A review by pinesandpages
Teach Me by Olivia Dade

3.25

This was fine! The pace felt a bit more like a novella, where the timeline was a bit compressed and events/feelings not fully fleshed out. Also Rose’s reveal of the fallout from her former marriage was not as dramatic as I would’ve thought, to warrant such an intense focus on privacy. Her intense need for distance in relationships/friendships was built up so much that when the reasoning was finally revealed, it was anticlimactic. 

It was hard to know precisely the timelines bc those weren’t made clear, but I know Rose had 15 years of teaching experience tho I’m not sure if it was all at the same high school. Around 40% into the book she’s kinda trying to work on not holding people at a distance so this convo happens w her boss: 

“Rose forced herself to keep going. “I’m lucky to have you as my department chair, and I realize it.” The truth, although she generally avoided revealing such personal information to her colleagues.” 

First of all, this is NOT personal information, and you’re telling me you've known and liked your boss for ~15 years and THIS is the most personal info you’ve ever shared?? I am baffled. And at this point we didn’t have a reason for her intense desire for privacy so it was even more baffling. 

anyways, I got a bit heated but overall thought this one was fine. A letdown tho. After how much I loved the first book I read by this author, At First Spite. 

I enjoyed the little moments of humor throughout which I always think Dade does a good job of scattering through her books, and I quite enjoyed Martin’s character growth.