Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

47 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this way more than I want to admit. It was as twisted as Flowers in the Attic and as delicious as the most decadent chocolate cake. I thought I was going to hate it as the story unfolded, but the second twist immediately undid my reservations. I thought it was going to be a story of the princess waiting to be rescued by the prince. I was extremely wrong and oh so happy to be wrong. And I realize that I love this book because I harbor a modicum of internalized, impotent, simmering rage for all the women who’ve been in Nina and Millie’s positions, myself included (though certainly to a much, much lesser degree). I have a feeling lot of us women identify with these characters more than we want to think about. I’ve read several books by Freida McFadden, and this one is my favorite. I really looking forward to the next one in the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

brittinyh3711's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Spoilers*****




Wow. I thought she was certifiable then I felt bad for her. Then felt scared for Millie. And after we find out why she went to prison and why Nina hired her! I thought maybe the parents did this and that's why he does it and sort of right. What the mother says at the funeral! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

tourmalinequeen's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

I read it for book club and I both did and didn't enjoy it. Not my genre but I'm sure it's something that others will enjoy.
The characters serve the plot not the other way around, and the plot surrounds an abusive relationship. It begins with gaslighting and develops quickly to confinement and psychological abuse. If it weren't for the book club I would not have read it. None of the characters are likeable and backstory gets info dumped in awkward expository segments rather than serving the characters or allowing them to develop. Plot is very fast paced and can be enjoyable at times but the unlikeable characters mean I didn't want anyone to succeed in the narrative, there was no sympathetic character even the ones surviving abuse did not come across as sympathetic. It reads like the author wanted it to be a movie or tv show rather than a book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

lemonsneverlie's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This novel was quite a fast and easy read which majes you want to stay up sleepless nights just to find out what comes next! Do yourself a favour and don't look up spoilers :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, and Death of parent

heer_pluisje's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.0

Dragging story, quite predictable twists, no likeable characters, very little suspense

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body shaming, Infertility, Infidelity, and Mental illness

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

redempta's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

4🌟

I was dubious when I started reading the book. Part 1 wasn't great. I didn't like being in Millie's point of view, as she wasn't very smart and a bit self-absorbed about her feelings. And it was unnecessarily long compared to the rest of the book. But I really liked part 2.

I enjoyed getting Nina's point of view and understanding where she was coming from.

. And part 3 was great conclusion. It remains to be seen what the next books will bring. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent and Sexual harassment

raesapiga_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

ellavlind's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Asså jävlar. De hände saker hela tiden och man ville alltid läsa mer och när man trodde man visste nått så visade det sig att man inte alls gjorde det. Först trodde man de va Nina som va ”den onda” men sen fick man ju reda på att det var Andrew hela tiden och Nina som blivit plågad och planerat att Millie skulle döda Andrew vilket hon ju gjorde. Millies backstory va ju bra och passande och värre än vad man trodde hahahah. Men i slutet blev de ju klart att Evelyn (hans mamma) va den som startade allt även om de inte är en ursäkt för vad Andrew gjorde mot både Nina och Millie.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Blood, Vomit, and Death of parent

mfuzeiro's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Literally, so freaking incredible! So unpredictable and amazing! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Infertility, Torture, and Death of parent

_pauline's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

this was INTENSE

I read this in one sitting and absolutely loved the first half, thought I‘d give it 5 stars

(I also really liked andrew at first, look how that turned out)

. after that, it was mainly

torture (not the reading but the content of the book)

, plus there were a lot of scenes that made me want to scream at the characters DONT BE STUPID JUST DO …, and while I didn’t always enjoy that, I still couldn’t put the book down. 

one police officer being able to simply close such a suspicious case seems unrealistic but ig it doesn’t really matter

I definitely get the hype and would recommend this if you don’t mind the content warnings. the plot twists are great. not sure I‘ll read the sequels any time soon but I‘ll definitely check out her other books 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Drug abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and Death of parent