The Housemaid: An absolutely addictive psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist

Product Information

do you know those movies about the scary cult of, like, creepy kids who can read minds and worship the devil and live in the cornfields or something? well, if they were casting for one of those movies, this girl would get the part. they wouldn’t even have to audition her. they would take one look at her and be like, yes, you are creepy girl number three. Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor. There was a scene (without going into specifics) that was so wildly reminiscent of Kevin Smith’s movie ‘Holidays’ (the Halloween portion). It just didn’t seem very original when I felt it had major potential to be. Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own....

I love trying to figure out what is going to happen, where the plot is going, who is telling the truth, who is reliable, etc. This one kept me on my toes. I found it to be fun, dramatic, surprising, and hard to put down! I did not like Nina. She was over the top, selfish, and illogical. I can't feel sorry for what she went through because .... No spoilers.... but if you read it, you'll know. But then an ad has been posted for a live-in maid with light duties. Millie interviews with the elegant wife/mother in her elegant house with her elegant handsome husband. Against all odds, Millie gets the job. But Nina, her new boss, is a bit "off". Nina has spent some time in a psychiatric hospital. She spins on a dime from day to day. Cecelia, nine years old, is spoiled rotten and lights up Millie every chance she gets. Millie feels sorry for Andrew, the husband, who is caught in this emotional blender on high speed.I've come across several comments stating that the second book doesn't quite match the excellence of the first. However, I don't entirely agree with this sentiment. There are still incredible twists in this book that caught me off guard—not just one, but three brilliantly executed twists that took me by surprise. The first twist, while slightly more apparent, is not due to the author giving it away but rather because the book's concept encourages readers to think outside the box, fostering doubts about everyone's motives and leading us to suspect every move made by the other characters, all in an attempt to deceive us (or perhaps not-so-poor Millie, who retains her big heart to help others). This book completely fulfilled my little Nancy Drew heart. This book took a piece of my heart and gave me something in return. This is the book I didn’t know I needed in 2023. This is the author that I didn’t know I needed to dive into! If you get anything from this review, all you need to know is…. YOU NEED TO PUT DOWN WHATEVER IT IS YOU’RE READING AND GRAB THIS BOOK! Nina seems to be delusional, even crazy at times. She loves her husband and her daughter Cece but for some reason, can’t stand Millie. People often describe books as “unputdownable” and I rarely use this term as my ADD means I can easily drop an activity and go and do other things. However, The Housemaid is one of those books where I genuinely wanted to read as much of it as possible in one sitting each time I could. And again, I usually struggle to read when anything else is going on but it’s easy writing and my desire to know what was coming next had me engrossed. The Housmaid characters – 4.25/5

i think these quotes sum up how i feel about this little girl. not only was she creepy, but she was such a little brat omg. PLOT: Millie really needed a job. She interviewed for a housekeeper position with Nina Winchester, who has a husband and a daughter. Never in her wildest dreams, did she ever think that she would get the job. Once again Freida McFadden releases an outstanding psychological thriller! This is sure to be a hit for those who loved the first one The Housemaid! The audio was condensed enough to finish in one day. Book Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Crime, Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Games

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband. McFadden knows exactly how to consistently raise the stakes in her novel, always keeping them in sight and never letting us forget the seemingly constant danger our characters are in. The fact she found a way to make two cunning enemies inhabit the same house only benefits the plot, doing wonders in maintaining a tense atmosphere with little room for respite. However, little did I know that this would be one of the most gripping and enthralling thrillers I’d read for a very long time. I was expecting it to be a fairly weak reading experience but an easy story to consume and though the latter may be true, it most certainly was not a weak thriller. When the second half of the book comes around the air of mystery begins to dissipate a bit by bit, leaving in its stead a clearer sense of danger. While it is impossibly difficult to compensate for what is lost when an enigma is solved, the author does a great job of ensuring it naturally leads to a better understanding of the peril our characters are in, consequently raising the threat level by increments until the climax.

Welcome to the family," Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I'll soon learn that the Winchesters' secrets are far more dangerous than my own . . . There was no alcoholic in this domestic thriller. Thank you for not using that trope, dear author. I am so fed up of reading thrillers with unreliable narrators who can’t control their addition to booze. I thought I’d left my darkest secrets behind. But could this quiet suburban street be the most dangerous place of all?

Creative Play

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel for an honest review. It has been published in April 2022. As always, not much to say about a thriller without spoiling anything (that would just be bad), but let's sum up the thoughts.