I enjoyed this one. It was not the intense thriller that I was expecting like most Freida I have read. I truly enjoyed it and the twists at the end though.
I love how she included turtles in the whole story and I could not stop thinking about “Sheldon” the whole time.
The coworker was really good and had a good story throughout!

Freida McFadden is the queen of suspense once again in her newest thriller, The Coworker. The Coworkers follows Dawn Schiff, an account at Vixed, who is more than a little odd and not well liked by her coworkers and Natalie, Vixed best sales person, and queen bee with a history. When Dawn goes missing, Natalie is determined to find out what happened to her at any cost.

There were twists around every corner in this book, and Freida truly keeps readers guessing until the very last page.

Thank you to Freida McFadden and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in return for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Coworker
By: Frieda McFadden
Publication date: August 29, 2023

“Two women. An office filled with secrets. One terrible crime that can't be taken back.”

The Coworker follows 2 women the first being Dawn. Dawn is alittle strange, for example she has an obsession with turtles. One day when Dawn is not at her desk by 8:45 (like she always is) Natalie starts to worry. Natalie is the pretty, popular women in the office. But when Dawn goes missing Natalie finds herself in the center of the investigation into Dawn’s murder.

Let me start off with what I liked about this book:
- [ ] Dawn’s emails were very entertaining
- [ ] Natalie drove me crazy but in a good way!
- [ ] Loved the duel time lines
- [ ] The plot was great!!

What wasn’t my favorite:
- [ ] This book didn’t have as many twist as most of Freida McFadden’s books
- [ ] The ending wasn’t my favorite


Overall I would recommend this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me this ACR in exchange for my honest review.

Did i devour this book in one night? Yes.
Did I fall in love with it? No
Would I recommend it? Yes! It’s entertaining.
Did I love the plot twist? Absolutely not. It made no sense.

This thriller is fast paced and super entertaining! I could not put it down. It had me questioning every character and their intentions. There are a lot of twists in this book and this is where I stop raving about it because the twists make no sense. They seem to be pulled out of nowhere and contradicts what’s shown in the book. The main character is an unreliable narrator although she’s thinking in real time in her POVs so it’s not like she’s just shown lying, no it means she’s lying to herself and overall it doesn’t add up.

I know that this is a wildly anticipated fresh new release by Freida, everyone is hungry to get a piece of it, and to be honest, I really wanted to read it also. So, yay, I’m so happy and lucky and thankful and grateful I had that chance!
I was not sure what to expect from this book, especially after having seen Freida go crazy all over the internet will her turtle figurine and its evil adventures.
Now, that I have read this book, it took me some time to word my review for it. Because, on one hand, the book was entertaining, it was well written, and there were fun twists (really, if usually twists are referred to as shocking or unexpected, in this book the twists felt like they were fun, at least for me), and there was some interesting character development. But, on the other hand, I absolutely hated ONE aspect of the book and I can totally see how many readers will dislike it also, most might even be offended by it, and, honestly, I was expecting more / better from a brain specialist/doctor author. One of the main characters – Dawn – is a textbook case of mild ASD. Although it is never clearly spelled out in the book that she is on the spectrum, but – she is a textbook case, really. And here comes my issue – she is portrayed as WEIRD. As somewhat dumb. As somewhat stupid. Her being on ASD is clearly labeled as quirks, as something silly. And, I have issues with that.
This One Huge Thing aside, the other main character – Natalie – kept reminding me of another successful character previously created by Freida. Housemaid’s Nina. They have so much in common, being such unlikeable characters at first, hated by everyone. Both are seemingly obsessed with shallow and meaningless things like looks and other superficial nonsense and seemingly being the ultimate bad guys. I can totally see everyone posting all over the internet how they can’t stand Natalie, as soon as the book is out, and everyone starts reading it. Then again, at one point, as I was thinking how much hate potential Natalie has, I realized that, in fact, what makes her so unlikeable is exactly what should be making her relatable for so many out there - she has an excuse for everything, nothing ever is her fault, most people out there should be seeing that as something relatable! But, of course, there is nothing, absolutely nothing relatable about the way Natalie is written/created. At least, at first.
Now, when I was almost done with my review, I decided to take a look at what others have said about The Coworker. I was surprised to see how many people hated the huge abundance of turtles in the story. Uhm. No. Maybe it should have been spelled out somewhere in the book about Dawn’s ASD thing though. Turtles are a very bad case of IYKYK here, at least regarding ASD.
Overall, it was an entertaining read. It absolutely was. It was fast-paced, interesting, I loved the twists, and I loved the character building. I hated the weird presentation of ASD though. And the book has a happy (or happy-ish) ending. At the moment I’m not sure if that is a good or a bad thing. but nevertheless, it is there, the happy-ish ending.

