At this point, I’ve read nearly all of Freida McFadden’s books, so of course The Coworker was on my list. I clearly have a hard time saying no to one of her psychological thrillers!
You can find The Coworker by Freida McFadden on Amazon, and you can also check out all of my Freida McFadden book reviews if you’re looking for another one to read.
Amazon Summary
Two women. An office filled with secrets. One terrible crime that can’t be taken back.
Dawn Schiff is strange.
At least, everyone thinks so at Vixed, the nutritional supplement company where Dawn works as an accountant. She never says the right thing. She has no friends. And she is always at her desk at precisely 8:45 a.m.
So when Dawn doesn’t show up to the office one morning, her coworker Natalie Farrell, beautiful, popular, top sales rep five years running, is surprised. Then she receives an unsettling, anonymous phone call that changes everything…
It turns out Dawn wasn’t just an awkward outsider. She was being targeted by someone close. And now Natalie is irrevocably tied to Dawn as she finds herself caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse that leaves her wondering: who’s the real victim?
But one thing is incredibly clear: somebody hated Dawn Schiff.
Enough to kill.
My The Coworker Book Review
So…The Coworker was good.
Was it my favorite Freida McFadden book? Definitely not.
Did I still enjoy it? Yes.
At this point, I’m also just so happy to be reading that I’m probably pretty easy to please. There really aren’t many books I absolutely hate. Give me a thriller, make me wonder what in the world is going on, throw in a decent twist, and chances are I’m going to have a pretty good time.
And The Coworker did give me that.
Before I read it, I remember seeing people complain about how many times turtles were mentioned in this book. At the time I thought, how bad could it possibly be?
Now I know.
So. Many. Turtles.
Honestly, the turtles didn’t bother me quite as much as they seemed to bother everyone else, but I definitely understand the comments now!
The twist was pretty good, and there were enough questions along the way to keep me reading. Freida is very good at making you think you understand a character or a situation and then giving you another piece of information that changes how you look at everything.
But there was one thing about the ending that I’m still thinking about.
Natalie isn’t really redeemed.
And I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Without getting too far into spoiler territory, Natalie does some pretty terrible things. By the end of the book, I kept waiting for something that would make me feel differently about her. Some explanation, realization, consequence, or moment that would make everything feel a little more settled.
But that doesn’t really happen.
She’s still not a good person.
Part of me doesn’t like that because I want things wrapped up neatly. I want the bad people to face consequences, the good people to come out on top, and everyone to learn some sort of important life lesson before we close the book.
But that isn’t always how real life works.
People don’t always change. They don’t always learn their lesson. And sometimes a person can go through something huge and still be…kind of terrible.
Maybe that’s actually one of the more realistic parts of the book.
Overall, I liked The Coworker. I didn’t love it, and if someone asked me which Freida McFadden book they should read first, this probably wouldn’t be the one I’d choose. But it was entertaining, the twist worked for me, and I definitely wanted to keep reading to find out what happened.
And really, sometimes that’s all I need from a thriller.
Even if I have to hear about a few too many turtles along the way.