Title: FOR YOUR OWN GOOD
Author: Samantha Downing
Read: August 2021
Expected publication: out now
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2
Book Description:
Teddy Crutcher has won Teacher of
the Year at the esteemed Belmont Academy, home to the best and brightest.
He says his wife couldn't be more proud—though no one has seen her in a while.
Teddy really can’t be bothered with the death of a school parent that’s looking
more and more like murder or the student digging a little too deep into Teddy’s
personal life. His main focus is on pushing these kids to their full academic
potential.
All he wants is for his colleagues—and the endlessly meddlesome parents—to stay
out of his way.
It's really too bad that sometimes excellence can come at such a high cost.
What attracted me to this book:
Sometimes I just feel like an easy, wicked story to read for relaxation, and I thought this book might just fit the bill. It certainly did!
My musings:
Downing knows how to write characters who are
sarcastic, twisted and devoid of a normal moral compass. Her stories usually
move along at a good pace as the characters are pitched against one another,
and rather than building up to one massive killer twist to blindside you there
are plenty of dark alleys and corners that propel the story into some
unexpected directions along the way. This is pure entertainment, like watching
a train on fire rush towards the abyss unable to stop it, so you might as well
settle in and enjoy the voyeurism.
If you like snarky characters, then
Teddy Crutcher, “teacher of the year” at an elite prep school full of kids of
rich and privileged backgrounds, is your perfect candidate. Teddy has his own unique
moral compass, and he likes to teach his students and colleagues how to fit
this bill, dishing out his special brand of justice “for their own good”.
Sometimes this includes murder – oopsies!
Whilst reading it, I vacillated
between opposing feelings regarding the story. It was like having two little
devils sitting on my shoulders, whispering in my ear:
Reader 1(just wants to be
entertained, happy to suspend disbelief): “The multiple POVs without too much in-depth
character development allowed me to just flow with the story without having to
analyse or understand their actions. This was just pure entertainment.”
vs Reader 2 (wants depth and
emotional engagement): “The lack of
character development made it difficult to form any real connection to any of
the cast members.”
R1: “All characters are snarky and despicable,
in varying degrees, which made for a wickedly entertaining story of evil minds
pitched against one another.”
Vs R2: “All characters are so snarky and despicable that it was difficult to
root for any of them.”
R1: “The chapters are short and
snappy, moving the story along at a good pace.”
Vs R2: “The chapters are short and snappy, with various POVs, which made it
difficult to deeply connect with any of the characters.”
R1: “Some of the character’s actions
and motives are so wicked and devoid of moral compass that they’re almost
caricatures, making for a fantastically sarcastic and original story.”
Vs R2: “Some of the character’s actions and motives are so wicked and devoid of
moral compass that it was a bit farfetched and unbelievable.”
Both of these voices agreed however that they would have loved to get the POV of Teddy’s wife Allison, who remained a bit of an enigma but was one smart lady to get out when she could!
Summary:
All in all, this was pure wicked fun and
entertainment with a lot of dark humour sprinkled in, so if you are not looking
for anything to deep and emotionally taxing, then this book is perfect. I can
see why other readers have recommended it as the perfect holiday read, because
once you start it’s easy just to go with the flow, like bingeing on a Netflix
series.
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