I read this book on a four hour journey and I didn’t even realize I had devoured all the 320 pages until I turned off my tablet upon reaching my destination. I think that already says enough about the book. Ward D is a psychological thriller by Freida McFadden and although Freida is known for such books, I don’t think I saw this one coming. I’ll try as much as possible not to give any spoilers especially for those who might want to read it later.
It’s about a medical student(Amy) who was assigned to a psychiatric ward for her clinical rotation for a night. And although one might say rotations are supposed to be a learning grounds, hers was very traumatizing because of her past.
So this medical student, had a best friend(Jade) in high school who behaved different in a really wrong way. She was very brilliant in class but her mom was bipolar and wasn’t really there for her as a mother should so it affected her. In the end, she had to go to a psychiatric ward for treatment. She actually ended being in and out of psych wards for years.
Years later, Amy, got assigned for clinical rotation at the same ward Jade was and everything she feared that Jade would do actually came to pass right before her eyes. And that’s because Jade believed Amy was the reason why she ended up in psych ward in the first place.
Before reading this book, I searched for Freida McFadden’s best books and found this in the list. McFadden has quickly become something I run to read every time I want to read and I’m here for it. For me, this is the best psychological thriller she’s ever written. I love how this book was written with active verbs. It makes you enjoy every bit of it. I’m beginning to think that’s Freida and every good writer’s secret.
I can’t continue without acknowledging the twists and turns in this book. I kept on gasping in the car so many times that at some point, the person beside just kept looking at me. The main plot in this book is something you won’t see coming and the twists will definitely catch you unexpectedly.
I also love the fact that she was able to paint a perfect picture of everything happening in my head. It felt like I was inside the story. One thing that got stuck with me was Amy’s guilt. She felt guilty all through the story because she believed she could have helped her ex best friend. And if she did, her friend wouldn’t have been in that place in the end.
But then something she kept forgetting was that you can only help someone who wants to be helped. And in this case, Jade didn’t want to be helped. In fact, I think Amy even did a great job moving away from her if not, she would have also become just like her. This is very similar to the happenings in real life. It’s either you help someone who wants to be helped or you just let them be. Staying around can actually pull you into the same mess you are trying to help clean.
After reading it, I tried so hard to see if there was a flaw in this book. Maybe something that would make this book an 2 or a 3 but nothing at all. Absolutely nothing. This is a solid 4/5 for me. I enjoyed every bit of it. If you are in a reading slump and you want to wake up, take a walk to Ward D. Thank you for reading.
