Book Stats
- Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from NetGalley
- Format: ebook
- Length: 338 pages
- Chapters: 69 (70 with epilogue)
- Narrator POV: 1st person; alternating between characters
If you live in the psychological thriller world, you have heard of Freida McFadden. Yes, she’s a brain surgeon; yes, she’s a writer; yes, she knew who Hudson was (IYKYK). You either love her or hate her; there seems to be no in-between on the socials. I love her! I find her writing easy to digest and satisfying in the twists and plots that I am looking for. When I pick up a Freida, I am looking for a fun and twisty read, not some literary masterpiece that needs to be dissected to be understood.
Dear Debbie follows the life of Debbie Mullen, mom to teens Lexi and Izzy, wife to Cooper, and advice columnist to the town. In her line of work, Debbie gets all kinds of questions; How do I get my family to sit down and eat breakfast with me? How do I get my husband to let me choose the music? In the beginning, Debbie does her best to provide thoughtful and helpful advice. As her life begins to spiral out of control, her advice becomes more…. real. Let’s be honest, they’re all responses we would like to give at some point in our lives!
In addition to giving great advice, Debbie also maintains a beautiful garden. A garden that should be featured in Home Gardening magazine. Debbie is also somewhat of a tech genius who builds apps. She’s a master of all trades, it seems, and all of this knowledge will come in handy when she starts to pay back all of the people in her life that deserve it the most.
In true Freida fashion, there are plenty of twists I didn’t see coming! (Like, pretty much all of them.) The story spans several timelines in Debbie’s life and ties them all together with a nice little bow at the end.
The characters felt relatable. The relationship between Debbie and Cooper was sweet, though I had my eyes on Cooper throughout a lot of the story (you’ll understand once you read it). The growth of Lexi and Izzy was great to see, especially for teens! And the revenge? Cherry. On. Top. It was WELL deserved and oh so sweet! Freida really knows how to get people what they deserve.
Based on our rating scale, it was hard to choose between a 4 and a 5. I think this is where that .7 rating comes in, Shayna! I rounded up and gave it a 5/5 because I have definitely been thinking about it since I finished it several days ago. I would definitely have bought it if I hadn’t won it on NetGalley, but I probably wouldn’t buy it in multiple formats. I would read it again and do recommend it, though!
Dear Debbie is set to be released January 27, 2026, and if you’re a Freida fan or new to her writing, I highly recommend you pre-order this one! It will also be on Kindle Unlimited if that’s your jam!
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