Teddy Crutcher is Belmont's Teacher of the Year. In his classroom he commands respect and doesn't believe in giving students an easy ride. Fuelled by coffee and an impeccable work ethic he feels he is head and shoulders above his colleagues. When a fellow teacher drops dead it doesn't break Teddy's stride. There's no point crying over spilt milk.

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing is one of my favourite thrillers so when I heard For Your Own Good was being released this year it was instantly one of my most anticipated reads. I was not disappointed. I love a school setting with a dark edge and Belmont Academy has a self appointed grim reaper walking their halls. If that didn't intrigue enough there are suspicious people aplenty hiding in plain sight. Downing has a great talent in injecting toxicity and darkness into the most innocuous of characters. There would be no fun or mystery if serial killers stood out like a sore thumb! Doubts and theories fly around the town and eventhough the reader is privy to who is doing what it is not any less readable. I was keen to see what would happen next and raced through the chapters.

For Your Own Good gets top marks from me!

I loved My Lovely Wife, so I was excited to delve into the author's newest release.
The story started intriguingly. I loved Teddy Crutcher's narration. However, as the story progressed, it started losing its appeal. I found that there were too many perspectives; some of them brought nothing new to the story. The ending, while good, felt a bit disappointing.
Overall, it was a good and entertaining read, but one that didn't grip me as much as I hoped.

Teddy Crutcher is an English teacher at Belmont Academy, a renowned private school for the brightest and the best. Recently awarded the coveted Teacher of the Year award, Teddy takes his role of pushing his students to their academic limits very seriously. Someone has to, for the kids, it's for their own good. It would be easier if they weren't so entitled, their parents irksome, and if the other members of the faculty were like him. After the sudden death of one of the parents on campus, Belmont is trending online #homicidehigh as the bodies start to pile high.

Told from several POVs, from a collection of highly unlikable but entertaining characters, I was instantly hooked on Downing's writing style. The use of short chapters and a fast moving pace will keep you reading "just one more chapter", caught up in the suspense of wanting to know what possibly could happen next. All the way through, up until the last few pages did I have any idea how it would end.

Thanks to Penguin: Michael Joseph for sending me a copy, I had so much fun reading this book! My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing has been on my TBR for a while and now I can't wait to get to it ASAP!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great storyline with excellent characters. I would highly recommend this book as it was a great read.

Samantha Downing has written another blockbuster of a novel! For Your Own Good is not as wickedly paced as "My Lovely Wife"; instead the author provides a slow burn story as it follows English teacher, Teddy Crutcher who is intensely proud of being awarded the teacher of the year award. Set in a highly esteemed school, the Belmont Academy, Mr Crutcher comes from a more modest family than those of his pupils and he is a man full of resentment. But he knows what's best for his students such as straight-A achiever Zach Ward. Just how much does Teddy despise his colleagues a few of who were former students, and his current pupils?

Once again, I was absolutely blown away by the cleverness of Samantha Downing. As I travelled in the pockets of Teddy I felt the resentment and tension though there were dark touches of humour in there as well.

The complex web of relationships and different characters' motives added dimension, interest and entertainment value to the multi-stranded tale. The finale is deliciously twisty... and amazing! I did not see it coming but maybe I should have as there’s so much that is tenacious in this one. A sharply observed masterpiece, you'd be crazy to miss out on For Your Own Good Whatever Samantha Downing chooses to write next will certainly be at the top of my reading list.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Penguin UK - Michael Joseph via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

The Belmont is the creme de la creme of the education world and they are blessed to have Teddy as a teacher there, well so he thinks.
Students are well educated and encouraged to make their mark on the world and Teddy has his own way of doing this.
For me the fun stopped there. Unfortunately I disliked the characters and found myself skimming the pages and not registering much of the book til I had seen it was finished. With so many good reviews I don’t think mine will detract from those who love this author’s books!
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book. Set in a private school but with members of staff like no other. Poisonings and murders. It’s all happening and pupils I was really rooting for.

Teddy Crutcher is an English teacher at the prestigious Belmont Academy. His pupils are rich privileged youngsters on course to go to the best colleges Although Teddy is not a alumni of Belmont he is inordinately proud to have been given the award of Teacher of the Year. He looks down on everyone & considers himself superior. Teddy is of the opinion that the ends justify the means & sometimes things need to happen to teach people a lesson.

