I loved the last book so much, I thought I’d continue with another psychological book. Ward D by Freida McFadden was the perfect choice.
This book was fantastic. And I know I say that a lot. But I guess I’m just really enjoying reading so much that all the books I read seem wonderful to me. Anyway, I haven’t read a Freida book I don’t like and this was no exception.
We start with our main character, Amy, who is a medical student. His shift tonight is to be locked in a psych ward called Ward D. She’s not happy about it at all. And given her history when she was younger, it makes sense. And this is what I like about Freida books. She’ll weave in the past with the present, so you’re learning about what makes the characters who they are based on their past. It’s a great way to write and read. I love learning about characters in this way.
Anyway, her roommate and friend, Gabby, drops her off. Amy considers running, but she doesn’t. She gets to Ward D and is greeted by a nurse, Ramona, and she meets with Dr. Beck, the attending physician for the night. She’s extra nervous about this posting. We learn that in her youth, her best friend Jade had some mental issues of her own and was sent to this very hospital. We also learn that Jade is, in fact, here. Right now. Amy is less than thrilled.
Another thing that makes her nervous is that her ex-boyfriend is also shadowing tonight. As if Amy doesn’t have enough to deal with, Jade is here, but Cameron will be here as well.
And as the night wears on, strange things start to happen. She swears she can hear moaning and someone hitting the door of the seclusion room that the notoriously bad Damon is in. But he’s supposed to be strapped down and will be transferred in the morning. Cameron ends up disappearing. A note he left said he had a family emergency, but Amy doesn’t buy it. Miguel, who is in the other seclusion room, seemed to be choking, and Amy swore she saw blood. But when she gets Dr. Beck to take a look, it’s gone. Is she also going crazy? She used to see a little girl when she was little. Maybe she’s seeing things again. She also meets another patient who tells her he’s really a reporter doing a story on this facility. But is that the truth? Jade said they’re an item and he likes to make up stories about his career. Amy’s not sure who to trust.
In the end, we learn that Damon is, in fact, Jade’s boyfriend, and they’re ultra-crazy together. Put this whole thing in motion just for Amy. The noises Amy was hearing in the seclusion room weren’t Damon. They were the people Damon and Jade killed, including the real Dr. Beck and the real Ramona, as well as her ex, Cameron. Damon was pretending to be Dr. Beck. And the fake Ramona was really another patient. Amy did see blood. Miguel is dead, too.
Amy ends up fighting Jade and stabs her with a knitting needle that an elderly patient had given her. Spider Dan, another patient who thinks he’s Spider-Man, took down Damon. When all is said and done, Damon and Jade head to a unit for the criminally insane. Amy starts dating the reporter, Will, who recovered from the drug overdose administered by fake Ramona.
It’s a year later, and Amy and Will seem really happy. Will is writing a book based on the events, and Amy sees herself settling down with him, complete with a home and two kids. But as she grabs her boyfriend a coffee, she sees the little girl again. The one from her past. We learned that Jade had been putting hallucinogens in her drinks, which is why she had been seeing that little girl. But she’s here now – Amy’s taken no drugs. She tells Amy to kill Will before he leaves her. Amy admits that she had been seeing her. And sometimes she listens to her when she tells her to do these bad things. She gave Cameron’s girlfriend a laxative at a party because she had her eye on Cameron. Shortly after, Cameron and Amy started dating. She even saw her in Ward D when she told Amy to stab Jade with the knitting needle. She wasn’t going to do that on her own.
So, what does her future hold? This is where the book ends. We’ll never know. But what a fantastic way to end this story!