Name: Sarah Wilson's review of The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
Item: The Housemaid
Rating: 5
Author: Sarah Wilson

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

this was favorite revelation of all idk why

Nans

“It’s such a shame,” she says, “that he never really learned. I’m glad you stepped up and taught him a lesson.” 

Dana Abdulaziz

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

Jehan Chawla

Allysen

Millie is very naive so much at times that the story feels unrealistic (sometimes). The constant reveals in each chapter kept me hooked. Andrew was the only character I truly liked until the twist revealed him as the villain. I suspected something was off when Nina left, but the timing of the reveal was perfect, keeping me guessing just long enough. I disliked Nina’s POV so much in the beginning I didn’t even want to hear her side, which shows how well the author built her character. The story is full of easter eggs you think about throughout the story.

I loved it and would recommend this book. 

Hadley 

Millie is very naive so much at times that the story feels unrealistic (sometimes). The constant reveals in each chapter kept me hooked. Andrew was the only character I truly liked until the twist revealed him as the villain. I suspected something was off when Nina left, but the timing of the reveal was perfect, keeping me guessing just long enough. I disliked Nina’s POV so much in the beginning I didn’t even want to hear her side, which shows how well the author built her character. The story is full of easter eggs you think about throughout the story.

I loved it and would recommend this book. 

Mar Or

I needed a change of pace and decided to pick up a thriller, and of the limited knowledge I have about the thriller genre I have 

 heard of Frieda McFadden's books, so I thought it was time to finally give her work a go. I have to say... I'm disappointed. I'll be honest, I absolutely devoured this book, it was the weekend, I had nothing to do and this was extremely easy to read. The pacing started a bit slow but then by about the beginning of Part II I knew that I could effortlessly fly through this in one day. The storyline was intriguing and I'll even say that I mostly enjoyed myself while reading it, but ultimately, I think this book was juvenile and forgettable. I heard someone say a while ago that McFadden is the Colleen Hoover of thrillers and now I'm starting to see what they meant. I think this could have been a five star read, but for me this was just okay.

Firstly, the writing was very basic. The foreshadowing, if you can even call it that, slaps you right in the face. We are told everything right from the beginning, if you look hard enough, instead of shown it. Within the first few chapters Millie's inner monologue says 

"If somebody wanted, they could easily lock me in here. And there’s only that one window, looking out at the back of the house. This room could be a death trap. But then again, why would anyone want to lock me in here?

 and it's like, well duh, that's the whole premise of the book. The fact that she is so aware of the red flags but choses to ignore them made me face palm, and I get it, she's desperate, she's an ex-convict who's homeless and struggling to find work, she'd take on any job to get a step up in life, but in my opinion, this blatantly obvious bad vibe just ruined the whole book for me, the twists didn't surprise me one bit because I was expecting them to come. I found most of this book very predictable, spoiler alert... SPOILER>>>

As soon as Nina and Cecelia's deranged actions started to make themselves evident the first thing I said to myself was "they're doing that on purpose". McFadden tried to make it so that we were questioning who could possibly be the one who puts the pyscho in pyschological thriller but it flopped for me. Is it Nina - the mentally ill, jealous wife? Enzo - the burly gardener who barely speaks english? Cecelia - is she actually a creepy little child with evil tendancies? Or Millie - the ex-convict who steals Nina's husband? Anyone but Andrew of course, the kind, caring, down to earth man who smooths over everyone's problems and just can't help himself but sleep with his pretty maid because his wife is just sooooo annoying... OH PLEASE 🙄 It was so obvious...<<<END SPOILER

I didn't particularly like any of the characters going into this book, and to be honest, I didn't really like many of them going out of it either. Enzo is my favourite character, the voice of reason amongst a sea insanity. I didn't like Millie at all until maybe the last few chapters, the way she spoke about Nina in her head was very judgemental and fatphobic. Now, I get it, Nina was being a cow but I just couldn't get behind Millie's thoughts about "why is Andy with her, she's not pretty enough to be on his level" and all the comments on her "wobbly double chin" - it's like McFadden was trying to convince us Nina was some ugly, evil witch and I wasn't sold on it. Nina and Cecelia grew on me as the book went on, I had an inkling they would right from the beginning, and the ending was pretty satisfying if not a bit rushed. I liked that there was a small hint at feminine rage, Millie's reasoning for her actions is commendable and very telling of the way the world doesn't believe women. Then the full circle moment with the detective at the end was kind of clever, but honestly just felt far too convenient. I don't know, I was just expecting so much more from this book after all the rave reviews I've heard. Maybe my hope were too high.

In the end, I just didn't get much of a thrill out of reading this book, I was hoping to be on the edge of my seat, biting my nails but I wasn't. I flew through it but that's because the writing was so simplistic. The plot was interesting and it all came together as a very readable story in the end, and there's a likelihood I'll pick up the second book in the series if I'm ever in want of another easy, quick thriller to churn through, but I do have a feeling this book won't stick with me in any meaningful or impactful kind of way. It's a thriller, so of course there are trigger warnings, but definitely check them, things like domestic violence, emotional and physical abuse of both adults and children, murder, torture, mental illness, infertility etc it definitely packs a lot in, but it just doesn't pack the punch I was hoping for. This is one of those books you could pick up when you're bored and have nothing else to read and you'll be satisfied enough to not be upset about reading it, but despite most of my mutuals giving this a five star rating and being wow'd by it... I wasn't, unfortunately.

Genevieve 

"I'll let you out... Just not yet."