Teddy is one of the most obnoxious characters I've met for a long time. His attitude to his pupils is horrendous- especially to Zach, whose only fault was really being the son of rich pushy parents! This was a great read. OK, not the most believable of events in many ways but I couldn't put this one down. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Samantha Downing's two previous books I was excited to read her latest offering. Yet again a different book which from the start I found quite creepy.
Teddy Crutcher is a teacher at a private school who thinks he knows best where his pupils are concerned and is not above marking down assessments if he doesn't like a pupil or thinks they need taking down a peg or two. Suddenly people at the school start to die - accident? illness? murder? and the police arrest innocent people.
We know the perpetrator but not the lengths he will go to and that is the tension that the story creates.
Well written, good characterisation, compulsive read.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Samantha Downing/Penguin Michael Joseph for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing is a 4 star read.
I really enjoyed this book, the characters pulled me into the story and didn’t let go until the last page. I would highly recommend this book.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley.

Rejection, revenge, resentment abound in this pacy story of life in a school. Poisonings become murders but who is the culprit and will they be caught!? Layers are peeled away in this story to uncover the mystery person committing these crimes. Characters are wrongly arrested along the way and misunderstandings between those on the ‘same side’.
It’s just such a good story and just a bit different. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not sure I want to drink milk anymore though!!!

I have read two Samantha Downing books before. I really enjoyed My Lovely Wife however found He Started It a little dull, this new release I’d say is somewhere in between.

The story was pacey and gripping at times albeit very dark but ultimately it was just too far fetched and I was waiting for a brilliant finale which unfortunately was rather flat. I’d score this one 3.5🌟 rounded upto 4.

Welcome to the prestigious school of Belmont, where the kids are hardworking and bright, the parents are awfully entitled but the teachers are the ones to be afraid of. Very afraid.

Teddy Crutcher won Teacher of the Year last year. How is quite frankly beyond me. Teddy is the jealous and vindictive type. He envies his colleagues because he isn’t truly a member of the Belmont family, those who studied there, left, and then came back to teach. He has an immense dislike for the privileged children he teaches and their parents. So much so that he downgrades papers just because he doesn’t like someone’s smug face. Let’s face it, Teddy is a narcissist who would like the world to revolve around him but as it is, people barely see him.

Something is bound to happen. You can feel it. But boy, does it take a while. The build-up is so long and so slow that I honestly almost gave up on it. In the end, I’m glad I didn’t because when things finally started to pick up, ‘For Your Own Good‘ was quite cleverly done. Not one huge twist at the end to dazzle you into thinking you just read the psychological thriller of the year. No, Samantha Downing does things very differently.

Teddy might be doing things for people’s own good but well, let’s just say he’s not very good at it. Mistakes happen and the hole Teddy finds himself in only becomes deeper and deeper as he tries to makes things right. Or as right as can be. As the reader, you know very well what he’s up to and in my case, my dislike for him grew exponentially throughout the story. There might be someone who knows what is going on. But can they stop Teddy or will he get away with it all?

The cast of narrators grows as the story goes on and that may have just been one of my favourite bits. Even if it was sometimes a little hard to keep track of things, but that’s just me. More and more characters become unwittingly involved in Teddy’s shenanigans and while some may also be slightly unlikeable, these are the characters you end up rooting for. Particularly because I personally felt that Teddy was more incredibly annoying as opposed to this murderous psycho, and I just really wanted him to get his comeuppance.

A cast of unlikeable characters, intrigue, murder, twist and turns ….. all good things. And yet. I’m not wholly convinced and I can’t quite put my finger on the “why”. Yes, it’s cleverly done. Yes, Samantha Downing knows how to hook a reader and keep their attention with short and snappy chapters. And all in all, ‘For Your Own Good‘ is an entertaining read, even though I feel the ending lets it down. It’s most definitely better than Downing’s previous offering but never does it get anywhere near the level of her debut. I enjoyed it but I expected more.

A dark, entertaining and funny academic thriller!

After enjoying My Lovely Wife and He Started It, I was highly anticipating this one, and it didn't disappoint on the black comedy front! Jam packed with hilarious insight into the staff, students and parents of an American private school. I will say, that if you are looking for a plausible and suspenseful mystery, then you won't get it, but if you are after an over the top, fun and wicked tale with a high body count, then this is your book!

Told from the POVs from a large cast of characters, most of whom are wholly unlikeable, self serving, deceitful and mean, it was fun seeing all of their reactions to the madness. Because of the way it was told, there was no real twists, since we know who is behind the awful happenings. It was fun following the different characters though, and watching some of them trying to figure out what was occurring! I did like Zach Ward, one of Teddy's students, who played a major part in the story. The pressure him, and some of his fellow students were under was crazy!

