The Teacher by
Freida McFadden
My rating:
1 of 5 stars
I finished this despite the start of the book being incredibly unrealistic. I kept reading because McFadden does have a way of building suspense. I kept reading despite thinking I knew where this was going; I wanted to see how she built up to the ending. (and, indeed I was right)
At the start of the book she has teachers returning for the first day of school, on the same day students are returning. This is utterly ridiculous. No school ever starts in this fashion. In addition clubs don't start the first day, and she has that taking place as well.
Secondly, Addie is accused of ruining Mr. Tuttle's career (this isn't a spoiler, it is said again and again from the beginning) despite nothing inappropriate happening between them. While investigations might take place, and a teacher would be on leave, this case was so innocuous that its inclusion for the set up of this plot drove me crazy.
Finally, though some aspects of the resolution were satisfying, the twist at the very end made me groan. I went back and read again when this character was first introduced, and it further confirmed the impossibility of this scenario. (There will be a spoiler at the end about this, with specifics)
Clearly Ms. McFadden never paid attention to her own schooling if she thinks schools start in the fashion she described. She also did no research about investigations that might take place, like the one involving Mr. Tuttle (yes, innocent people get accused, and yes their careers might be affected, but the way she laid out this scenario, it isn't in the realm of even opening an investigation)
I have read a couple other books of hers, both with flaws (gave one a 2 and the other a 3, but neither were as flawed as this one. There is even a scene at the beginning where a new teacher is in the lounge, and Eve asks a colleague about her, again showing there wasn't a teacher work week where new teachers are introduced. But she included that scene, why? To have Eve kiss her husband as some sort of power play with the new teacher, but then that plays out to exactly nothing... not a spoiler as it is early in the book and goes nowhere.
Now for the spoilers
(view spoiler)[I am sure everyone with half a brain knew that Nate had met Eve when she was his student, and later knew where that poem he wrote Addie originated. It was a bit of a surprise that Kenzie was also a victim of his.
The bit about who Jay was at the end of the story was also ridiculous. Even if she never taught him, she would know who the quarterback was at the school. From the school and town newspapers that would have been revealed. Plus, when I re-read to see if I missed something, it was clear she called him a man, and thought he was a man. Thus the fact that he was a student was not believable. Maybe a cutesy ending so we know Hudson knows everything, but really it was a stupid unnecessary twist.
While I knew where it was going (in additon to him being Eve's teacher, that Nate would be setting Addie up for murdering his wife etc) I had forgotten about the letter he had Addie write as homework, but it was clear even the detective saw how that was a ridiculous set up, and probably heightened her suspicions ... (hide spoiler)] It might seem unwarranted to give a book a 1 since I finished it. And previously I have given books a 2 simply because of that. Honestly, I probably would have done that again, if she didn't have that one final, ridiculous twist at the very end
View all my reviews
A Darker Domain by Val McDermid
