Synopsis:
Lesson #1: Trust no one.
Eve has a good life. She wakes up each day, kisses 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…
Sigh…I am not even sure where to begin. First, if you have even remotely read my previous posts, you know I love Freida books! Sometimes, it is nice to read a quick read that keeps you turning the pages. The only Freida book I have not liked was Suicide Med which was one of her earlier books. The Teacher is a 4.5 star Amazon book with over 32,000 reviews. To be honest, I have no clue how this book has received so many good reviews. I absolutely did not like this book. Considering I have been teaching for 24 years, I was really excited to read this book. Y’all, I cannot even begin to tell you how disappointed I was in the plot development. I am going to discuss my take on several issues (SPOILERS) after this basic review; however, I will tell you this – teacher/student relationships (trigger warning in case that topic is too much for you). I don’t have any more to say for a basic review, so if you are choosing to read this book, STOP READING THIS POST. I am going to discuss SPOILERS below. Although these are spoilers below, I will tell you someone dies in the book, and I’m not saying who… (so maybe you can read the spoilers and it not spoil the entire book).
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So, remember, below are SPOILERS so stop reading…here are the issues I have with this book.
- I like Freida’s books because they are not sexually explicit. I like the fact that my high schooler can read her books and actually enjoy reading them. Although this book was not sexually explicit, it did have some imagery that I would not want my high schooler to read (for example, how the male teacher is turned on by the student and she realizes it as she is hugging him).
- The husband and wife (both teachers at the same school) are both having affairs on each other. It seems Freida is writing to make us sympathize with the wife, as if we are to be “ok” with her affair. Maybe not… I’ll come back to this marriage later.
- Teacher/student relationship…just NO!!!! This is a real issue in schools across our nation. To write about how a teacher entices a vulnerable child is just horrible. Just last week, a former teacher in my state was sentenced to ten years in prison for having an inappropriate relationship with a student. This is more prevalent than one can imagine. And…as you read this book, you think it is just the husband in the book having an affair with a student but later find out his WIFE is having an affair with a student…but…here is the twist (point #4)
- The wife has no clue the guy she is having an affair with is a student AT HER SCHOOL!!! I am sorry but that is just unrealistic. Just no. I teach at a school with over 1300 students 9th – 12th grade, and teachers know who the star football players are. There is no way in Hades that a teacher would be totally clueless that the guy she is having an affair with is not a student at her school (and students don’t keep things a secret).
- Going back to this marriage…you read and wonder why this marriage even exists only to find out that her husband, fresh out of college, actually seduced her as a 15 year old and later married her. She should have known (after years of marriage) something was not right with her husband when he chooses not to have sex with her (sorry, but I can’t really see a husband choosing to have sex with his wife only once a month…that in itself should raise a red flag that something is off with him).
- And last..look at the following picture:
No teacher in her right mind 1) would ever spend $800 on a pair of shoes (um…we are TEACHERS…) and 2) would ever teach school is those heels. Seriously, Freida, you gotta interview some teachers. I am not sure what is more unrealistic – the cost of the shoes (Christian Louboutin which was just one brand mentioned in the book) or the aspect that she actually teaches all day in those heels and NOT have major issues with her feet. If she doesn’t, then she is sitting on her rump all day. I am not even going to post a picture of Louis Vuitton pumps (with the cost of over $1000). Yes, it is mentioned she charged some of this on credit cards and she saved up money (and she has no kids). But…I have lots of teacher friends and can say money is not allocated towards $1000 pumps. As soon as I started reading about this math teacher wearing $1000 heels everyday/all day, I was done.
