Book Review: The Crash by Freida McFadden

Rating: ★★★☆☆(3/5)

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Introduction:

Released January 2025. Read January 2025.

I am obviously in a cozy mystery hyperfixation. My last several reviews have been all mystery or thrillers but it has more to do with the fact that I am new to the genre and feeling it out more than anything. I have read several of Freida’s now and her latest one The Crash dropped at the end of last month (January 2025) and I ran to read it once I saw it was free on Kindle Unlimited. I have been working my 9-5 the last week so I am finally getting around to telling my thoughts on it.

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Summary: A Brief Overview (Without Major Spoilers)

From Good Reads

The nightmare she’s running from is nothing compared to where she’s headed.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn’t what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself—and her unborn child.

A gut-wrenching story of motherhood, survival, and twisted expectations, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden delivers a snowbound thriller that will chill you to the bone.

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What Worked for Me:

The two different POVs split between Tegan and Polly were very interesting. They not only give us a full picture but they create the hole in their counterpart’s story. We see the intentions and actions of each character for what they are and how they are misinterpreting what’s going on in the situation. We see how that leads to chaos and I am here for it.

Tuna. She calls her baby Tuna before it’s born and seems to communicate with it in her mind. As a woman who’s had kids, I get it. One of my biggest anticipations in becoming a mom was wondering what she would sound like. At two her little voice is still developing and I love it. While pregnant I shared all kinds of one sided conversations with her. I can see why a lonely Tegan would have an imagined two-way conversation too.

The way Frieda splits her stories into parts. Part one starts from Tegans main POV and then we start with Polly in Part 2. McFadden is good about giving the reader her story in arcs almost like a play.

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What Didn’t Work for Me: Trigger Warnings and Criticisms

As a mother who is TTC for #2, anything with momma’s being at risk during their pregnancies is not it for me. It was hard to get through in some areas because of that.

There was some illusion to Sexual Assault and that gave me the ick.

Tegan’s brother gave me the big ick.

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Final Thoughts:

If you love a quick cozy mystery then this is a great book for you. If you like arc stories from different POVs then this is great. I loved the end of the Teacher and was hoping to get that kind of jaw dropping ending with the epilogue of the crash but it didn’t happen. I will honestly forget most of this plot by mid March but it was great for a rainy day read.