The Ex

The Ex (2019) is a self-published novel by American psychological thriller author Freida McFadden. The novel follows an unnamed woman as she stalks her ex-boyfriend Joel’s new girlfriend. As the Ex learns more about the new girl, she decides that she must intervene in order to save Joel’s life. Major themes in the novel include The Insidious Nature of Jealousy, The Lasting Pain of Heartbreak, and The Disempowering Effects of Wealth Inequality.

This guide is based on the 2019 e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of self-harm and suicide.

Plot Summary

In the prologue, a woman known only as “the Ex” is devastated when her handsome doctor boyfriend, Joel Broden, breaks up with her. Five months later, she is still struggling to accept the breakup, stalking Joel using WhereAmI, a location-sharing app he set up while they were dating. When Joel finally stops paying for her to live in their formerly shared apartment, she is forced to move in with her grandmother in Brooklyn. Using WhereAmI, the Ex follows Joel to a restaurant, where she sees him kiss a new woman.

In a parallel storyline, Cassie Donovan, the owner of a failing bookstore called Bookland, is thrilled when an attractive doctor named Joel asks her out. On their first date, they are approached by an old friend of Joel’s who mistakes Cassie for Joel’s ex-girlfriend, Francesca. The man describes Francesca as beautiful and brilliant, embarrassing Cassie, who feels she can’t compare. The rest of the date goes smoothly, ending in their first kiss. As Cassie walks home from the train, she senses someone following her, but sees nothing. The next day, the door to Bookland is vandalized with red paint that looks like blood.

During an embarrassing run-in with Lydia, the wife of Joel’s best friend Pete, the Ex learns that Joel is taking his new relationship seriously. She briefly deletes the WhereAmI app, but quickly redownloads it and continues to stalk Joel and his new girlfriend, whom she nicknames “Olive” because of her olive skin. While following Joel in Central Park, she meets a friend of his named Dean by chance. Dean—also a cardiologist, like Joel—asks her out, but she declines, not wanting Joel to know she’s dating.

Cassie meets Joel’s couple friends Pete and Lydia and Anna and Con. Lydia and Anna reveal that Cassie looks very similar to Francesca, and that Francesca owned a restaurant. Unsure of whether her feelings for Joel are real, Cassie decides to have sex with him. When she arrives home the next morning, she finds that someone has painted the word “SLUT” on her front door. She decides not to report it to police.

The Ex wakes up feeling hungover and immediately regrets visiting Olive’s apartment the previous night. Dean appears and asks her out again. She rejects him but takes his card. When she unexpectedly sees Olive at a coffee shop, the Ex steals her keys and copies them before returning.

Several days after the vandalism, Cassie visits Francesca’s restaurant. She is shocked to find Joel on the same block and worries that he is still in love with Francesca. Lydia invites Cassie to a Halloween party and suggests that she dress as Cleopatra. Joel and his friends are shocked by Cassie’s costume, and Joel acts coldly throughout the party. A photo from a prior year’s party shows Francesca dressed as Cleopatra. Cassie realizes that Lydia intended to embarrass her. The next morning, she receives news that someone broke into Bookland and trashed the store.

Depressed about not being invited to Lydia’s Halloween party, the Ex decides to use Olive’s stolen keys to enact revenge. Soon after, she receives a message from Joel, who begs her to move on. Knowing Joel is in love with Olive, the Ex agrees to go out with Dean after he looks into her grandmother’s heart pain. However, her obsession with Joel prevents her from calling Dean, and she asks her private detective cousin to investigate Olive.

One month after the Halloween party, Anna visits Bookland and reveals to Cassie that she never liked Francesca. When Anna’s baby is born, Cassie and Joel visit the new family. Cassie worries that Joel wants his own family before she’s ready. Shortly after, Joel tells Cassie he loves her and offers her a key to his apartment. At an awkward dinner with Pete and Lydia, Cassie learns that Francesca is their daughter’s godmother. When Lydia steps away, Pete implies that he wants to divorce her. The next day, Cassie sees Lydia crying in the street after being kicked out of Starbucks.

After weeks of avoiding Dean, the Ex decides to visit his medical practice. He asks her to join him for a dance lesson, and she accepts. At dinner afterward, Dean reveals that he moved to New York from Chicago after a bad breakup. They share a wonderful kiss, and Dean asks her out again. Before she can respond, her cousin calls with news that Olive’s business is failing and that she is borrowing money from illegal sources. The Ex decides she needs to warn Joel, but he ignores her concerns, calling her crazy.

As Cassie grows increasingly paranoid, she has an allergic reaction to peanuts in her food. Joel saves her life with an Epi-pen. When she receives another obnoxious phone call, Cassie confronts Joel about Francesca’s behavior. She is shocked when Joel reveals that Francesca died by suicide after he broke up with her, and she wonders who is harassing her if not Francesca. When she returns home, she finds the word “slut” written in black ink in her closet. Cassie realizes that the person harassing her has keys to her apartment.

When the Ex confronts “Olive” in her apartment, it is revealed that “the Ex” is Anna, and that the new girlfriend she is stalking is Francesca. Francesca reveals that Joel broke up with her after learning about her debt, but that she still has another secret he doesn’t know. Anna leaves and begs Dean to give her another chance. It is revealed that Dean’s real name is Constantine, and that he goes by both Dean and Con. When Dean/Con and Anna go to Lydia and Pete’s home for dinner, Lydia reveals that she resents Cassie for taking over Francesca’s life. Anna finds Joel at Francesca’s old restaurant, where she tells him that she believes Lydia is stalking Cassie.

Lydia appears at Cassie’s apartment and offers her wine that is revealed to be poisoned. She explains her anger at Joel for Francesca’s death and at Cassie for replacing Francesca. As Cassie passes out, Anna and Joel arrive and call for an ambulance. When Cassie wakes up in the hospital, she and Joel reaffirm their love for each other.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that Anna resents Lydia for convincing Joel to break up with her and Francesca for taking her place in Joel’s life. Anna killed Francesca and hoped Joel would go to jail for the murder. Although she is happy with Dean/Con, she is willing to go after Joel and Cassie if they cross her.