The Teacher: Book Review

Today, we will be reviewing The Teacher by Freida McFadden, a psychological thriller. Find out what we thought of this novel and if the hype around Freida McFadden is deserved!

The Teacher Summary:

Addie is coming to terms with the new school year and the stigma of being in the middle of a teacher-student affair. Even though nothing happened, nobody believes Addie’s story and as a result, she is constantly being bullied. 

Eve’s live looks perfect on paper. She has a handsome husband named Nate and she has a good job as a math teacher at the local high school. But Eve isn’t happy. She and her husband barely have sex, and he doesn’t seem to give her much attention. 

Nate is hot and Eve knows it and wasn’t surprised that he was named the hottest teacher by students. When Eve realizes that Addie is in her and her husband’s class, she is worried that she will take him down as she did her friend and mentor. 

Nothing is going right for Addie but when Nate, the poetry teacher, sees potential in her, Addie is heads over heels for him. But Nate is married to Eve. If only Eve wasn’t in the picture. Then Addie can be with Nate without anyone stopping her.

Commentary

The Teacher was released in 2024 and is one of many books by one of the most popular authors in the word. Frieda McFadden self-published her first book on Amazon KDP in 2013 and in 2022, her novel The Housemaid became an international bestseller.

I applaud her for becoming such a huge author from humble beginnings. But boy, I was in for a surprise when I was reading The Teacher. The writing was honestly not bad. There were some redundant lines that were repeated way too much that showcases the speed of which McFadden writes her books. 

She repeated the same poem at least three times. It really felt like she was trying to meet her wordcount at times. The characters in these novel are very two-dimensional and have one defining traits that get boring very fast. Eve loves shoes, Nate loves the poem The Raven by Edger Allen Poe and Addie is a mess all around.

McFadden could have made her into a much better character but that would have ruined the plot of the novel. And I normally don’t like spoiling the plots of books but for this one I feel like I have to. So spoiler warning for those who do want to read this novel.

If you read the blurb, then you might know what the plot may be. But honestly, the blurb for this novel is atrocious and tells you nothing about the book. It’s very short and bad that I decided to just share it here.

Lesson #1: trust no one

Eve has a good life. She gets up each day, gets a kiss from her husband Nate, and heads off to teach math at the local high school. All is as it should be. Except…

Last year, Caseham High was rocked by a scandal involving a student-teacher affair, with one student, Addie, at its center. But Eve knows there is far more to these ugly rumors than meets the eye.

Addie can’t be trusted. She lies. She hurts people. She destroys lives. At least, that’s what everyone says. 

But nobody knows the real Addie. Nobody knows the secrets that could destroy her. And Addie will do anything to keep it quiet. – Amazon

The student-teacher affair scandal that the blurb mentions never actually happens. Unfortunately, McFadden doesn’t really elaborate on it but chooses to use it solely as a plot device.

But there are teacher-student affairs as well a disturbing plot twist at the end. One that needed an explanation by the author after the novel finishes because it is just very creepy and unnecessary.

Conclusion

I decided to read this novel after seeing McFadden’s books everywhere. I really regretted my decision halfway into the novel and it only got worse. This is the first novel in a longtime that I actually gave two stars and I thought that was generous. 

I have heard that McFadden’s other novels are better and I will give her the benefit of the doubt. Her plot devices and twists are set up in obvious ways and her writing doesn’t hold up well to other professional writers. But the thriller genre is one where the plot twists are the most important she always has a bunch. 

The hype around McFadden is a lot and this novel unfortunately didn’t live up to it for me. This may end up being the worst novel I read this year. I don’t recommend this novel to anyone and the themes of this book make it even worse. 

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