Name: The Housemaid
Rating: 4.16920524691358 (648 reviews)

Freida McFadden

“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…

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.

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.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of…

The Housemaid

Angie

The only good thing about this novel was the unpredictability of how bad the main character is. Millie is a pickme (maybe because she was in jail for some of her adult life). She is insufferable and to frame her as some sort of hero is diabolical. She is a broken character with a tragic past, doesn’t mean she’s a victim but also not a hero. 3 stars because I finished in one sitting. Nail biting for sure.

Somi Patel

So addictive. Raced through it. I’ll definitely read another of her books 

Joanna Tweedale

ok so first i want to say i almost DNFed this book multiple times. why? very basic juvenile writing that didn't spark my interest until the first big twist towards the end happened. part of me feels like this was written wholly to become a movie but a very basic suspense film. nothing extraordinary. however, the writing itself was page turning and did not have me lost or confused at any point. so i was able to finish this in only a couple of days and did not need any elaboration on what was happening with the plot. i am appalled at how much rave this has but im also a woman in my mid-30s so the whole premise of this book rubbed me the wrong way while simultaneously boring me for some reason. much more shock factor i think comes from a younger age group. 

Danielle Naurayan

Very fast paced, and quick read. I actually really enjoyed it, but I feel like at some point it was very predictable. I also felt like it was very abrupt, for example when Andrew dies, we go from Millie opening the door to him being dead, maybe a bit more development there would’ve been nice.

Denisse Garcia Ramírez 

Very fast paced, and quick read. I actually really enjoyed it, but I feel like at some point it was very predictable. I also felt like it was very abrupt, for example when Andrew dies, we go from Millie opening the door to him being dead, maybe a bit more development there would’ve been nice.

But I def enjoyed reading it. 

Cindy Mc

I gobbled this book up. WOWIE! It’s my perfect kind of thriller. Fast paced, easy to follow, and an amazing plot twist that I did not predict. The characters were so well thought out, and I loved every new piece of information we learned. I watched an Instagram reel of the author talking about how she always starts her books with the plot twist. Honestly, this surprised me because I would have thought it would make the twist way more obvious. I think it all comes down to the fact that there are so many layers within the twist, it would be quite difficult to guess all of the elements. Now I am curious to watch the movie now, as the actors don’t really match the character descriptions.

Abby Dunlap

Very quick and easy read. Some plot holes. A bit predictable. Was expecting to be more impressed  

Abigail Stutz

Very enjoyable thriller. Fast paced and a satisfying twist

Natalie 

Janice Walker

Enthralling and addicting and plot twists galore! Great way to finish out my 2026 goal. 

Sarah Wilson

Pay no mind to how long it took me to read this 

Zachary Roberts

So good! I love the characters and the development. Happy to have been right about a few things :) 

Keira 💫

I liked the story, and the suspense sucked me into reading more often. However, I felt it was predictable. I also felt the main character talked in circles.

Lauren Rodriguez

Twist at the middle that I didn't see coming, but after that I figured it out quickly. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator's Brooklyn accent drove me bonkers. I think I might have enjoyed it more if I had read this one.

Jennifer Palmer

It was underwhelming, I kept waiting for the shocked and it was mild. 

L’enthusiast

big time loved the ending and i have definitely been encouraged to continue reading in this genre! very easily digestible but still fitting for the genre. 

Emilia Vulliamy

this was pretty crazy. 

big time loved the ending and i have definitely been encouraged to continue reading in this genre! very easily digestible but still fitting for the genre. 

so perfect for spooky season. 

Loved this book! Did not want to put it down!

Tabitha Donaldson

I don’t want to say this book was a waste of time, but I came in expecting a thriller/mystery vibes. You know the someone’s definitely been murder, no characters are clean. The kind the continues to keep you thinking. The kind that stay on your mind.

The tagline for this book is “from behind closed doors she’s sees everything.” But Millie is the least observant, and head in the sand character I’ve ever read. Like she is so desperate that she just waltzes past about a hundred red flags. 

The fact they try to redeem Millie and Nina by the end of the book was shocking like, I get it l, Andrew was nuts and screwed with his wife then his maid. But Nina had to have something wacky going on in order to convince herself she was the one who was crazy. Like I’ve been in some messed up situations in my life but I never let the gaslighter actually succeed. The fact that all it took was Andy saying “no you did these things.” And she agreed was insane. I don’t know how this book had so many good reviews.

The FMCs of this book had 0 agency for 99% of it.

I’m just mad. And I didn’t like any of the characters. Enzo was okay but really he was useless. He wouldn’t have had a purpose if Nina could use her brain.

Bushra Yenice

breathes deeply

I don’t want to say this book was a waste of time, but I came in expecting a thriller/mystery vibes. You know the someone’s definitely been murder, no characters are clean. The kind the continues to keep you thinking. The kind that stay on your mind.

The tagline for this book is “from behind closed doors she’s sees everything.” But Millie is the least observant, and head in the sand character I’ve ever read. Like she is so desperate that she just waltzes past about a hundred red flags. 

The fact they try to redeem Millie and Nina by the end of the book was shocking like, I get it l, Andrew was nuts and screwed with his wife then his maid. But Nina had to have something wacky going on in order to convince herself she was the one who was crazy. Like I’ve been in some messed up situations in my life but I never let the gaslighter actually succeed. The fact that all it took was Andy saying “no you did these things.” And she agreed was insane. I don’t know how this book had so many good reviews.

The FMCs of this book had 0 agency for 99% of it.

I’m just mad. And I didn’t like any of the characters. Enzo was okay but really he was useless. He wouldn’t have had a purpose if Nina could use her brain.

Oh, OK, so see, the first novel by McFadden I read was "Do You Remember?" which was picked by my local book club. And this was just... quite similar? Not particularly creative, with a couple of plot holes, but still insanely easily devourable. You almost need to respect its readability, even if McFadden's writing is otherwise pedestrian and even if the literary value is negligible.

(This is a positive review, by the way. I had a positive experience.)

Oh, OK, so see, the first novel by McFadden I read was "Do You Remember?" which was picked by my local book club. And this was just... quite similar? Not particularly creative, with a couple of plot holes, but still insanely easily devourable. You almost need to respect its readability, even if McFadden's writing is otherwise pedestrian and even if the literary value is negligible.

(This is a positive review, by the way. I had a positive experience.)

not a solid 4 but bot 3.5 either. it's goodd. didn't really like how millie turns out at first but it's getting better at part II and part III... the ending was somehow off (bcs i was waiting for the big BIG ending but that's on me ig) but it has good closure. might be my first time reading a book this fast for the year... such a page turner!

Katie Roberts

Honestly a great read. This was one of my first thrillers and I’m not sure if I’m into them or not. I was a little scared to keep reading because I didn’t know where the story was going to go which means the writing was pretty good. I was a little grossed out at the end though

Liz Hunsaker

Appreciate that it was an easy read! It was not difficult to figure out the plot but I did enjoy the backstories of each character which helped me get a better grasp of their personalities and why they did what they did.

Kiki

A juicy, popcorn-read thriller that’s easy to fly through, with just enough chaos to keep you hooked. The characters are wild, the twists are wilder, and the attic deserves its own credit. Loses steam at the end and has more plot holes than Swiss cheese

The Housemaid

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