A review by mikathereviewer
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This author has lots of potential. She is good in writing plot twists and in depicturing a stomach turning vibe. I had for the most part actually fun reading and was interested to see where things were going. Also loved how the author made me switch theories every once in a while as the foreshadowing was way more subtle than other authors and that the foreshadowing included misleading us on purpose. I thought at first the plot twist will be too obvious due to it, but it made me notice that it was something completely different. 

Unfortunately I knew ALL plot twists before they were even revealed. The soonest theory I had that was true was at the prologue already. We have a total of 61 chapters for the record. The foreshadowing is very very bad. Way too obvious and it made me feel disappointed.
I also didn't like ANY character, as they all had flaws (which is an understatement) I just couldn't but despise them. 

Things I disliked
1. MC acting and being a whore
(Sleeping with a married husband and having the hots for EVERY male character mentioned)

Reference 1: "And most of all, to have a husband like Andrew. To have him press his lips against mine the way he did to hers. To feel his body heat against my chest…"
Reference 2: "Truthfully, I prefer Andrew’s looks, and of course, there’s the language barrier. But maybe having a little fun with Enzo would be good for me. It would relieve a little of that pent-up energy, and maybe I would stop having wholly inappropriate fantasies about my boss’s husband."
Reference 3: "and the actor playing the lead is dreamy.
Although I can’t help but think he’s not quite as handsome as Andrew."

2. MC sexually assaulting someone else (which gets even funnier as she apparently was against such and killed someone who tried touching her friend without allowance)

Reference: I can do this—language of love, all that. “A break.” I reach out, place my hand on his chest, and raise an eyebrow suggestively. “You know.”
I had expected at this point, he would grin at me, scoop me off my feet, and carry me up to the attic, where he would ravish me for hours. What I did not expect is the way his eyes darken. He leaps away from me like my hand is on fire and lets loose with a string of rapid, angry Italian. I have no idea what he’s saying, aside from the fact that he’s not saying “hello” or “thank you.”
“I… I’m so sorry,” I say helplessly.
“Sei pazzo!” he yells at me. He rakes a hand through his black hair. “Che cavolo!”

And before someone tells me that this isn't sexual assault. First of all the gender DOES NOT matter and secondly touching in any way without permission is assault, if you want it or not. And due to his response he DIDN'T like it.


3.The language barrier being depictured as no problem and even 'attractive'

Reference: "He doesn’t even speak English.”
“I’m okay with that,” Suzanne says. “Hell, that might be a plus.”"

I dislike it due to being able to speak to someone especially the common ways of telling someone to stop or to just express emotions in general is very important for any relationship. Saying language barrier is good means being ok that one can't express themselves freely or not even caring for it, which means either just using someone for a quickie or actually harassing them and having an excuse for 'not knowing that they didn't like it'

4. Me not wanting to DNF this book due to the
infidelity


- It triggered me a lot and I was angry for the MC to be depictured as a
wh0re
and even now that I finished the book I won't change my mind. I hated Millie. 
Also, no matter how much you dislike or even hate someone, there is the rule to NEVER
sleep with a married man
. So the excuse that she hated Nina was nothing but an excuse. That's not how it should be done.
Leave your fingers at yourself!


5. Nina
- Even though she was
the victim
all along she was literally using the excuse that due to Millie having
a prison history she can suffer with Andrew
. Also used the excuse that Millie didn't need to take the bait and could have just ignored it.
Nina manipulated Millie to do it
. And then in the end she
sacrifices herself
just so that we won't hate the character. I still dislike her. 
I didn't like ANY character in this book. 

6. Stupid explanation or even stupid characters

- Millie didn't know basic Italian which I know most people do and there is no way she didn't know that Hola was Spanish

- Millie needs to google how long someone needs to dehydrate as if she never learnt that in school (or she is so stupid and forgot even though that's BASIC KNOWLEDGE)

- "Also, keep your eyes open. Or it won’t count." 
That's not true, pepper stray can hurt extremely much even with closed eyes. just that one can get blind when they keep their eyes open.
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