By Freida McFadden
4 Stars
The Housemaid starts off with a young lady named Millie, who becomes a live-in maid for the wealthy Winchester family. While working there, she soon realizes the odd behaviour of Nina Winchester and the unsettling atmosphere emanating from the house. Millie eventually starts uncovering hidden secrets within the Winchester family, as well as uncovering the deep secrets that the family is hiding.
I really enjoyed reading The Housemaid. From the very first chapter, the story pulled me in and made me want to keep reading. The writing is unique and deliberately goes at a fast pace, which makes the book relatively easy to follow. The tension stayed strong the whole way through. I loved how the atmosphere in the Winchester house slowly became more uneasy and uncomfortable, making me feel just as uneasy as Millie in the story.
Millie is a character I found intriguing right away. She's trying to rebuild her life, although with a difficult past, she has this strong, determined persona, which is admirable throughout the series. Watching her deal with Nina Winchester's odd behaviour kept me seriously hooked. Her mood swings and deep demeanour added a lot of suspense, which later I found myself eager to find out what she would do next.
The major twists throughout this story were one of my favourite parts; although there were some very predictable parts, some were extremely unpredictable. The short chapters also made the book very addictive, as long chapters tend to make me lose interest and the overall plot of that specific chapter.
Although this book passed my expectations to what I would classify as a "good book", I do have some relatively minor critiques. Some scenes throughout the various chapters felt exaggerated, almost like the additional drama was used to make the reader more surprised, which I don't have a problem with. Still, in my opinion, some scenes were unnecessary or dragged into the plot.
Besides the minor critiques, I genuinely loved reading this series, as it was a rollercoaster of events and plots, which made reading more interesting.
Reviewed by Fatima as part of the Teen Reviewer, opens a new window program
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