The Boyfriend Book Review: A Thriller by Freida McFadden
I picked The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden for my October book of the month selection. She’s an author that I’ve heard so much about. I’ve only read 1 book by her so far and I felt that it was a little basic, so I wanted to check out more of her work to see if it lives up to the hype. In today’s blog post, I’ll be sharing my full The Boyfriend book review.
This book initially attracted my attention because of the title. We all know that with online dating, going out for dates can be a little precarious. What if your date isn’t who they say they are? What if they don’t look like their picture? What if they are a serial killer? There’s so much gray area.
In this new book by Freida McFadden, she really creates a story with twists and turns. There are plenty of red herrings and with dual point of view, we get the perspectives of both Sydney and Tom. Sydney’s story is told through present day while Tom’s story mainly focuses on his past and his upbringing.
But that’s enough of an introduction! Let’s get on with The Boyfriend book review.
And if you enjoyed today’s book discussion and are looking for more thriller recs, you can read more of my reviews here.
What is the plot of The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden?
A new, twisting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Teacher and The Housemaid!
She’s looking for the perfect man. He’s looking for the perfect victim.
Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York, has terrible luck with dating. She’s seen it all: men who lie in their dating profile, men who stick her with the dinner bill, and worst of all, men who can’t shut up about their mothers. But finally, she hits the jackpot.
Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He’s charming, handsome, and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Sydney is swept off her feet.
Then the brutal murder of a young woman―the latest in a string of deaths across the coast―confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them.
Sydney should feel safe. After all, she is dating the guy of her dreams. But she can’t shake her own suspicions that the perfect man may not be as perfect as he seems. Because someone is watching her every move, and if she doesn’t get to the truth, she’ll be the killer’s next victim…
A dark story about obsession and the things we’ll do for love, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden proves that crimes of passion are often the bloodiest… (from Amazon.com)
Who is Freida McFadden?
Freida McFadden is an American thriller author. She is also a practicing physician who specializes in brain injuries. In 2013 she self published her first book, and since then has published many more. One of her most popular books is The Housemaid (the first in the Housemaid series), which is being turned into a movie starring Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney. Other popular books of hers include The Housemaid’s Secret and The Housemaid is Watching.
Her thriller stories are suspenseful and often feature dark secrets and unexpected plot twists.
My Initial Thoughts
I am no stranger to online dating. In fact, I met my current partner of 5+ years on Tinder. But before I met him, I went on a lot of bad dates. And that’s exactly where main character Sydney Shaw is at with her online dating adventures.
I felt really bad for her because the story opens with her going on a first date, and the man she meets up with is just atrocious. Online dating is really hard because you want to give people the benefit of the doubt. You want give people a chance, because texting and online conversations can be misleading. But in Sydney’s case, she’s a young woman living in New York City and you can’t really be too safe.
When her first date goes wrong, a random man on the street stands up for her and helps her to safety. And right off the bat I was like, okay. He’s a gentleman. He knows the different between right and wrong. He’s handsome. Maybe this is the perfect boyfriend that is mentioned in the book description.
Different Points of View
I don’t always love when a story is told partially in the present and partially in the past. It just feels kind of lazy, like the author doesn’t know how to write backstory without info dumping. But in this situation, it really worked and added a lot to the story.
What makes The Boyfriend such an interesting story is that you really don’t know a lot until the end, when all is revealed. We get to know Sydney pretty quickly because she is the main character. We learn about her best friend Gretchen and her neighbor Bonnie. We learn that she’s an accountant who mostly works from home and goes to yoga a couple of days a week. But what do we know about her past? Not much.
Meanwhile, we’re given chapters from Tom’s perspective where he talks about his best friend, his family life, and his girlfriend Daisy Driscoll. So we learn about Tom’s childhood before we even really get to know him. Which is interesting. Someone’s childhood can really help shape who they are as an adult, so I found his chapters to be very confusing. What did they mean? What were they leading to?
Freida McFadden Books
Freida McFadden is one of the most popular thriller authors right now, I’m pretty sure. Her bibliography is very impressive. And I’m in a psychological thrillers group on Facebook and I feel like people are constantly asking questions about and discussing her books.
The Boyfriend is the second book of hers that I have read. And although I’ve only read two of her books for far, I’ve learned that true Freida fashion is to have a big twist somewhere in a novel. That’s part of the fun of reading thrillers, isn’t it? I always try to see if I can figure it out ahead of time and guess the ending.
But so far I am 0/2. The whole book I was trying to figure out what was going on and it wasn’t until the last pages that I finally understood. I think this is a great book to read if you like thrillers that keep you guessing the entire time.
Remember to be Safe!
A big part of this story has to do with online dating. That’s how Sydney met her first terrible date and the beginning of the story. And if it weren’t for the mysterious man on the street who saved her, things could have gone very dark. The funny thing is that they way he kept popping up throughout the story, I thought he might have secret information or better intentions or whatever.
But as we all know, people can be terrible. And like most things that happen in this book, there’s a plot twist that completely flips things upside down.
My Critiques
I would say The Boyfriend by Frieda McFadden is a 4 star rating for me. I thought it was very good and it definitely kept me on my toes. I enjoy Frieda’s writing style and the dual timelines wound up really working for me.
But there were a lot of loose ends that were not tied up. Part of that could have been on purpose. There are a lot of red herrings in this story that lead you to think one thing, but wind up not being true. I didn’t understand the point of Sydney having a bleeding disorder. It didn’t really add to the story at all.
Another thing that bothered me was the high school drama of Tom’s past. When all was said and done, I don’t think the chapters from Tom’s POV were all that strong. I don’t want to spoil things so I’ll just say that a lot of the things that happened during these chapters was way too convenient.
It’s hard for me to believe that the local policy team and Daisy’s father wouldn’t be more on top of what was going on.
The Ending
But you know what? I did enjoy the ending. As crazy as these thriller books can be, they are also pure fun. I love trying to figure out the ending (even though I never do).
In Conclusion
Thanks for checking out my The Boyfriend book review. This was an easy read that I finished in a day because I just had to know what in the world was going on. It’s always a red flag when your boyfriend has a burner phone, and I’m glad Sydney realized that right away.
I know that my library has a lot of Freida’s books available, so I look forward to reading more in the future. My goal is to one day figure out the ending before I’ve read the entire book! Haha.
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