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Reviewed by: Taylor Coonelly, Elementary School Librarian Title: Ward D
Author: Freida McFadden
Publisher: Freida McFadden
Year: 2023 Good for Grades: 10-Adult Genre/Type of Book: Psychological Thriller
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Death (not gruesome), mental illness
Recommended for a school library: Depends on your patrons
Reason(s) for choosing the book: I received an ARC of this book - but my opinions are not swayed by that.
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: Twist and turns typical of a McFadden novel
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Review:
Amy Brenner is a medical student, her biggest hope to become a doctor in anything but psychiatry. With a past like hers, she wants to stay completely away from people's minds. That is until she is forced to spend a night on Ward D, the locked psychiatric ward at the hospital she is a resident at. The last time she was in Ward D was decades ago, and she wishes more than anything that she didn't have to go back. And now that her ex-boyfriend shows up to work with her, and rumors of a dangerous patient roam the halls, will she survive this night?
This is such a typical Frieda McFadden book: psychological thriller, twist in the 3rd act, and revealing characters flaws in the last paragraph and sentences of the book - and I still ate it up in two sittings. Her books never cease to be fast paced and gripping in a way that makes you want to keep reading to know what happens next, though I did fully guess one of the massive plot twists in this book. They aren't the most well-written prose, but that's not why people read her books, including me. I liked our main character Amy enough, but I will admit that she could have been much more fleshed out or grown at least a little in the story. There were a lot of characters introduced in this book as well, like the psych patients and side characters, and keeping them straight while going through the story was a bit difficult. Overall, a good thriller novel with twists and turns. I can't make any curricular connections with this book - maybe something having to do with mental health representation in books?
*Trigger warning: Death is mentioned in this book, along with murder- but not in a gruesome way. This book also does touch on topics of mental illness in people.
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