A review by _onemorechapter_
The Teacher by Freida McFadden

challenging sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

๐‘ป.๐‘พ: Murder, Grooming, Stalking, Bullying, and Extra-marital Affair

*There is plenty of high praise for this one, so my review will be in the minority. So, if you like this book you can stop reading my review.*
 
๐Ÿ’ญ Eve Bennett has the perfect life on the outside- a nice house, a fulfilling career, an attractive husband, and plenty of designer shoes, of course. What no one knows is that she's miserable in a loveless marriage with her "perfect" husband, Nate Bennett, who teaches with her at Caseham High. Addie Severson's life, on the other hand, is anything but perfect. After being at the center of a school-wide scandal that resulted in a teacher being forced to resign, she is now a social pariah. Eve is distraught to find that Addie is one of her students as the school year begins and Addie is equally unhappy to be there. Nate, however, sees something special in her- a talent for poetry, and maybe something more...

The prologue was quite gripping! It starts with someone burying a body. But whose body? And who is doing the digging? I was compelled to keep reading and was hooked at the beginning, but fell apart for me shortly after as nothing happened (except for an unhealthy designer shoe obsession) for over halfway through the book.
It's fast-paced with most chapters being 5 pages or less which makes it difficult to put down and I read this book rather quickly but mind you it doesn't mean this is good because it is far from good!! It was cringy, unrealistic and overall (and most importantly) not thrilling whatsoever. What started so promising turned into a book I only continued because I was giving Freida a chance of redemption with the ending but boy I was so wrong.
The book is divided into three parts and the chapters alternate between Eve's and Addie's POVs with the addition of Nate's POV in the second part of the book. All the characters were unbearable and awful. I know theyโ€™re meant to be hated, but at least keep me hanging on to a point in giving a darn what happens to any of them. 
The book had too many muddy details and inconsistencies in the writing itself. Iโ€™m surprised more editing wasnโ€™t done to correct poorly written details. Like the thing with Mr. Tuttle just goesโ€ฆnowhere? Like why did he freak out so badly in the grocery store? Thought there would be more there๐Ÿคฆ๐Ÿป.
There were so many things in this book that were mentioned a couple of times but went nowhere and just felt dumb.

Donโ€™t get me started on the epilogue๐Ÿคฎ. Whatever redemption the book made in the last chapters, the epilogue, in my opinion, undid all of that.
The epilogue! Itโ€™s like, thatโ€™s what makes it unintentionally comical. The twists in this book were poorly done. I was expecting the book to conclude with a bang. But the โ€œtwistโ€ is borderline ridiculous and so hypocritical(Can't say more without giving spoilers. The author tried very hard to deliver some major twist in the end but it was completely implausible๐Ÿคฎ on many, many levels!!)

Overall, I really wanted to like The Teacher and was drawn in, but couldn't get past the issues with the characters and plot. I'm sure many readers will enjoy the book, but I can't say that I did. 
Two stars for the pacing and because I managed to finish the book otherwise the rating could have been too low!

๐.๐’ I am baffled that I am one of the few giving this book a low rating and others like this too much!! How and in what world!!

๐Ÿ”ธ๐‘ด๐’š ๐‘น๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ: โญโญ
๐Ÿ”ธ๐‘ฎ๐’๐’๐’…๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’…๐’” ๐‘น๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ: 4.17 (15409)
๐Ÿ”ธ๐‘ฎ๐’†๐’๐’“๐’†:Psychological Thriller   
๐Ÿ”ธ๐‘น๐’†๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’…๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’: No!!
Do not read this book unless you like vile characters, unbelievable plot lines, huge holes, the word Louboutin repeated ad nauseam, ridiculous cartoon-like reanimation of an individual. Oh and then there is the epilogue. Just horrible. NO NO NO..