First Impressions — Hooked, Then Horrified
As I began reading The Teacher, I really believed I was in for another Freida McFadden ride. One of those ones that's like a high-speed rollercoaster with all the twists and turns and unbelievable characters and jaw-dropping reveals. The prologue succeeded admirably. It starts off with ominous questions about a grave being unearthed, and my head immediately went: Okay, so who's dead? Who's digging? Why are they doing it? It's the sort of opening that makes you have to continue reading, and before I realized it, I was halfway through.
That's just something that McFadden does really well — she writes in an easy-to-swallow style. Her pacing is fast, her chapters are brief, and her prose is basic enough that it can still glide effortlessly even when the plot itself becomes muddled. The Teacher held me hooked for awhile.
But then the twists hit. Initially, I was shocked — wide-eyed, jaw-dropped kind of shocked. And then… I began to think about it. That was my error. For the more I pondered on what precisely transpired, the less the math added up. The math in the story was totally off. The ages didn't match. Some of the relationships seemed flat-out impossible. And by the time I hit the epilogue, I wasn't amazed, I was infuriated.
You recognize that sensation where you're convinced you've been duped into viewing some sort of magic performance, only to discover halfway through that the magician is merely waving his hands and keeping his fingers crossed nobody will see the rabbit hasn't appeared? Yeah, that is this book.
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Plot & Pacing — Quick, But All Over the Place
Let's analyze the plot a little (without spilling spoilers). The novel traces the lives of two characters: Eve, a high school math teacher in a seemingly happy marriage, and Addie, a disturbed student still reeling from the effects of having been involved in a previous scandal of a student-teacher affair.
The book starts off by creating this creepy atmosphere. The whole town has something to say about Addie. Some call her a liar, others think she’s a victim. Eve, on the other hand, seems to have the perfect life — a stable job, a loving husband named Nate, and a predictable daily routine. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from thrillers, it’s that the moment a character claims to have a “perfect life,” something dark is about to unravel.
The major plot turns — particularly towards the conclusion — come across as having been added for shock value instead of to advance the story. Some of the information presented was so ludicrous that I found myself actually having to go back and re-read some of it just to determine if I'd missed something. But no such luck. The reasoning just wasn't there. We're supposed to accept, for example, things about the ages of the characters, their occupations, and their relationships that are outrightly impossible when you consider timelines.
It was like she was trying to out-twist herself like she added on layer after layer just to maintain the "thriller" moniker, even after the ground was starting to erode beneath it.
If you completely turn your brain off, sure enough, the novel reads just as a binge-read. But if you enjoy putting things together sensibly or are a guesser of the mystery, you'll be scratching your head in a daze by the final chapter.
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Characters & Writing — Unlikable and Unrealistic
We can discuss the characters in this book, because oh my, they did not make it easy to care.
Eve, the central character, is supposed to be a complex character. She's miserable in her marriage, insecure about her appearance, and fixated on shoes. Yes, SHOES! That's pretty much her central personality trait for the first half of the book. The fixation could've been used to add depth or symbolism, but it's just present. She's always comparing herself to other women and descending into jealousy and self-loathing, which makes her tiresome to read.
Nate, her husband, is honestly gross. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say his character’s actions cross several lines that are deeply uncomfortable to read about. And while McFadden has written morally gray characters before, Nate feels more like a cartoon villain than a believable human being.
And then there's Addie, the student. She's meant to be a fucked-up teenager, yet she behaves erratically — occasionally so naive, at other times so clever for her years. Her point of view chapters are usually mystifying, and rather than inspiring sympathy in me, they left me grumbling with annoyance.
The prose itself is a pleasure to read — extremely matter-of-fact, quick, and uncomplicated. But in this novel, that lack of complexity sometimes did the story harm. It made the serious stuff (particularly the student-teacher relationships and age-gap relationship issues) feel strangely superficial, as if the novel didn't know if it was trying to shock or comment on something serious.
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Final Thoughts — Why It’s a Disappointing 2.5 Stars
The Teacher isn’t entirely terrible. It’s fast, dramatic, and occasionally fun in a trashy-thriller kind of way. But it left me feeling more cheated than satisfied. Too many plotlines vanish without explanation, and the twists crumble under basic logic. The final reveal, especially, feels cheap — the kind of “gotcha” moment that only works if you ignore everything that came before it. I did have my jaw drop moment but it wasn't because of the clever twist but because "How can a writer do this to their own book?"
The characters don’t help either. No one is likable or even interesting enough to hate. Eve is insecure and exhausting, Nate is detestable, and Addie’s behavior shifts so wildly it’s hard to care. Usually, McFadden gives readers at least one morally gray anchor. Here, everyone’s just unpleasant.
I’ve enjoyed other McFadden books that balanced wild twists with coherence (The Housemaid, for instance). This one tries too hard to shock without earning it. The darker elements don’t make it edgy, just uncomfortable.
So yeah, 2.5 stars feels fair. It’s a quick, mildly entertaining binge-read that fades fast. Read it if you’re a die-hard McFadden completist, otherwise skip it guilt-free.
✔ Fast-paced ✖ Illogical and shallow ✖ Unlikeable characters ✔ Occasionally suspenseful
If thrillers are rollercoasters, this one’s missing half its track.
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