The Psychological Thriller Book Taking The Kindle Charts By Storm
Although it was just published in February of 2024, Freida McFadden's newest novel, "The Teacher," is already climbing the book charts. As of March 2024, it has been sitting cozily at number three on The New York Times Paperback Fiction list for five straigth weeks, and topped Amazon Kindle's book sales. McFadden's books take up three of the top five spots on that list at the moment, so she's clearly no stranger to getting loads of attention.
And it seems everyone who has read "The Teacher" has very strong opinions about it. TikTok, especially, is buzzing about its storyline which, according to various reviews is loaded with some shocking moments. "The first thing I'm going to say is this book should have had trigger warnings," TikToker Readwithnino said in her video review. "We touch very sensitive topics, they can be uncomfortable ... so a trigger warning page would have been helpful. So maybe Freida should start including those." Considering the very first line of the novel is, "Digging a grave is hard work," it does suggest some seriously dark and twisted subjects.
But, if you're looking for a psychological thriller that's at the center of the BookTok conversation and getting as many positive reviews as negative, then "The Teacher" is exactly the book for you. But because the triggers seem to be plentiful, there are some things to consider before diving into this one.
'The Teacher' is a modern mystery
To no major surprise, "The Teacher" is about, well, teachers. The novel centers around Eve, a high school math teacher who's married to Nate, an English teacher who works at the same school. There's also Addie, a high school student who is in both Nate and Eve's classes, and is bullied for allegedly having an affair with a teacher. But the kicker is that no one knows if the affair was real, or if it's just rumors. However, the suspect in question is gone in this new school year.
Either way, Addie has quite a reputation, but whether or not that particular infamy is warranted doesn't become clear until later in the book. As the tagline on Good Reads says, "But nobody knows the real Addie. Nobody knows the secrets that could destroy her. And Addie will do anything to keep it quiet." It's safe to assume that maybe she isn't completely innocent.
While Eve, Nate, and Addie are the main characters, there are a handful of other teachers and students thrown in to create conflict, drama and, of course, plot twists. There's also a major age-gap romance that takes place — 20 whopping years — that is giving a lot of readers a case of the ick.
Readers are divided about the book's controversial subject matter
At the time of writing, "The Teacher" has 46,955 ratings on Amazon, with 24,961 of those being five stars. On Good Reads, there are 139,394 ratings where 49,657 of them are five-star. For those awarding the book high marks, the book's greatest strength is the shock ending. While some reviewers are calling it predictable, others have had their minds blown. "The Queen of twists has outdone herself with this one!! The ending literally had me say OMG" reads one review. "Freida does it again. Easy, quick read. Page turner for sure," declares another reader.
Those who didn't care for the book cite intimate scenes that are super cringey, as well as passages about bullying that are difficult to get through. Others took issue with the characters, calling them unlikeable, while some called the age gap romance cliche. "Long story short, everyone in this book is stupid and immature," reads one Good Reads post. "The way the two "adults" in this situation justify their behaviors? I don't even have the words to label my thoughts here. They all need therapy! " writes another reviewer. However, for some readers, that only added to the appeal. "1) this book is crazy and pretty icky at times 2) 5 stars bc it really kept me guessing what would happen next" wrote another on Good Reads.
Twists and turns, a scandalous age-gap affair and, based on the book's first line, a murder? Also the possibility that you just might be made sick to your stomach over some of the sex scenes and completely loathe the book so much that you're forced to leave a scathing review on Good Reads or Amazon? Who doesn't love to share a strong opinion? It's no wonder "The Teacher" has so many people picking it up to give it a read.