Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - The Housemaid

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

48 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.

Content Warnings

tourmalinequeen's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

tierraskye's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

Content Warnings

ddellis08's review

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

kshertz's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I love these kinds of books. So much tension and drama and nothing is as it seems. Some parts of the mystery i predicted but most of it I did not! I love that I could not put it down. I need to read the next in the series!

Content Warnings

rachjy's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

summerlouisereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I don’t read many thrillers so some of it was hard to read. I prefer soppy cute stuff not pulling out teeth and dying from dehydration. But this book was AMAZING. I guessed the plot twist just two chapters before it happened so I’m really happy that it stayed so mysterious the whole way through. Part of me thinks what Nina did to Millie and how she spoke to her was so repetitive and went on for so long with no reason too. The book could have been cut down more. I get that it’s building the characters up to what we expect them to be and setting the scene to then create a twist, but for me, it was getting repetitive reading about Nina being rude. After it hit PART 2, I was HOOKED. Read it in a day regardless so definitely not boring regardless and I’d 100% recommend this book. I do wish Millie had a bigger happy ending, I can see her and Enzo are still in contact but can there be a few kisses on the ends of them text so she experiences real love? The epilogue leaves on a cliff hanger too so that’s cool!! Off to read Handmaids secret!

Content Warnings