3.5 ⭐

I needed a change of pace and decided to pick up a thriller, and of the limited knowledge I have about the thriller genre I have definitely heard of Frieda McFadden's books, so I thought it was time to finally give her work a go. I have to say... I'm disappointed. I'll be honest, I absolutely devoured this book, it was the weekend, I had nothing to do and this was extremely easy to read. The pacing started a bit slow but then by about the beginning of Part II I knew that I could effortlessly fly through this in one day. The storyline was intriguing and I'll even say that I mostly enjoyed myself while reading it, but ultimately, I think this book was juvenile and forgettable. I heard someone say a while ago that McFadden is the Colleen Hoover of thrillers and now I'm starting to see what they meant. I think this could have been a five star read, but for me this was just okay.

Firstly, the writing was very basic. The foreshadowing, if you can even call it that, slaps you right in the face. We are told everything right from the beginning, if you look hard enough, instead of shown it. Within the first few chapters Millie's inner monologue says "If somebody wanted, they could easily lock me in here. And there’s only that one window, looking out at the back of the house. This room could be a death trap. But then again, why would anyone want to lock me in here? and it's like, well duh, that's the whole premise of the book. The fact that she is so aware of the red flags but choses to ignore them made me face palm, and I get it, she's desperate, she's an ex-convict who's homeless and struggling to find work, she'd take on any job to get a step up in life, but in my opinion, this blatantly obvious bad vibe just ruined the whole book for me, the twists didn't surprise me one bit because I was expecting them to come. I found most of this book very predictable, spoiler alert... SPOILER>>>
As soon as Nina and Cecelia's deranged actions started to make themselves evident the first thing I said to myself was "they're doing that on purpose". McFadden tried to make it so that we were questioning who could possibly be the one who puts the pyscho in pyschological thriller but it flopped for me. Is it Nina - the mentally ill, jealous wife? Enzo - the burly gardener who barely speaks english? Cecelia - is she actually a creepy little child with evil tendancies? Or Millie - the ex-convict who steals Nina's husband? Anyone but Andrew of course, the kind, caring, down to earth man who smooths over everyone's problems and just can't help himself but sleep with his pretty maid because his wife is just sooooo annoying... OH PLEASE 🙄 It was so obvious...<<<END SPOILER

I didn't particularly like any of the characters going into this book, and to be honest, I didn't really like many of them going out of it either. Enzo is my favourite character, the voice of reason amongst a sea insanity. I didn't like Millie at all until maybe the last few chapters, the way she spoke about Nina in her head was very judgemental and fatphobic. Now, I get it, Nina was being a cow but I just couldn't get behind Millie's thoughts about "why is Andy with her, she's not pretty enough to be on his level" and all the comments on her "wobbly double chin" - it's like McFadden was trying to convince us Nina was some ugly, evil witch and I wasn't sold on it. Nina and Cecelia grew on me as the book went on, I had an inkling they would right from the beginning, and the ending was pretty satisfying if not a bit rushed. I liked that there was a small hint at feminine rage, Millie's reasoning for her actions is commendable and very telling of the way the world doesn't believe women. Then the full circle moment with the detective at the end was kind of clever, but honestly just felt far too convenient. I don't know, I was just expecting so much more from this book after all the rave reviews I've heard. Maybe my hope were too high.

In the end, I just didn't get much of a thrill out of reading this book, I was hoping to be on the edge of my seat, biting my nails but I wasn't. I flew through it but that's because the writing was so simplistic. The plot was interesting and it all came together as a very readable story in the end, and there's a likelihood I'll pick up the second book in the series if I'm ever in want of another easy, quick thriller to churn through, but I do have a feeling this book won't stick with me in any meaningful or impactful kind of way. It's a thriller, so of course there are trigger warnings, but definitely check them, things like domestic violence, emotional and physical abuse of both adults and children, murder, torture, mental illness, infertility etc it definitely packs a lot in, but it just doesn't pack the punch I was hoping for. This is one of those books you could pick up when you're bored and have nothing else to read and you'll be satisfied enough to not be upset about reading it, but despite most of my mutuals giving this a five star rating and being wow'd by it... I wasn't, unfortunately.

For the first half of the book, I just kept wondering how much longer till I’ve finished this? BUT THEN THE SECOND PART. IM SAT. Plus the chapters are super short which makes it easy to read.

jordann

first half of the book is okay(ish). then it’s cliche after cliche and not very believable at that. wanted to love it but it was meh

Anastasiia 

right from the start, the straightforward story telling grabbed my attention. i got really really invested. it was so direct, making it a page turner, until the final few chapters…

the book is okay, and the plot is definitely present. but, the way the story concluded wasn't what i had anticipated. while i already knew who killed who 68% in, the unfolding of events felt somewhat underwhelming. it wasn't terrible by any means, but it did lead to me giving it a 3.5 instead of 4. BUT i enjoyed the first 85% percent of the book enough to consider reading the sequel.

right from the start, the straightforward story telling grabbed my attention. i got really really invested. it was so direct, making it a page turner, until the final few chapters…

the book is okay, and the plot is definitely present. but, the way the story concluded wasn't what i had anticipated. while i already knew who killed who 68% in, the unfolding of events felt somewhat underwhelming. it wasn't terrible by any means, but it did lead to me giving it a 3.5 instead of 4. BUT i enjoyed the first 85% percent of the book enough to consider reading the sequel.

I loved that the book wasn't overly complex; it's very easy to follow along and keep track of what's happening. 

That being said, I predicted everything that happened. But that's because I read a bunch of thriller, nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. 

Tsu 💙

I loved that the book wasn't overly complex; it's very easy to follow along and keep track of what's happening. 

That being said, I predicted everything that happened. But that's because I read a bunch of thriller, nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. 

It was good. Page turning and did not expect the ending. 

Dana Abdulaziz &
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

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Dana Abdulaziz &
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