Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsThis Author is Normally Amazing but This One's Rather a Dud
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 19, 2022
I've read nearly all of Freida McFadden's books. I think I only have 2 more to go. All but a couple of them were outstanding, as in, pretty near perfect. But hey, no one is perfect all the time! She did have a couple of duds, and this is one of them.
While reading, I actually stopped and looked again at the cover, to make sure I hadn't picked up an SE Lynes book thinking it was McFadden. (SE Lynes' 'Valentina' and 'The Housewarming' were masterpieces, but the next 2 books I read by her were junior-high-level 'mean girl' drivel.) Honestly, for a minute there I actually thought that 'Want to Know a Secret' must have gotten the wrong author's name on it!
What I love about MOST of Freida McFadden's books is that the characters are usually very sharp, the plots twisty but believable, and the surprises intelligently crafted and FIT; they didn't just totally negate the entire book with some implausible twist at the end.
Not so with this one. Do all wealthy moms really act like that? What a stereotype! They were all just a bunch of superficial, jealous, catty, gossipy 13-year-olds!
Also, if an author lets the reader inside the mind of a character, it's quite a jolt to suddenly find out that the character was hiding the truth from the reader. That is a very cheap, unfeasible way to write a twist into the story. Either let us know what the character is thinking or don't, but don't resort to such cheap tricks!
None of McFadden's other books were like that. I just realized, hey, maybe this was her very first book and I should cut her some slack, but Nooooo, the book was written in 2021.
It really does feel like she was just too busy to meet her publisher's deadline and got a ghostwriter to write the first 2/3 of the book for her.
Speaking of which, did I mention how tedious and BORING the first 2/3 of the book was? I almost didn't finish it, which would be a first for me and this author. The only reason I hung in there was that I knew Freida's trademark twist was coming, and it did. It wasn't enough to redeem the book, though there was some poetic justice.
Unless you like junior-high, rich kid gossip, skip this one. But DO read Freida's other books! The Housemaid, Never Lie, The Perfect Son, The Surrogate Mother, The Locked Door...masterpieces all! And her others are all great too,
Freida, sorry to be so scathing, but I have bought nearly all of your books and it is you who have set such a high standard for yourself. This one was just, well, a dud compared to your others.
EDIT: I raised my review from 2 stars to 3, because the thought just occurred to me that maybe Freida made her characters shallow intentionally, to convey her point. I just finished Suicide Med whose main characters are college students, and their personalities really do seem like college students. So maybe Freida went a little overboard making these characters shallow, gossipy rich women. So ok, 3 stars then. Still Not a very enjoyable book, compared to her others.
