The beginning of this book was so confusing that I almost quit several times. There were too many voices with no defining characteristics which made the story nearly impossible to follow. However about halfway through it did get less convoluted and was easier to follow. Because of the number of POVs there should have probably been another narrator to help differentiate, if not a full cast.
The ending is a bit contrived, but if not terrible. I don't know if I would necessarily recommend this book though because of how complicated the beginning is

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my advance copy of this audiobook

School teacher Cate and her eight year old son, Archie, go missing and supply teacher Lexi arrives in their village to take over Cate's class until she is found...but is there more to Lexi then it seems.

'The Teacher's Secret' is told from four points of views and provides the reader with A LOT of red herrings and wouldn't never have guessed the conclusion and how all four main characters are entwined together.

The Audibook version provided the listener with a fantastic narrator who manages to differentiate her voice to suit the four different characters.

A fun listen and definitely made the mundane every day tasks that I undertook whilst listening to this novel more enticing!

Thank you to Netgalley and Laure North for the opportunity of reviewing the audiobook version of The Teacher's Secret.

3.75 stars!

A fun and quick thriller with a twist I didn’t see coming at the end. It was a tad slow in the middle for me which is why it’s not a full 4 but I did enjoy it.

Thank you for this ARC 💕

This was an amazing read! I was couldn’t put it down once I started! It had so many twists and turns. I was never sure what was what. What a thriller! The narrator was AMAZING

Thank you for the ARC! This plot could have been fantastic. It was hard to get wrapped up in the storyline because the first 15% (as far as I got) was way too much foreshaddowing. Many of the same sentences repeated at the end of the chapters along the lines of "what have I done" or "I made a big mistake". Really not gripping in my opinion. Was excited to try a book out by this author but I think perhaps she is not my cup of tea

When a beloved teacher and her young son go missing, Lexi comes in to be a substitute teacher. Soon Lexi finds herself feeling unsafe, as well.

The Teacher's Secret keeps the reading wondering what is and what isn't. The story is told from multiple POVs, making it a bit difficult to follow at times, and not really giving you a chance to connect to many characters.

Although it does deliver on the twists and turns promised by a Lauren North work. The Teacher's Secret just wasn't my favorite thriller.

Thank you NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for an advance audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

Satisfyingly twisty thriller that will keep you guessing until the final chapter!

I really enjoy Lauren North’s books and THE TEACHER’S SECRET is another cracking thriller that had me on the edge of my seat and absolutely glued to my headphones as I navigated the twists and turns of the small community at it’s heart. North is brilliant at creating a vivid sense of place and filling it with a host of believable characters, bringing it to life in the most authentic way. I felt transported to this little town and engrossed in the layers of deception and intrigue that shrouded it. North effortlessly builds suspense and punctuates the mystery with moments of breathtaking action. The tension is palpable in a number of key scenes and I felt genuinely nervous for Lexi at points. This book is absolutely rammed with secrets - literally everyone has something to hide! - which I found made the book really intriguing to read. I never quite knew who to trust, which built a lot of anticipation for the final revelations. I didn’t guess any of the twists or big reveals. In fact, North is a master of misdirection, angling readers down a certain path, only to throw them off a precipice and route them in a completely new direction. It was so much fun to read!

The audio is brilliantly produced too, with excellent pace and first class narration from Emma Woods. This story is told from multiple perspectives and I found that Woods gave each of them a unique and distinctive voice, which meant it was easy to keep up with who was who and follow the plot. This was such an addictive listen and I struggled to take my headphones off! I love listening to audiobooks and whilst doing housework and other boring chores, but I found myself constantly stopping what I was doing to gasp at what was happening in the book. There are so many shocking moments, which translate so well to the audio. I was fraught with anxiety as Lexi thought someone had broken into her room, for example. There are lots of scenes that are so tense to listen to! Overall, this is a really great thriller that I was totally invested in and absolutely loved in audio.

I received and arc of this audiobook from NetGalley. Thank you to NetGalley and the author Laura North!

I gave this book 3 1/2 stars.

This book is about a teacher and her son who go missing, and the entire novel is figuring out what happened. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and I had a hard time keeping my attention focused on this one. I felt like it was somewhat slow through the middle of the book. I did like the ending and I did not guess the twist, which is good, but I wish it had been more exciting throughout the book.

