Enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite by the author. So many twists and turns. it was hard to know who to believe. The story completely turned into something I wasn't expecting, and ended up being a little underwhelming. How does one village have so many unlikeable people? They all seemed to work at Leedham Primary School. Gemma was the epitome of the spoiled, little rich girl. She was so jealous of everyone. Cate and Oliver deserved each other. Both had issues with the truth. Archie was the true victim with such manipulative parents. I had a suspicion as to what James was really up to from the start and figured that was what Cate was planning. I even felt sorry for Cate, at first. Cate and Oliver definitely underestimated Lexi. Hopefully, she makes Cate's life miserable. From the start I couldn't wait to find out why Donna hated her sister and what happened to Lexi at her previous job. There are so many questions. What happened to the baby? Weren't the parents mad about the age difference? They had to realize this at the accident. There was all this buildup surrounding Cate and Archie being missing and probably murdered. There wasn't a huge reveal. It was a bit disappointing. I never guessed the identity of the letter writer. I really thought it was someone else.

Definitely recommend the book. It kept me guessing until the end, because I had no idea who was telling the truth. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookouture through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I had no idea what was going to happen while reading this book. It didn’t give me chills or anything and it wasn’t jaw dropping per say but I enjoyed reading it to find out how everyone was connected.

Read if you like-
- multiple POVs
-teacher work environment
-character connections
-plot twists
-small town drama

Cate walker and her son Archie go missing. Everyone thinks it’s the husband. Lexi who has been brought it as the substitute teacher decides to uncover the truth. What happened to Cate and her son? No one can be trusted. Everyone has secrets. I really enjoyed this book. There were so many twists and turns. I didn’t know what to expect everytime I turned the page. The ending was crazy! I honestly wasn’t sure how it would end.

I would definitely recommend this book! I can’t wait to read more books by Lauren.

This has been posted on goodreads! https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/157725419

Thank you, NetGalley, Lauren and Bookouture for the ARC! . #TheTeachersSecret

A fast paced thriller in the style I love from this talented author. It is a very exciting story set against a tense backdrop of people who you are unsure about. I like this writer and recommend all of her books and look forward to more.

Cate, is a popular teacher and a well known member of the community, when she goes missing with her son Archie the whole community is shaken and wonders if the worst has happened. Her husband Oliver the head teacher of the school is under suspicion almost from the start - he is definitely hiding something. Lexi a substitute teacher comes to take over Cates class while she is missing and receives threats saying she will be next - can she figure out what happened to Cate and Archie? And why does she care?

A really good quick read.

I loved this book from start to finish. It kept me gripped, never really knowing what would happen next. No one seemed to be who they said they were. They were all harnessing secrets!

The story is told from many points of view - all people who live in a small exclusive village. A mother and her son vanish without trace. Where have they gone, who took them? Was it the husband? It is mainly set in the local school as the missing mother is a teacher there and her husband is the head teacher.

I liked how this book was set in small village where everyone thinks they know everything and everyone. The characters share a lot of cryptic messages that really make you have to think and second guess everything, I certainly trusted no one in this.

There was of course a huge twist at the end. Although it wasn’t obvious it was still believable and tied up all the loose ends very neatly without being too perfect!

As with other books by Lauren North I found this one easy to read and it was a real page turner and kept me gripped the whole way through. It wasn’t too long or short but a perfect length to read curled up in this nasty winter weather!

If you love a book by Lauren North then this will not disappoint, I would perhaps go as far as saying this is my favourite one I have read by Lauren so far!

This book really does keep you guessing, it’s well thought out and had me hooked, read over two days as couldn’t put it down.

Very interesting. I was hooked right from. The start and I enjoyed reading it and trying to guess the twists and turns

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Much beloved teacher of the local village school, Cate, and her 8 year old son, Archie, disappeared while walking home from school one Friday afternoon. Cates husband and the head teacher of said local school, Oliver, is eliciting sympathy wherever he goes. The school gets a temporary teacher to fill in for Cate until she returns, called Lexi. But she also has secrets to hide. But she pushes those secrets aside because she wants to help find Cate and her son, but will she uncover more secrets?

This was a brilliant book from this author. Quite the page turner. We read from multiple point of views, so we really get a feel for all the characters involved. A few of the characters came across quite shallow, but this made the narrative stronger. I feel the plot was well written, and was quite surprising. There were many tense, suspenseful moments which really notched the book up in the creepy stakes. It was definitely page turning, as I read this in a little over 24 hours. And the book goes to show that we never really know our children’s teachers. A great psychological thriller.

I went into the story, absolutely blind, but I’m glad that I did because I absolutely loved this story. It was a lot of twist and turns, and the ending really blew me away.

The teacher's secret is a very well chosen title for this book. When the premise of the story is a school, the questions are which teacher and which secret...

It"s clear from the beginning that quite a few people have things they want to keep hidden as deep as possible, making them obvious suspects to the case of the missing teacher and her son. Are they are responsible or is the blame to put on only one of them?