From the first few pages, I realised that our teacher of the year was a vindictive sociopath, who delighted in messing with both his colleagues and his students, and some of his antics made me laugh!

Honestly, at first I wasn't sure how to rate this, it was absolutely bonkers! It's not my favourite book so far by Samantha Downing, but I still had fun turning the pages in the short chapters of this quick read, and I laughed at some of the crazy scenarios and terrible characters.
How useless were the police and FBI though?!

I was left thinking that a) my teachers were not as bad as I remember them being and b) coffee pods will now make me nervous 🤣

This dark, disturbing and twisty psychological thriller was a real page turner. I was hooked from start to finish. I would definitely recommend reading this book. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

A gripping and immensely entertaining thriller, For Your Own Good is a high-tension story led by a host of complex characters, all of whom have a secret to hide.

I was immediately drawn into this high school setting, and it’s great to see a thriller set (mostly) from the point of view of the coffee-fuelled teachers who are trying to keep it all together, rather than the angsty youngsters who are often the cause of any trouble.

Told through multiple perspectives which helps to build the picture of what’s really going on behind closed classroom doors, there’s so much intrigue in this story. But although you know who the killer is early on as and there’s plenty that’s laid out to you straight away, there are so many other little twists that sneak in unsuspectingly to make you question what you’re reading.

There is always something more going on, and I loved getting to know every character and question their motives. My only issue is that I was told to expect a shocking and dark twist at the end, a Downing trademark. And while there are some great twists that will shock most readers, I was expecting something more so it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

Still, I really enjoyed reading this one and I can’t wait to pick up My Lovely Wife next!

It has also been recently announced that Robert Downey, Jr’s production company have picked up the book for a TV adaptation which I think will be brilliant! I am definitely up for RDJ taking on the role of Teddy, too!

(I'm on the tour for this book on 27th Aug so my reviews will be live then)

I have read all of Samantha Dowling's books and this was one of her darker books.
The main character Teddy, was a very unnerving character and I was completely off the rails and his uncontrollable behaviour all for the good of his students. A few surprises along the way.

A great thriller

Thank you to Penguin Michael Joseph UK, Netgalley and the author for an ARC in return for an honest review

This is the first book I’ve read by Samantha Downing.

This was a great thriller that was very dark in parts.

Well written with strong characters I really enjoyed this flnok.

This was soo good! My favourite read from Samantha Downing so far. She is such a versatile storyteller and her books are all unique.
We were all there. You were either the teacher's pet or you were on the shit list!

In this book, we meet Teddy Crutcher. English teacher and teacher of the year. He didn't shave because stubble was part of his look and no one told him that right and wrong aren't always what they appear to be.
Teddy...... The teacher from hell! Nobody will stand in his way and he will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. I mean what is wrong with a little murder here or there........?

This was such an entertaining and at times funny read! I absolutely loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I read Downing's 'My Lovely Wife' last year and I won't lie, the book really weirded me out. It was all of the creepy and eerie that you could want from a thriller and the fact I felt so uncomfortable reading it at times shows how incredibly strong the writing is. So as soon as I saw that she had another release coming, I was curious to see if it would be as weird and creepy as the last book.

And it did not disappoint! I read it in 24 hours, I couldn't get enough! It is very different to 'My Lovely Wife' but still delivers on all of the key things a reader expects from a thriller. It's dark, creepy, disturbing but uncomfortably addiction at the same time.

The characters are super strong and very quickly you learn that Teddy Crutcher is the definition of a psycho. From page 1, the way he portrays himself and how he thinks is done so well and you only want to find out more and see what this character is really like. It reminded me of Christian Bale in American Psycho or Jack Nicholson in The Shining, characters that come across quite level headed and normal and then you see the scary things that go on in their heads. And then the other characters like Zach, Frank and Fallon, they also have their inner demons and you quickly see how this book perfectly illustrates how little we might know about those around us and what really goes on in their minds.

I think Downing mastered the psychological aspect of this and improved a lot since her other book. In the other book, the characters clearly acted out their insanity and it all very quickly unravelled. Whereas here, we are presented with an extremely intelligent but severely delusional and disturbed protagonist. The actions he takes and the thought process behind them are more subtle but extremely calculated and he genuinely thinks that he is doing for the good of others.

So yeah if you are into thrillers that get under your skin and hook you from page 1, then this is definitely worth a read. I wouldn't say it is the best book you'll ever read but it's far from the worst and I can't wait to see what Downing comes out with next!

A big thank you to Net Galley for letting me read this before it is published.