I felt like the audio narrator did a good job. I listen to audiobooks pretty fast and I was able to clearly understand what she was saying.

This was a nice read. It started off good and kept my interest. It did get a bit wonky and hard to believe, and some things just didn't make sense or rather pass the believable test, but the characters were well developed. Personally, I felt the lead character's actions were not explored or examined more thus it makes it hard to accept some of the plot. For one thing if a person willingly deceives or falsifies evidence it would be a crime and they would be subject to face the consequences. I felt the ending was a bit fairytale-ish and some characters actions should have been flushed out more. I really liked that there were multiple POVs and thought it was done pretty well. I do feel as though some storylines didn't exactly contribute to the totality of the main plot, but overall, it was a good read that kept my attention.

I really loved Emma Woods as the narrator, she was absolutely incredible. She made following the story very easy and enjoyable. I was able to easily distinguish between the characters and what was going on. The experience was Awesome. I also like that the author gave us insight into her writing at the end of the book. I always love to hear from the author. I loved how she gave thanks and recognized all the people who helped her on her journey, but I was very disappointed that she did not recognize or give thanks to Emma Woods, who literally gave these characters life in the audiobook.

This was my first Lauren North book, and I enjoyed the read and look forward to reading more by this author. I truly hope she gives recognition to the narrator in her future audiobooks. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this arc in exchange for my
honest review.

I actually read this book through Kindle Unlimited so I was excited to listen to it as an audiobook as well and I'm glad I did!! I loved the narrator's voice throughout. I will definitely look for more from both the author and the narrator in the future.

I had just read The Teacher by Freida McFadden before this so it gave me similar vibes. I enjoyed reading multiple viewpoints and felt like the characters were developed well. The characters certainly all had flaws and secrets, which led to many twists and turns throughout the story. I wouldn't say that this story gave me any chills, but it was more of a mysterious read where I was suspicious of everyone at different points. I would recommend anyone giving this one a read/listen!

Thank you to Netgalley, Lauren North and Bolinda Audio for this ALC.

The Teacher’s Secret is a fast paced exhilarating mystery with a twist no one will ever see coming! I enjoyed the mysterious ‘who done it’ vibe throughout the entire book. It kept me engaged by needing to know what the resolution was going to be. The character development was excellent. The narrator, Emma Woods, was fantastic with a soothing voice. I highly recommend the audio version of this book. I look forward to reading more books by author Lauren North. Thank you NetGalley and publisher Bolinda Audio for this amazing ARC.

The sudden disappearance of a teacher and her son as they walked home together from a school playground leads to investigation and suspicion. Several voices tell this story, and they weave a tale of tangled threads that are starting to come apart.

The audiobook was nothing short of perfect, with great use of voices by the narrator.

Thanks NetGalley!

3 Gold Stars

Getting into this story was easy: an elementary school teacher / mother and her son are missing, and Cate is filling in as the substitute. Are they still alive? Is the husband / head teacher responsible? Everyone has their own side to the story.

The Good
- Plot was promising
- Main twist was a surprise, layered unveiling of secrets was well written
- Action segments were exciting
- Narrator did a great job with multiple POVs

The Not So Good
- A bit tired of lead female characters having a "dark past" that seems to drag on forever
- Pace was slow and receptive for a good portion
- Characters were not likeable and a bit confusing

Thank you to Bolinda Audio and NetGalley for the ARC of The Teacher's Secret!

When I read the premise of this book, I was so intrigued. I could not wait to listen to this and collect all of the clue to try to put the puzzle together. I thought this was going to be fast paced and exciting, but unfortunately, it didn't quite get there for me.

There were so many characters. I found it difficult to follow along at times since there wasn't a huge difference in some of the voices with only one narrator. It was hard to keep some of the storylines straight. I had to go back to the beginning of a chapter a few times to listen again to make sure it was the character speaking that I had thought. I'm not sure if this is due to the narration or just the story with too many perspectives.

I wasn't rooting for any of the characters. None of them had redeeming qualities, which also had me not caring too much what actually happened in the end. I did find the ending and big reveal too far fetched. I'm all for unbelievable endings with a big shock, but didn't end with a big shock.

