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mysterious
tense
medium-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
This one definitely had a different vibe from other Frieda McFadden I've read. I think I liked the pacing of this one better, and the ending twist was a bit more believable than the ones in other books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Drug use, Gaslighting
Minor: Child abuse
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The plot twists, the mystery, the flash backs - loved it ALL!
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Murder, Gaslighting
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting
dark
mysterious
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting
Minor: Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Blood, Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Freida McFadden never ever fails to entertain. As always a super enjoable read. But this one… girl… this one was very predictable (except for the epilogue) and kind of offensive. I’ll guess it didn’t age well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, Gaslighting
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Do you ever finish a book and have the reaction of, “Oh! You son of a….“?? That was my reaction when I finished Ward D. In the epilogue. Now it wasn’t a disappointed reaction. It was an intrigued, ‘you actually had me fooled‘ reaction. Do know how rarely I have those?
I noticed the reviews about Ward D are mixed, which I can understand. It becomes clear, early on, that our protagonist is an unreliable narrator. They’re not for everyone and sometimes a reader needs more patience to get through what seems like a potentially annoying character flaw. However, when you get through it, realise it’s an unreliable narrator, sometimes you can be so pleasantly surprised.
Amy, our protagonist, comes across as being very unsure of herself. She lacks confidence and, eventually, I suspected she had an undiagnosed anxiety disorder. I have anxiety myself. Reading Amy’s thoughts was akin to listening to my own thoughts. They weren’t the same, mind you, but they were exhausting. They were all over the place. I was like, “girl, you need some lexapro or something.” My thoughts and then Amy’s downward spiral was not a good mix. This was the point I had a break.
I enjoyed the other characters. They’re all very interesting, a little kooky, and questionable. About halfway through I didn’t trust any of the characters. I didn’t trust the main character. I had built up several theories and, in my experience, they’re usually right, but this time I was wrong! So wrong, and so good that I was!
Now, as someone who has a gazillion mental illnesses, I feel I can comment on the fact the story is set in a psychiatric ward (never had the actual experience though) with characters who have mental illness and disorders. I think, if you take things a certain way, you could be a tad offended by some of the mental illness portrayal. This is granted in some stories. However I don’t feel this is the way with Ward D. I feel the way McFadden wrote about diagnoses and treatment, from Amy’s perspective, was open-minded and in the positive. Amy actually learnt some things by the end of the story, which is great.
I found Ward D very easy to read. It grabbed my attention straight away and had momentum. If I was a person who was able to sit for long periods of time, and didn’t prize my sleep, I would have easily finished this book in one sitting. As it was, I finished it in just over one day, and still got my sleep. And now I want to read another McFadden novel.
I noticed the reviews about Ward D are mixed, which I can understand. It becomes clear, early on, that our protagonist is an unreliable narrator. They’re not for everyone and sometimes a reader needs more patience to get through what seems like a potentially annoying character flaw. However, when you get through it, realise it’s an unreliable narrator, sometimes you can be so pleasantly surprised.
Amy, our protagonist, comes across as being very unsure of herself. She lacks confidence and, eventually, I suspected she had an undiagnosed anxiety disorder. I have anxiety myself. Reading Amy’s thoughts was akin to listening to my own thoughts. They weren’t the same, mind you, but they were exhausting. They were all over the place. I was like, “girl, you need some lexapro or something.” My thoughts and then Amy’s downward spiral was not a good mix. This was the point I had a break.
I enjoyed the other characters. They’re all very interesting, a little kooky, and questionable. About halfway through I didn’t trust any of the characters. I didn’t trust the main character. I had built up several theories and, in my experience, they’re usually right, but this time I was wrong! So wrong, and so good that I was!
Now, as someone who has a gazillion mental illnesses, I feel I can comment on the fact the story is set in a psychiatric ward (never had the actual experience though) with characters who have mental illness and disorders. I think, if you take things a certain way, you could be a tad offended by some of the mental illness portrayal. This is granted in some stories. However I don’t feel this is the way with Ward D. I feel the way McFadden wrote about diagnoses and treatment, from Amy’s perspective, was open-minded and in the positive. Amy actually learnt some things by the end of the story, which is great.
I found Ward D very easy to read. It grabbed my attention straight away and had momentum. If I was a person who was able to sit for long periods of time, and didn’t prize my sleep, I would have easily finished this book in one sitting. As it was, I finished it in just over one day, and still got my sleep. And now I want to read another McFadden novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Mental illness, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Medical content, Murder
Minor: Addiction, Dementia
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Starting with the good, this book was INSANE. I genuinely did not know where this was going or what was going to happen. It made me sick and as much as mental health scared me before, it scares me 10x more now.
I will say a lot of things seemed very unrealistic to me and the story was very slow moving. I don’t know why so many people say this is “fast-paced” because it absolutely is not. A slow moving thriller isn’t bad if there’s little hints as to what may happen or little things happening that make your heart jump throughout but I was getting kind of bored because I didn’t really feel much until the last 30ish% of the book.
But, the ending was insane, unexpected, and very good.
I will say a lot of things seemed very unrealistic to me and the story was very slow moving. I don’t know why so many people say this is “fast-paced” because it absolutely is not. A slow moving thriller isn’t bad if there’s little hints as to what may happen or little things happening that make your heart jump throughout but I was getting kind of bored because I didn’t really feel much until the last 30ish% of the book.
But, the ending was insane, unexpected, and very good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting
dark
mysterious
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship