I want to thank Net Galley and the publisher for the audio ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3/5 Stars for this one. It was fine but not great. Possibly the audio consumption of it affected how it read as keeping everyone straight took some effort.

The narrator was pleasant enough to listen to but sometimes the voices for the individual characters were not consistent and blurred together which added to the confusion of who was talking.

I think one of the biggest issues was the characters were awful people. Even those doing something altruistic still were overly flawed. I didn’t enjoy that making them written that way was the red herring device. Plus being told “this is a red herring” loud and clear as a device just causes frustration as you don’t want to care about any one. I didn’t even care about the victim as you you felt like the other shoe was going to drop at any moment since everyone else’s flaws were right out there but she was painted as perfection the first half of the book.

However, some folks may enjoy trying to sort through the mystery of what happened. I suggest the digital or print copy over the audio if you have the option.

My rating system (I really wish Good Reads would enter 2024 and adjust their rating system for partial stars as personally I always round down with some exceptions.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

 Thanks to Negalley for this arc. The Teacher's Secret is about a teacher Cate and her son Archie going missing after a school day never to be seen again, The headteacher Oliver is suspect number one and gets criticized by many people but throughout we get multiple povs. Oliver's, The substitute teacher Lexi, and also Jeannie the neighborhood watch and a mysterious pov some chapters throughout as if that person is talking directly to Cate. I really got weird vibes from Gemma and Anika, lots of jealousy within the characters. Lexi gets involved in drama with Oliver over and over again, the author really tries to throw you off with this I think and there is twists dropped many times especially in the second half but it's a gripping fast paced novel with suspicious characters and even really annoying and unlikable ones. If you are someone who likes a missing persons with lots of drama and twists then I recommend such! Very entertaining throughout and had me wondering and even rooting for a certain character.

 

A story set in a small community with lots of secrets. I seem to have read several of this style of book recently. The story starts when Mrs Walker (school teacher) and her son (Archie) go missing after school.

The story is told from several POV, one of the  main characters is Lexi, a stand in teacher filling in for the missing Mrs Walker. 

The pace is fast with all of the revelations, giving lots of interest throughout. The tension is maintained with the hints to there being secrets. There’s plenty of twists and turns and sleights of hand which kept me riveted. There was so much going on with the various characters. Non of them are very likeable, but I must say that I empathised with Lexi. 

I loved this one, I found it very entertaining. This is a favourite of the books I’ve read by this author. 

This was a good book although there were some holes in the plot that were confusing and I feel were never answered. I listened to the audiobook and I sometimes got confused as to whose point of view it was. The twist in the end was good.

This book immediately makes you start guessing and captures your attention. I love how the chapters are each told in alternating POVs, and each and every character has a secret that hasn’t been revealed yet. While there are four POVs, the narrator is the same. I thought Emma Woods did a great job changing her intonation and inflections to reflect which character’s part she was reading. 

If you’re not a fan of cliffhanger chapters, this might not be for you because EVERY chapter ends on a cliffhanger. It really makes you want to keep reading your figure out the many secrets the characters are hiding! 

I think you should definitely give this one a shot - especially on audio! 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for proving an ALC in exchange for my honest opinion.