Freida McFadden is becoming one of those authors whose books I go to whenever I need something lighter and easier to read. After finishing A Little Life one of the longest, most depressing books I’ve ever read, picking up The Inmate was exactly what I needed. But, is it a good book in its own right too?
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The Inmate tells the story of Brooke Sullivan, a nurse practitioner, when returns to her hometown and starts working at a maximum-security prison. Unbeknownst to her colleagues, she has a complicated past with inmate Shane Nelson, her high school sweetheart and the father of her son, Josh.
The Inmate plot – 4/5
The Inmate follows a familiar Freida McFadden pattern in that our main protagonist slowly reveals things to us as the reader throughout the book that make us realise that what we thought to be true actually wasn’t. Without a doubt, this is one of my favourite aspects of McFadden’s books and there’s that in abundance of that here in The Inmate.
Yes sometimes it’s easy to guess the twist (you definitely won’t in this one) but it’s still enjoyable and makes the plot of The Inmate race along as you try to workout whether your theory is the right one or not.
Is this the greatest writing you’ll ever read in a book? No. Does it have a multitude of layers to it for English scholars to explore? No. But is it fast-paced, easy to read and enjoyable? Oh yes. And, at this point, that’s exactly why I read Freida’s books.
On a scale of her best to worst, I would say this sits right in the middle of the pile – I wouldn’t say it impressed me like The Housemaid did, but it kept me engaged and I found myself interested in the story throughout.
The Inmate characters – 4/5
Often I could give or take the characters in McFadden books and it’s the same with our main protagonist in The Inmate, Brooke. She works well as our main character throughout, but it’s not like you’ll end falling in love with her at all.
What Freida McFadden does do well is write her characters with some personality. Yes, they’re often fairly similar to her other characters and sometimes they’re a little psychopathic, but at least they’re easily identifiable.
The dialogue can reach cringe at some point and this also slips into the narrative, but if you can look past that, the characters in The Inmate are vibrant and unique!
The Inmate final rating – 4/5
On a scale of her worst to best, The Inmate sits solidly in the middle of McFadden’s books. It features her usual cast of psychotic characters and fast-paced chapters where you’re constantly chasing the twist or resolution. If you’re a Freida McFadden fan, I think you’ll enjoy the The Inmate but if you’ve read others by her and ween’t impressed by those, there’s nothing in The Inmate that’s going to change your opinion. I enjoyed this one but for the same reason I’ve enjoyed other McFadden books – they’re easy, fast and a little unhinged reads.
