You want the absolute best for your child, and everyone agrees that's Belmont Academy. At first you were impressed by Mr Crutcher, with his dedication to his students. But something isn't right at that school. It starts with small things... A teacher falling sick. Rumours about a former pupil going off the rails. Of course, you never guessed it could end in murder. And now you have no idea who will be next...
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You want the absolute best for your child, and everyone agrees that's Belmont Academy. At first you were impressed by Mr Crutcher, with his dedication to his students. But something isn't right at that school. It starts with small things... A teacher falling sick. Rumours about a former pupil going off the rails. Of course, you never guessed it could end in murder. And now you have no idea who will be next...
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I have previously enjoyed 'My Lovely Wife' and 'He Started It' by Samantha Downing so I was really excited to get the ARC for 'For Your Own Good'. I like that Samantha's books are all so different which is somewhat rare for authors. My Lovely Wife focussed on a husband-and-wife serial killer team and He Started It was about a brother and sister's road trip across America to get their inheritance. For Your Own Good also bucks the trend (although it is about a killer), it's set in a high-school and includes points of view from the teachers and students who go there.
I really enjoyed For Your Own Good and I like that I was constantly kept on the back foot and trying to guess what would happen next. The perspective shifted between psychopathic teacher Teddy Crutcher, rich student Zach, neurotic teacher Sonia, ex-student Fallon and religious teacher Frank. Although there is a lot of characters, they are well-rounded and interesting, and I loved how they all brought new pieces of information which was linked to another point of view without them realising. My only criticism would be that there were sometimes multiple perspective changes per chapter but no formatting change or heading to signify the switch which became jarring in places. I liked how all of the characters had their own motivations though and that they are all quite dislikeable, but I still felt engaged with them and invested as a whole. It was quite amusing that I ended up rooting for the serial killer and hoping that they got away with their crimes!
The story itself is very dark with some comedy throughout. I find that a lot of thrillers set in a school can sometimes feel very juvenile and young-adult in style. This is not the case with For Your Own Good, which is firmly adult in its content and writing style. The pace is really well managed and there are lots of little twists and turns to keep tension high throughout. It does become a little far-fetched in its conclusion, which is a criticism I also had for He Started It, but I actually think that works quite well with the tone and style of the book in this case.
Overall, For Your Own Good is a thriller with dark humour at its heart - it's well plotted and will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next! Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin - Michael Joseph for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Hazel
Sep 5, 2021
Fun and Over The Top
I read a lot of thrillers and I am getting harder to please but I'm happy to say that For Your Own Good pleased me!
This book had me hooked and I read it in super quick time. It is full of thoroughly unlikeable characters where few had any redeeming qualities and I have to admit that I actually smiled when at least one of them came to their sticky end!
The story is written from various points of view and whilst this puts you right into the heads of the characters, it does take away some of the tension and thrills but it was fun being in the heads of people who had clearly lost the plot!
This was a fun and over the top read that I would recommend to those who are able to put reality and plausibility aside for a few hours and just hop on and enjoy the ride.
My thanks go to Penguin Michael Joseph UK and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
Denise
Aug 24, 2021
A Must Read
This was a really good book!! I couldn�t put it down! I read it in one day! I would definitely recommend this book!!
