Ok Ms. Freida, let's have a chat because what in the world, where are you coming up with this stuff that it's like crack, LOL. Just when I thought The Housemaid had me hooked, this book, LIKE Oh My Freaking Goodness I am at a lost for words trying to describe this so the next person can hopefully enjoy this as much as I just did.
Now, this is what I call a Thriller/mystery.. you want drama, this book delivered, you want a messed up plot that has you yelling at the book obscene amount of curse words this book delivered!! I started last night and finished soon as I got home from work because I needed to finish it. This book is truly a chef's kiss to Thriller/mystery books every where.
Some things I admit I saw coming but even when I seen it coming it still got me, if that makes sense. This was just so freaking fantastic. If you have not read this but love a good mystery/thriller do not hesitate to read.
This was awesomely well written and I will forever recommend this book. ( )

Ugh. I really didn’t like a lot of aspects of this book. Also, I hate the last plot twist with every fiber of my being. ( )

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll start this review with an admission that I am a retired high school English teacher with 40 years of experience, so I’ve worked with thousands of kids like the ones in this book. Well, thankfully, not like most of the kids in this book. I think McFadden wrote a reasonably interesting mystery, and if you like young adult (YA) books and a pretty decent mystery, this might be a book for you. During my teaching career, I read lots of YA literature, some of it good and a lot of it pretty bad. This one falls somewhere in the middle. I have to admit that as I listened to it (the audio version), I laughed more than the author probably intended a reader to laugh. I laughed because so much of the dialogue was so ridiculous. And if I heard a character (as narrated by the author) pronounce the word “poem,” which happens to be a two syllable word, as “pome,” I think I would scream. Even the English teacher in the book pronounced the word that way. As to the author narrating her own book, I didn’t particularly like the intonation as she shifted from a female character to a male character. All the males sounds like they had a bad case of laryngitis and were perverts. Of course, in at least one case the person was. Additionally about the narration, for some reason about halfway into the book one male character suddenly started speaking with a male voice. I’m not sure why McFadden decided to do this, but I found it distracting. I’m purposely not reviewing the plot of the book for fear that I might inadvertently give away some spoilers. Suffice it to say, it isn’t a bad story, although the ending is pretty unbelievable. But there’s no crime in ending a mystery in an unbelievable way. ( )

It's good ol' Freida! Something about her books just allows me to get sucked in and fly through the book and not even realize I'm reading. The short chapters are just amazing. I could see people with kids not enjoying this book as much. I preordered and got a signed copy and a letter from Freida that is basically saying, check your triggers. SPOILERS: This is about a female student who ends up sleeping with a male teacher. I was on Fable and I'm kind of annoyed because someone predicted that he was sleeping with the popular girl too...I'd like to think I would've got there too and figured it out. But the second I read that, I'm like, oh she's correct. I think the part when they got to the poem would've been the give away. I forget her name, like Kelsey or something. She got mad when she saw the poem that the teacher had also written to her (we don't know that at the time). Anyway, good book. And totally didn't see the twist at the end happening that the female teacher was sleeping with a student too. Eve coming back to life was a little too far-fetched, even for Freida. I debated on giving this book 4 or 4.5 stars and decided on 4 stars because of the girl just coming back to life, was kind of a lot! But I also flew through this book and couldn't put it down and I'd be reading and all of a sudden I'd read 100 pages. I also think I'll remember this book for a while. I won't forget it tomorrow...I think. lol. ( )

A totally over-the-top hot mess of a psychological drama and thriller.

A young married couple are teachers at a local high school. Nate teaches English and Eve's subject is math. It's the start of a new school year, and Eve is dismayed to find that one of her students, Addie Severson, was the cause of a scandal that had resulted in the firing of a faculty member. That girl is trouble. But is she the only problem at Caseham High?

Oh, the story here is beyond explaining without giving away all the spoilers and twists. Suffice to say that every single character is repressible and deplorable in his/her own way. This has every trigger from pedophilia, sexual abuse, grooming, alcoholism, academic dishonesty, murder, bullying...and just for fun, the author tossed in a shoe fetish.

As the narrative progresses, plot holes develop that will make you just shake your head. I both listened to the audio version (excellent voice narrators by the way) and read along with the e-book ARC. The reader is tantalized by the entertainment and shock value alone, always wondering what in the world these unbelievable characters will do or say next. The climax and conclusion were off the charts nuts and the final twist was one that almost made me throw my kindle at the wall.

Should you read it? Well, it is fast paced and keeps you hooked because you just can't wrap your head around all that is going on. But the subject matter might offend many with the whole cliche of inappropriate student and teacher relationships in the worst ways possible.

I received an ARC compliments of the publisher and got the audiobook from my local library. ( )