I have no doubt that there will be some readers/listeners that will love this book. For me, it was a bit too long with a lot of superfluous information to try to steer the reader/listener in the wrong direction. At least that's what I think Lauren North was trying to do.

Thank you to NetGalley and Belinda Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book!

Everyone has a secret but some secrets are worse than others.

A fast passed mystery with so many twists and turns. Definitely a must read

the setup…
Lexi Mills is a substitute teacher now assigned to the school in Leedham. She’s excited about the challenge but it’s the reason why she’s needed that makes it bittersweet. Cate Walker, the full time teacher, is missing, along with her eight-year old son Archie. They left school on a Friday and vanished on their way home. Husband and father Oliver is also the head teacher who soon has all eyes looking at him because of course that’s where you’d look first…right?

the heart of the story…
Lexi’s is the primary point of view so she shaped my perspective. But then we also hear from Oliver and a few others, including someone creepy and quite possibly responsible for Cate and Archie’s abduction. But one thing that connects everyone is they’re all harboring secrets. Even Lexi has a past she’s trying to hide and I was carefully collecting and assembling clues trying to figure this thing out. What finally unraveled was nothing close to what I’d imagined!

the narration…
What I look for first in a narrator is strong storytelling skills and Emma Woods was outstanding in that respect. And, she had a host of characters that she defined and distinguished exceptionally well. She gave nothing away!

the bottom line…
I was rolling along, enjoying a good mystery and developing theories and scenarios that I was almost smug about. Then it took a turn that upended everything. This was a very clever story with a few amazing twists I never, ever saw coming. Well done! And that’s all I will say about it.

I enjoyed this twisty thriller, which followed multiple POV, and characters with questionable motives.

Popular teacher Mrs Walker, and her son Archie go missing on a normal school day. The event sends shockwaves through the school community, garnering suspicion amongst their ranks.

Centred around a school environment, the vibes of this story felt similar to Big Little Lies, the community full of secrets like a powderkeg about to explode. I really enjoyed trying to figure out the motivations of the different characters and figure out the ending (I didn't!). There were plenty of red herrings and twists - one in particular which made me want to go back and re-read because I didn't see it coming!

I found it a little hard to tell the difference between the female characters with the narration, but otherwise thought the narrator did a wonderful job - the voices added to the dark and creepy mood of the book without sounding melodramatic.

It was an easy read, and I recommend anyone looking to listen to an engaging, twisty and unpredictable thriller.

Thank you Bolinda Audio and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

I wasn't at all keen on the narration of this book. It spoiled some chapters for me. Switching between the points of view was a little confusing. Multiple narrators would have been a better choice for this. The story itself was decent. One of the plot twists was quite an easy guess and a good one. I liked where the story of the weight loss group went. The characters were all pretty vile, even Lexi turns into a despicable person.
I didn't hate it.

Narrated by Emma Woods

A lot of twists and turns in this one!

Bit of a mixed bag, here. I had the narration on x2 because it was frustratingly slow and drawn out. A lot of extra info to set up all the red herrings, and the vagueness with no real point did get a little trying after a while.

Completely loathsome characters - I didn't like any of them at all and felt no sympathy for anyone involved - particularly once true colours were revealed, too!

Still, there was a lot of misdirection, and even though it was easy to guess things weren't what they seemed, there were still plenty of questions about what was actually going on. It kept me intrigued and keen to solve what was going on.

The story was probably a little heavy with extra information and unnecessary twists, but it was still intriguing and I did enjoy the guessing at everything. Crime lovers should find themselves easily entertained by this one.

With thanks to Netgalley for an audio ARC

This thriller was just okay, it didn’t have the normal “keep you on the edger of the seat” factor that I typically enjoy.

It was told from multiple POV’s and right from the beginning- you find out everyone in this small town is keeping secrets. You don’t know who is innocent and who is guilty and as you continue reading, it slowly unravels. Key word: slowly. It dragged on a little too much for my preference.

A beloved teacher and her son disappear after school one day, and the school and town come together to try and find them. A new to town substitute teacher seems extremely invested in the investigation, the husband looks guilty- and the town believes he did it, there are nosy neighbors and a whole lot more involved who appear to all be hiding things.

The end tied up nicely, and it was not a horrible read, just not an amazing one.

Thank you NetGalley for the audio copy of this book.