Review: “The Teacher”
I received this book directly from the author, who found me via Reedsy.
The Premise
In the near-future of 2022, Spanish teacher Christopher Reyes lives in Eternity Grove. His simple life is shattered as strange things start happening — demonic voices in his head, objects that move on their own, strangers breaking into his house to leave ghastly surprises, and gory tragedies. His ten-year-old students Claire, Kristian, and Jonathan seem to be at the centre of everything. Chris and his friends must race to find out what’s going on before it’s too late.
The Pros
It’s been quite awhile since I read a horror, and I was looking forward to this one particularly as I noted that the author loves Stephen King — one of my all-time favourites!
I did see some similarities in his writing style though he has his own unique flair, of course. I really enjoyed the characters he created, which is something I think a lot of horror authors don’t care enough about — they usually give us one-dimensional stereotypes who react similarly to the horrible events unfolding around them. However, here we have a main character who is rooted in the real world — he is loved and admired by his colleagues, his friends, students and the wider community.
His relationship with his best friend was really fun to read, as well as the budding friendship with the nurse Luke — the dialogue felt real and relatable. I also liked that we saw the children’s side as well, and got to guess at what they were plotting behind his back. The world-building is thorough, and I liked the way we see bits and pieces as it gradually unfolds. The descriptions of the scenes with the strange happenings — particularly in his classes — were really great, and here is where his talent shines. There is also a build-up of mystery as Chris learns about strange occurrences in the past and pieces together what’s going on. His intuition to mistrust the children was also admirable, and it was interesting to read on as he flailed desperately to protect his students while also feeling like he was losing his mind. Finally, I also really appreciated the diversity of the characters.
The Cons
I wish I could have rated this a bit higher because I did enjoy it, but there were a few things that detracted from the overall experience for me. Mainly, it felt quite a bit longer than it should’ve been, and it included some details that could’ve been reduced — we knew everything from what the characters ate to what their favourite TV shows were, and what they did from point A to point B day-to-day that slowed down the pace of the plot. I would’ve loved to see it move along more swiftly, as I was getting impatient for the good stuff!
It also seemed odd to me that though we know the characters’ names, we still see their dialogue being reported by “the nurse” and “the teacher” repeatedly throughout. Finally there were a few plot arcs that were sprinkled in but I didn’t think were necessary as there was so much else going on already — namely, Luke’s ex relationship, and Alex’s trauma with his girlfriend. It diverted my attention from the plot, which was a shame because the plot is a doozy!
Conclusion
Overall this was quite a good read, and I’m glad I gave it a try. It was definitely memorable, and I think the author did a good job even though I wished it was shorter. I anticipate that a lot of what I found was “extra” may be laying the foundation for future books, as it appears to be the first in a series. The greatest strength of the novel, I believe, is that it found a way to bring in humour consistently although it is a horror — this takes quite some talent! It made you want to keep on reading all the way through as you grow to care for these characters and want to find out what happens to them. I would recommend to other adult readers who enjoy horror and aren’t overly sensitive to political correctness. I look forward to seeing what else this author has to offer.
