Teddy Crutcher has just earned Teacher of the Year at the elite and exclusive Belmont Academy. He just wants what is best for his students and if they don't want what he sees as best for them well, he just may have to do something about it to make them see things his way. These kids today are just so entitled, just like their pompous parents, it is up to Teddy to keep them on track and if doing so leads to deadly consequences, it is not his fault, since they should have listened to him in the first place.

I really enjoyed For Your Own Good. It is simply written, yet it does have a layered story told from multiple point of views, which tells not just a story of murder at an prestigious school but also tells an underlining one of class and socio-economic issues. This dark academic thriller is a quick read which admittedly at times will require the reader to suspend their disbelief but in my opinion will always keep them thoroughly entertained. I rate it 4.25 stars.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is definitely one for people who like character driven suspense, which luckily, is me. Teddy is such a distinctive character who I loved to hate, and there was a gossipy vibe to the way the story unfolded that made me feel like I was eating popcorn & watching the train wreck happen. I will say that this isn't really a thriller - I'd say it's more of a suspense, so if you are looking for something more in the traditional dun-dun-DUN thriller, this may not be what you're looking for. But overall, super fun & I will look for more from this author

Wow. This book was a fun and disturbing ride. I am a huge fan of Samantha Downing so I was so excited to get an ARC of "For Your Own Good." It has classic Downing unlikeable characters that I still weirdly root for. It is a very fast read with quick chapters. The pacing is strong and makes it hard to put down. It is told from many alternating POV throughout the story allowing you to get into the heads of all these different characters. The subject matter is pretty dark and disturbing, I really enjoyed it!

Samantha Downing is such a fantastic writer. I love the crazy ideas she comes up with and everything is so unpredictable. Fantastic read, highly recommended to everyone!

This book was so good right up until the last 5%, and then it wrapped things up quickly while also somehow sputtering out. I loved the characters being added into the equation as the story went on. That kept me a little off balance, which is a great way to be in a thriller. The dark humor is also fabulous, so it was a little disappointing that the ending was pretty much no surprise and a bit of a letdown.

Teddy is Teacher of the Year at Belmont Academy, an elite private school. His plaque is proudly hung on the classroom wall because he definitely deserved it. He takes his job very seriously and wants only the best for his students, which includes lessons in coming down a peg from their privileged lives.

When a parent ends up murdered, Teddy's favorite student is arrested. But the body count continues to rise, even with her in jail, the police have to start looking elsewhere.

I still hold Ms. Downing's debut, My Lovely Wife, as the benchmark for an amazing thriller, so I come to her books with high expectations. Her sophomore book was only so-so, but she made a great rebound with For Your Own Good.

My thanks to Berkley Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Teddy is Teacher of the Year, and has always cared the most about the kids. When suddenly a parent is dead, everyone is trying to figure out what happened, but Teddy only cares about keeping the students safe. If only his fellow staff and parents would stop butting in and let him. Now the school has been dubbed #HomicideHigh and everyone is on edge.

I think this might be my favorite Samantha Downing novel! I love a good campus novel and you all know I adore adults behaving badly. Well this one had both and kept me flipping pages nonstop. I don’t even know what else to say except that I really loved this book! Teddy was so damn full of himself, I could totally see him in front of the classroom teaching, and I wanted to steal his Teacher of the Year award myself. That’s all I’m going to say for now, except that you should grab yourself a copy of this one when it comes out on July 20th. You do not want to miss out on this read!

Oh my GOD, this book was so much fun to read!! Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Patrick Bateman from ‘American Psycho’ was an English teacher at an elite private prep school? If so, this book is for you. 🤣 It takes a lot of writing talent to be able to craft a thriller that’s still full of surprises even though you know who the ‘bad guy’ is before you even start the book. It was oddly, dryly funny (I mean seriously, what’s with the milk thing?) and incredibly entertaining, and I think I could’ve kept reading this book forever.

The plot of this book is EXPLOSIVE! Wow, I didn't see a lot of the twists coming, and for a story set in contemporary setting, I love how murdery this book is!! I took off one star because I'm not a fan of the writing style--stark and minimalist, but the plot and the pacing and the sheer number of subplots more than made up for it. Would definitely recommend to fans of suspense with a high body count.

Teddy, English teacher at a snotty private high school, is a complicated character bent on making his students earn their way. No one should be smarter or more clever than he. If so, they need to be taught a lesson.

Told from several points of view, this book is hard to put down and when you think you’ve got it figured out, BAM!, more comes at you.

Lots of conversation and short chapters help make this a real page-turner.

4.5 Stars

What the hell is going on at your school?

I thought I wasn’t going to get an early copy of this and might have to start adding Visine to the coffee pods of the powers that be or something, but then the gods smiled upon me so I didn’t have to get crazy : )

This is my third go ‘round with Ms. Downing’s stuff and let me just tell you if y’all haven’t read her yet there’s only one thing to say when it comes to her books. CRAY. I mean, my girl is loco. She’s an author who I would both love to be besties with in order to see how her brain works while simultaneously am terrified to ever find out how her brain works. Her books are soooooo different from each other, but they all batshit. In the best possible way.

The story here takes place at a hoity-toity private school – one that nearly guarantees entry into the Ivy Leagues upon graduation. The kids are rich, white, privileged – and Teacher of the Year recipient Teddy just wants to make sure they achieve their full potential. Well, most of them that is. I mean it’s not Teddy’s fault Zach is such a smarmy little asshole, right? Or that some of his co-workers are irritating A.F. Or the parents . . . well, you’ll have to read about the parents.

