For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing – Review

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing
Series: N/A
Publisher: Michael Joseph
First published July 2021
Genres: Thriller, Mystery
Pages: 400
Format: Hardback
Buy: Book Depository | Amazon

Teddy Crutcher won Teacher of the Year at the prestigious Belmont Academy. Everyone thinks he’s brilliant.
       Only you know the truth.

They all smile when he tells us his wife couldn’t be more proud.
       But no-one has seen her in a while.

They’re impressed when he doesn’t let anything distract him – even the tragic death of a school parent.
       Even when the whispers start, saying it was murder.

You’re sure Teddy is hiding something about what happened that day.

You’re sure you can prove it.

       But you didn’t stop to think that when it comes to catching a killer, there’s no place more dangerous than just one step behind…

This book is set in Belmont Academy – an elite private school for rich kids where their parents can monopolize their grades through funding.

The new teacher of the year is Teddy Crutcher. His upbringing couldn’t be more different from these kids and even now he is treated differently. He makes it his life’s job to teach the kids (and even sometimes parents) some real hard lessons, that not everything is green.

But his lessons might have just stepped a bit outside the norm when mistake leads to murder.

This was seriously so freaking good! It’s not the typical twisty thriller, we know exactly who is doing what and why but that might have even made it better?

It was incredibly entertaining to follow Teddy around his duties. He was such an interesting character, while also giving me massive flashbacks from being on a shit-list myself… I’ve known far too many teachers like him, I just hope the ones I had, didn’t resort to such tragic measures to upgrade their lives… I have a ton of feelings on him and I just loved how much I hated him. By the end I was kind of rooting for him, which is completely bananas… But it was just so freaking well done!

We also follow other characters’ POVs like Zach’s, he was a really interesting character too and gave a perspective from “how it was to be a kid in Belmont”. He is from a rich background and even tho everyone loves him, Teddy hates him. Finds him entitled. Loved to see how their relationship developed and how much presence Zach’s parents had in his school evolvement and grades.

This is incredibly fun and fast-paced. It definitely kept me engaged till the very end and I just loved how clever and interesting it ended up being. Definitely reading more from the author!