fiercely loyal to Addy — his girlfriend, his partner in crime, his ride-or-die. He helped her cover up killing her father. He matched her darkness with his own. Addy and Hudson’s twisted little love story had more substance than Eve’s entire affair. Addy was his heart, while Eve was just…lust. A conquest. A game.
Addy, though… what a trip. One minute, I adored her, thought she was clever and brave. The next, I wanted to punch her square in the face. She’s brilliant in English, uses that to balance Hudson’s math brain, and together they form this Bonnie-and-Clyde duo of dysfunction. But she’s also manipulative, selfish, and dangerous in her own right. And that makes her captivating. Freida gives us characters we don’t really like, but can’t stop obsessing over.
The pacing? Perfect. The alternating POVs? Delicious. The way the story unfolds, layer by layer, lie by lie, until you’re neck-deep in scandal and betrayal? Absolutely brilliant. I don’t care that some people didn’t like this book — I’m firmly in the “mind blown, 5 stars” camp. Some of the scenes (shoe store sexcapades, the baby lie, the twisted epilogue reveal) are just chef’s kiss outrageous in the best way. Freida McFadden had me gasping, cackling, and talking to my cat like she was my co-reader.
And then there’s the poem woven into the book — symbolic, eerie, and haunting. It hits differently once you reach the end, like a soft echo of all the chaos you’ve just survived. It’s the kind of detail that makes you want to reread immediately, catching all the little breadcrumbs you missed. And yes, I am rereading it. Because now that I know the truth about Jay/Hudson, Nate/Addy, and Eve’s hypocrisy, I want to experience the whole rollercoaster again with my eyes wide open.
So here’s my final verdict: The Teacher is scandal on steroids, irony on crack, and the kind of book that will have you questioning every single character while also screaming at your Kindle in public. It’s dark, it’s messy, it’s problematic — but holy hell, it’s unforgettable. My mind? Blown. My cat? Traumatized. My bookshelf? Demanding a reread. Bravo, Freida. You got me good.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes