I’m delighted to take part in the blog tour for the brilliant ‘For Your Own Good’ by Samantha Downing. Thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for inviting me on the tour and for my copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.
The book is about a teacher, Teddy Crutcher, who is highly regarded – he has the Teacher of the Year plaque on his wall to prove it and very high expectations for his pupils, some of whom he likes more than others. When a mysterious death occurs in the prestigious school, it seems that Teddy may know more than he admits…
It is virtually impossible to write about this book without giving spoilers – let’s just say that the first death in the school is precisely that – just the first! There are a number of suspicious deaths and a lot of conjecture around them that the reader gets caught up in.
Downing manages a complex plot well. I liked the fact that we see the story from different perspectives – our gaze is often on Teddy, but also other key characters (some of whom come to the fore later in the novel…so I won’t say who!) The fact that the focus is sometimes on teachers, sometimes pupils or parents, is clever and felt like the menace was infiltrating all levels of the school community. I kept reading this thinking that I’d worked it all out, only for the next revelation to side-swipe me and I’d be back to floundering around! The tension is unbearable in places – I zoomed through the book with my heart in my mouth.
I really liked the school setting and thought this was well done. I’m a teacher so was intrigued to read a book in which trusted people and safe spaces are subverted into being something much more sinister. This was honestly the most terrifying school ever!
I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys clever and multi-layered psychological thrillers. Downing deals with her subject matter extremely confidently and the reader is led a merry dance through the (dangerous and scary) corridors of Belmont Academy. Approach with caution – but enjoy!
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I’m a huge fan of psychological thrillers, and this is definitely on my list! So glad that you loved it.
-Lauren
You’d love this if you like psychological thrillers 😀