There’s a quote about there being no such thing as an original idea. This is an author who flips that old adage right on its ear. Her shit is fresh and this one was darkly comedic while you try to figure out just exactly what is going on at #HomicideHigh . . . .

“You’re acting like there’s some serial killer at Belmont. No one’s wandering around with a machete butchering people.”

“No, they’re poisoning people.”

Dear Samantha Downing: I will read ANYTHING you write.

ARC provided by Berkley via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!!!

Thoughts: Juicy school drama + a psychopath teacher of the year that loves to drink milk when he’s lactose intolerant = crazy ride of a story. Let me tell you this story did not disappoint. Let me repeat..... It did not disappoint. 👏🏾 👏🏾


I finished For Your Own Good in two sittings. I couldn’t get enough of this story. I loved the multiple POVs; it’s my favorite writing style. The writing was fast-paced; I never felt like the story dragged out. I honestly had a lot of fun reading it, and I didn’t want it to end. The reason why I docked it half a star is because I wasn’t satisfied with the ending. I guess I was expecting a different outcome. But overall I enjoyed it. I highly recommend adding this to your beach bag this summer.

If you were Teddy Crutcher, Teacher of the Year at an elite private school, and spent all day dealing with smugly overachieving, entitled kids and their even more insufferably entitled parents, you *might* sometimes feel the urge to teach certain people a lesson... to take them down a peg... to humiliate them... to ... ruin their lives? ... to ... murder them?

Teddy Crutcher = (Election's Jim McAllister x 10000) + an entire school full of Tracy Flicks.

Samantha Downing's books always give me several "WAIT --- WHAT JUST HAPPENED??!!??" moments, and For Your Own Good kept the streak going. This was a wildly entertaining story told through multiple POVs with non-stop tension building to an absolutely bonkers conclusion. LOVED IT.

Also: milk is gross.


(review will be posted on IG @leavemetomybooks closer to publication date & 2nd link will be added)

Wow. Just wow. I saw some rave reviews of For Your Own Good and even though I'm not the biggest mystery/suspense reader, I had to check it out.

I think this book is best summed up by a quote from it:

"It's insane.
It also makes complete sense."

I was glued to this book from start to finish. Downing did a great job building suspense and creating characters who were all unique and believable, but just a little bit off. Not a single thing happened that was so out of the blue I couldn't believe it but so many surprising things happened. If you're looking for a thrill ride in a book, check out For Your Own Good

You might start to suspect everyone around you of being a potential poisoner after reading this one.

Teacher of the Year Teddy Crutcher at the elite Belmont Academy seems to have the best job. Except the truth is, he can't stand pushy parents and arrogant students. He finds his own ways of getting back at them, like giving in to the pushy parents demands for extra credit to their son, but only giving him an A minus. And he can't stand his peppy co-worker Sonia, so he slips a little something in her coffee pod to make her a bit sick. Just to get her away a few days and be less peppy. But then his little tricks go a bit too far, a parent ends up accidentally dead, a student is blamed and the custodian saw him rooting around in the trash for the evidence, even as a former student whom he played his little games on has threatened him with revenge. Before you know it, several more people at the school die, others are arrested and everything just might be spinning out of control, What will the mastermind behind all of this do? Once one poisoning happens, it seems like everyone has a motive and Teddy just might get away with it due to all the suspects, but will he?

This is a twisted story of people that honestly readers won't like, but will be reading on to see what kind of mischief they get up to next.

I've come to the realization that Samantha Downing is my go-to-author for WHAT IN THE WORLD??? type reads. She has a twisted mind, and I mean that in the best possible way.

This book takes a somewhat innocuous setting (a school) and turns it upside down. You will be SHOOK. The pages of For Your Own Good are full of seemingly normal but truly diabolical characters.

Entertaining and messy and messed up.

4 stars.

Students at Belmont, a private school, are under a lot of pressure to succeed, and the adults in their lives, from parents to teachers, face their own pressures. Teddy is a dedicated teacher who is not afraid to go to extremes to help his students grow. He deserves that Teacher of the Year award, and he's tired of having his spotlight usurped. Told from multiple perspectives, this kept me turning pages long after bedtime.

Another incredible read by one of my favourite thriller writers. In true Samantha Downing fashion, this storyline has a cast of characters you will love to hate and will be kept guessing right until the end. And as usual, Downing delivers an ending that will leave you gasping. Highly recommend adding this one to your summer reading list. Full review will be posted to my blog closer to pub.

Downing does it again!
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For Your Own Good is fast-paced, eerie, and compulsive. I literally could NOT put it down.
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In this story, we are dealing with some true psychopaths. Downing does a great job writing as if we are inside our protagonist's head. Teddy Crutcher is a scary, scary man. His narration of events is what gives this book all the thrills and chills.
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I didn't love the end - but I guess the author wanted to leave everything up to the reader's interpretation...
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Thank you Berkley for the arc!

Downing does it again, with a delightfully twisted novel with devilishly devious characters.

Teddy Crutcher, private school English teacher, is awarded "Teacher of the Year"-- an honor he believes is long overdue. His mode of pushing his students to success is not always well received however.

But really, it's for their own good.

And Teddy isn't a huge fan of the elitist parents of his snobby students either. Something should probably be done about them.

As one reviewer stated, this story is like if Walter White was an English Professor. It's another master class in tight mystery writing, by the author of He Started It and My Lovely Wife. A multi-POV rollercoaster thrill ride to keep you glued to your seat.