Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - The Perfect Nanny: A Novel

you really wouldn’t expect anything that has happened in this book. the foreshadowing is brilliantly done and even if you can kind of guess what could happen, you’d never expect it to be as cruel as it was.

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weelasswithabook's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

CW child murder, racism, domestic abuse, child neglect, parental abandonment, attempted suicide

🌟 Domestic thriller
🌟 Translated work
🌈 Morrocan-French author

I don't even know what to say, but that was wild.

Written in third person omniscient, The Nanny allows us to truly view the spiral that Louise ends up in, leading her to the crime she has commited, and the varying moments where it could have been prevented.

There are such subtle point throughout the course of the book which are huge red flags that only us as observers can see, such as the hide and seek game, which made me so uncomfortable, even though it could be viewed as fairly irrelevant. Maybe it's because we knew how the story would unfold, maybe it's parental instinct, but I was uncomfy.

While the book is focused mainly on Louise's experiences, the touches on the kids parents, outside characters, people from Louise's past, we're able to form a fully rounded perception of Louise herself and it's chilling to watch it unfold when you know exactly the point that we end up at.

The prose was wonderful, and I appreciated how it was written, although there are many other books with the same techniques I haven't liked, Leila Slimani seems to have hit the nail on the head and made it truly work for me.

My only gripe is how ambiguous the ending was. I know some people love ambiguous endings (such as The Boy Who Loved Tom Gordon, where I loved the book but the ending made me scream into a pillow), but the frustration I feel is always to the extreme. This is a me problem, not an author problem, I just personally need a story fully rounded off and a resolution.

All in all this was extremely enjoyable and I was kept on the edge of my seat even though I knew exactly what was coming. I can definitely see why the author won an award for this. It felt like a unique telling of a common trope and I'm glad I gave it a chance.

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smackeykennedy37's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.0

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schorlett's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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bookellys's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

saw this on Between The Covers and thought it sounded like a really good read. The opening sentence hooks you in - you already know that the children are dead, you already know that it was the nanny, Louise, who did it… but why??

The rest of the book let’s you in deeper into Louise’s background, her living conditions, her thoughts and anxieties, and her odd behaviour (that I really don’t understand why Myriam and Paul put up with it to be honest!) but I’m not sure it goes deep enough - I’m still scratching my head a little trying to really understand why? When did the fuse get tripped?

Don’t get me wrong, she always demonstrated some questionable behaviours (the chicken??) but she loved the children and the breakdown of that seemed very sudden. We know she was scared of not being needed but there was the potential of another job with the twins 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’d also have like to know more about what happened with Stephanie.

All the way through this was a 4 star read fir me, in anticipation of a solid conclusion but the end left me underwhelmed and wanting to know more so a 3 star overall. This is a short book, only 207 pages - I’d have definitely liked a few more!

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natalya_c14's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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madamelacy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The book opens with a murder scene, so you know what ultimately happens. The rest of the book tells the story of the apparently perfect nanny, but then she starts to do things which are increasingly unsettling and bizarre. The parents are so grateful for the nanny that they make excuses for some of the red flags.

Really well-written psychological thriller.

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kingsteph's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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