The further you loose yourself in the intriguing story, the pieces of the puzzle start falling into place and it shocked me again to realise how manipulative and vicious some people can be in order to achieve what they and only they want. No thinking about the feelings of the others ever crosses their minds. On the other hand it's also often so that some people don't object to the manipulations because there is something in for them too. It's often the third parties who become the victims.

The truth always comes out though with or without a little help...

I fell from one surprise into another in this amazing and suspense filled story and I loved it. 5 stars

Thank you

The Teacher’s Secret has a really intriguing premise - a 4th grade teacher and her 8 year old son go missing -what happened to them and who’s involved. The book has multiple points of view- all have a secret and hint that they are connected to the disappearance and all seem to be hiding a secret. But who actually is involved in the disappearance?
I liked the book but would have enjoyed if some of the characters point of views were left out. I know North was trying to confuse or prolong the mystery but it didn’t work for me.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy and give my honest opinion.

4 stars easy!! Definitely grabbed me from the jump and didn’t let go!! Highly recommend. Very fast paced, loved the twists, and turns that just kept on coming!

Book Title: The Teacher’s Secret
Author: Lauren North
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pub Date: February 23, 2024
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Pages: 324

A typical Friday afternoon at a primary school located in Leedham Yale. The parents as well as the children are looking forward to the weekend. Beloved teacher Cate Walker and her eight year old son Archie leave school as usual only they don’t make it home - they disappear after leaving school and no one has any idea what has happened to them.

~Oliver Walker, Cate’s husband and Archie’s dad is the school’s headmaster, He isn’t a suspect in fact everyone feeling sorry for him. However, now it has been weeks and the rumors aren’t as kind.

~Lexi Mils, Cate’s substitute believes Oliver is not telling all.
She herself seems to be a bit of mystery with her own secrets.
Now is getting anonymous threats to stay away from looking into the disappearance

~Jeanie a neighbor (definitely a fun character) has her own secrets and will everything to keep her them safe.

~Gemma, the schools receptionist, is not a happy person and thinks Cate is getting what she deserves.
Yikes it appears that more than the teacher has secrets!!!

This is my first Lauren North]but not my last She writes psychological suspense novels that delve into the darker side of relationships and families.

I am a big Psychological thriller fan and yes read a lot of them so my ratings might not be as high as other readers as I often make a comparison with one of my recent reads.
This definitely is better than 3 Stars=Good but just not quite 4 Star=Great ~ thus my 3.5 rating!

I love reading the author’s notes as they give us the inside scoop on their motivation.
In this case Ms. North writes - “A Letter from Lauren”.
In it she tells us that the stories normally have two POV both women. With this story she had fun telling the story from many POV – Oliver, Lexi, Gemma and Jeanie. She loved writing Jeanie and her thought to the other villagers.

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 23, 202

Wow, what a great book - so many twists and turns, Did not expect the ending - highly recommended. So very well written too.

This was certainly a page-turner! I couldn’t put it down as I navigated this mystery - what happened to their teacher, and who is this cast of characters? It was well thought out and really well-paced. The characters really were center stage and each page kept me looking for more clues! I really enjoyed this read and recommend it to anyone looking for their next mystery/thriller!

Special thanks to NetGalley, Lauren North, and Bookouture for providing this #ARC!

4 out of 5 stars! Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture for this eARC of The Teacher's Secrets by Lauren North for a free review.

This is my first book by Lauren North and she did not disappoint! I read it in about a week because I was a little bit torn with the title, and how this story would steer, and the beginning was slightly slow for me. In my honest opinion, the title does sound misleading but overall, I still enjoyed the book. Some of the twists were predictable and some of the characters annoyed me but the ending was bittersweet. I enjoyed the many different POVs in this book, which also made it easier to follow. I will be checking out some more books by this author because she seems to be my cup of tea.

A fantastic and enjoyable thriller!

This title is a little bit misleading! Everyone has a secret in The Teacher's Secret and I loved trying to unravel it all. Lauren North very cleverly drops hints and clues throughout the novel and these raised so many questions for me. I was desperate to get to the bottom of what was going on and how the different strands of the story were connected.

The Teacher's Secret is split into chapters from the perspectives of different characters, mostly Oliver, Lexi and Gemma, who are all teachers, and Jeanie, a middle aged woman who lives in the village. This insight into the characters gave me some idea of who was lying and what secrets they were hiding - things that the characters did not necessarily know about each other. I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable, but this didn't matter, as I was fully invested in all of their stories and the events from their histories that led them to this point.

Lauren North is a skilled plotter (I don't even want to know how many postits she has on her wall to remind her who's who and how they are connected to everyone else) and I enjoyed reading as the novel built to a crescendo and everything came together. There are a lot of twists and turns as the truth is revealed. The ending is especially tense and the sense of jeopardy coupled with the fast paced writing makes the novel very gripping.

was intrigued from the very first page! I enjoyed the multiple POV and suspense each chapter contained. It was as though each character was harboring a dark secret. WOW!! Lauren North does not disappoint. Thank you #NetGalley

I enjoyed this book! I loved having different POVs. I had no clue what the twist would be until it was revealed! A fun & quick mystery read!