Very fast-paced and quick read! Wasn’t sure who I was rooting for in this book and there were some plot twists, not exactly unexpected but still was a good read. Will definitely recommend! Thank you to NetGalley for my copy!

The coworker has you guessing from the start! It is a fast paced thriller and will have you wanting to read it all in one sitting. This book is definitely worth a read! 5/5 stars!

Another great book from Frieda Mcfadden!! Anything Frieda writes is always a must read for me. This was a quick read that you won't be able to put down. I was not expecting that twist at the very end! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!

4.5⭐️

OMG! Freida McFadden does it again! she delivered another jaw dropping twist that had me completely shocked. I have read all her books and she doesn’t disappoint. What a well written psychological thriller, Cant wait until she writes more of her books.


Thank you so much to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced copy.

One thing about our girl Freida - she loves to write a dumb female. In the beginning, the "red substance" that she wasn't quite sure about... come on, sis.

Nonetheless, these books will suck you in and you cannot look away.

I enjoyed this one but it wasn't my favorite by this author.

Thanks, Net Galley!

4.5 stars - I kind of called that she wouldn't be dead but I didn't guess about Mia and Caleb. I maybe could've guessed Mia but I was kind of just enjoying the story. I do think it's rather ironic that the real killer didn't think she deserved justice but Natalie did.

Freida McFadden always has a way of keeping readers hooked with her unique and twisty storylines – The Coworker is no exception! I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style on this one, particularly with how the POV’s were written.
Just when I thought I finally had everything figured out, Freida threw in yet another twist to really get you thinking! Everything tied together so well in the end as well. A brilliant read!

Wow. Just wow. Great book from start to finish. Just when I thought i had it all down, something else happened. Fantastic and absolutely captivating from start to finish.

Frieda McFadden has done it again! Her books are like lifetime movies in novel form, bingeable and so so juicy. This one threw me a bit with all the turtle talk in the beginning but I quickly became intrigued when I realized some stories were most definitely not adding up. I love a story with an unreliable narrator and this one had me thrown by the middle of the book. Dawn the Turtle Lover and Natalie the office “it” girl tell two different tales, who will you believe? I woke up at three a.m. to finish this book because I HAD to get to the bottom of it and I don’t regret any of the missed sleep.

Freida has done it once again! This was a fast paced, page turner! I got whiplash from the quick changes from love to hate and back again. I was turtley into it from the first to last page.

As per Freida Mcfadden's usual, I was captured right away! She has a knack for writing characters that you absolutely hate but still can't help but be thoroughly invested in their story.

This book definitely delivers a quick, fast paced thrill ride that will have you rolling your eyes at the main character (in the best way of course).

It may also make you want to go buy a ceramic turtle for your desk at work 😉.

Happy Reading guys. Freida did it again!

LI love Freida and her twists and turns and this book absolutely delivers the twists up to the last page! The writing style of this book was completely different, in my opinion, from the other Freida books I have read. It wasn’t my favorite writing style, but I still loved this book!

Dawn and Natalie will give you different perspectives of the same story. Each one having their own surprises and jaw dropping events that happen. This book was a fast read and an absolute page turner I would recommend to any thriller reader! Grab your copy in August 29th!


Thank you Freida McFadden, NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC In exchange for an honest review!

When Natalie answers her coworkers phone one morning and hears the words “help me”, she immediately knows something is wrong. A body is discovered and she quickly becomes the main suspect. But was she responsible for the accountant’s murder? Or was it someone completely different?

Freida McFadden does it again! Part 2 delivers a jaw dropping twist-of-all-twists that had me completely open mouthed.
A well written psychological thriller, easy to read and utterly unputdownable.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for granting my wish for an advanced copy.

Frieda McFadden created so many twists and turns in this book - you will not be able to put it down. A fast read and page turner until the very last page and you’ll still want more!

Forget star ratings! THE COWORKER is a five-turtle read! If you know, you know. If you don’t, it will all make sense after you read THE COWORKER. And read it you must.

Dawn Schiff is strange. At least, everyone thinks so at Vixed, the company where Dawn works. When Dawn doesn't show up for work one morning, her coworker Natalie Farrell is surprised. Then Natalie receives an unsettling, anonymous phone call that changes everything.

I don’t want to give you more than the brief synopsis above for fear of spoiling the story. Just read it and be prepared for a wild and twisty story. A true thrill ride with many twists and turtles. Who knew turtles could be creepy? McFadden writes in such a way that I was completely engrossed, turning the pages as quickly as I could to find out how “this” related to “that.” You think you know what’s around the next corner, but McFadden throws curveball after curveball, right up to the very last page.

If psychological thrillers are your thing, and even if they aren’t, get a copy of THE COWORKER. You’ll be hooked immediately, and I predict McFadden will become a favorite author.

THE COWORKER releases on August 29, 2023 and will be available through Kindle Unlimited.

Thank you to Freida McFadden, Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.