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bookishchaos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood and Stalking
Minor: Death of parent and Violence
mtstjk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Medical content, Confinement, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death, Stalking, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
aya09x's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Blood, Suicide, Murder, Violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Child abuse, and Car accident
mirificmoxie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gaslighting and Bullying
Moderate: Body horror, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping
Minor: Car accident and Suicide
bookworm_43's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Body horror, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Gore, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Suicide
assesgrass's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Suicide, Bullying, Death of parent, Gore, Blood, Alcohol, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Fatphobia, Gun violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
neverlandpages4's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
• I was actually planning on reading The Housemaid’s Secret but I saw this recommended in a YouTube video, then decided to start it on my Kindle just to see what it’s about and I literally couldn’t put this down and binged it in two sittings!!
• That’s the thing about this author’s books, they’re pretty short and will have you hooked from the first chapter and you pretty much have no choice but to binge read them because they’re just that good!
• This had such an interesting premise. For the first 20-30% of the book, we’re kind of unsure of Nora’s moral compass. Her dad is a serial killer and even though she’s convinced that she’s nothing like him, we watch her as she grapples with her morality and I thought that she was such an interesting character. I always love reading from morally questionable characters’ POV, I think part of that has to do with The Tell-Tale Heart. It literally made me love villain POVs 🫢
• Something I didn’t like though was the constant red herrings. Anytime I thought a character might be shady, they were immediately cleared. I felt like there was no chance for the reader to try and guess if their theory was right.
• The big twist at the end took me by surprise, but I did partially guess it. The killer was pretty obvious imo, but the way that they’re related to everything was what shocked me.
• This is a fast-paced, fairly short, twisty thriller that I’d highly recommend to anyone in a reading slump! Or to anyone that loves thrillers. And I’ll definitely be reading more of Freida’s books soon!
Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, Torture, Medical trauma, Blood, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Death of parent, Stalking, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Infidelity
aas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Stalking, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Gore, Infidelity, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Kidnapping
tspice24's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gore, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Dr. Nora Davis has a secret—her father is serving life in prison as a convicted serial killer. But when Nora’s patients start being killed in a manner that mimics her father’s crimes, her well-kept secret threatens to come to light.
I love a good serial killer novel, so I had high hopes for this one and was immediately engaged with the premise. Overall, The Locked Door was super fast-paced and enjoyable, with lots of mini cliffhangers and a few pretty good twists in the end. I also loved the cat, who honestly earned this book an entire extra half-star in my rating.
I did feel like this book required a decent amount of suspension of disbelief, and left a few too many unanswered questions for my tastes. A few of the details/plot choices also felt unnecessary, and I didn’t love the way the plot resolved. But, all of that said, I was pretty consistently entertained, and I will likely be checking out McFadden’s other titles in the future, so I’d call it a pretty solid read!
Recommended if you like: fast-paced thrillers; serial killer stories; quick reads.
CW: Death/murder; kidnapping/torture; suggestions of animal cruelty; suicide/death of parent; domestic abuse.
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical content, Domestic abuse, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, and Torture