Review by cali_alli_3 - Ward D

cali_alli_3 's review for:

Ward D by Freida McFadden

4.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Once I started this book I could. Not. Put. It. Down.

The time jumps really add to the tenseness of the story - as you find out exactly what events happened with Jade and Amy in the past that led them to their current positions, psychiatric patient and medical resident doing a one night lock in for a psychiatric ward.

I really liked the pacing of the story - the plot unfolds throughout the night and the scene is limited to the Ward D, which allows for the reader to get a sense of how long the story will be without feeling rushed or confining. The characters are purposely ambiguous - leaving the reader to guess, and second guess, their true intentions and motives. Is the sweet old lady who knits harmless? Or did she actually injure a child because she hated the noise of a swing? Did her husband actually fall down the stairs by mistake? Is she telling the truth about needing knitting needles for protection? Is the man whose diagnosis states he hears voices telling him to murder actually a sane reporter? Or is he hiding something - other than his psychiatric medication? Is SpiderDan actually trying to keep Amy safe and protect her from Damien? Is strawberry jelly as easily mistaken for blood as we think?

I was thoroughly caught by surprise by the plot twist

that Dr. Beck was Damien Sawyer who was the boyfriend of Jade! I saw the plot twist that Cameron was hurt/injured but didn’t even piece together that the door alarm hasn’t gone off - meaning he hadn’t left the floor. What really got me second guessing everything was the twist with Will being a reporter and not a patient! I thought this was going to be a double twist with him lulling Amy into a false sense of security and trusting him and then revealing himself as the killer. But I do question - how did he not know who the real Dr. Beck or Nicole was? He came in the same week that Jade and Damien came in so even if Dr. Beck wasn’t working - wouldn’t he know he was also a patient? And the twist at the end? With the little girl showing up (who we thought was caused by Jade drugging Amy’s peach tea with hallucinogens in the past)- and the reveal of all the nefarious things Amy had done in recent times (without being drugged) after being told to do so by the little girl?! With the added full circle moment of the little girl telling her to kill people - the same diagnosis that her now boyfriend, Will, had used to get admitted to Ward D?!

Brilliant. Absolutely twisted!

I feel as though you could nitpick this book and pull of threads to see how the nights events could have unfolded differently: -

is the bad cell reception integral to the plot? Why didn’t Amy question a condom in the trash? If she had read Jades chart earlier (as she should have if she was going to talk to her) would things have fallen into place? Why did the nurse leave pull out Jades chart if she was actually Nicole and was in on the plan? Why didn’t any of the patients say anything about Dr. Beck not being Dr. Beck and being impersonated by Damien and the nurse by Nicole?

but looking past those, I thought this was an interesting book that keeps you guessing as you read along.

I’m not one usually for psychological thrillers because they tend to be incredibly dark - but this one was really good! I absolutely would recommend!

Content Warnings