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

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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...

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… 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. All in all, this was my first book by this author but I don’t think it will be my last. Despite the minor shortcomings, this book kept me largely satisfied. Since I am not an avid contemporary thriller reader, I cannot tell you if the plot is similar to any of the other recent domestic thrillers in the market. But I know that I was quite happy with it. Definitely recommended if you are looking for an entertaining commercial thriller. The ending is excellent. While not completely unexpected (and also not completely realistic), it still offers the perfect finish to this plot. As in every contemporary domestic thriller, there were some farfetched plot points that would NEVER occur in real life. A couple of these are left unexplained.All but TWO of my friends loved it, so I had to squeeze it in!! Unfortunately, I am in the same camp as the two who were NOT thrilled with it! 🤣 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. I was all about the five star on this one, but I moved it down to 4.5 and rounded down because of three things.

Someone has ended up dead in the prologue of the novel. Is it one of these three? Or was one of them the murderer? What happened in the Winchester household after the new maid was appointed? I finally have the chance to use a phrase so many of my reviewer-friends do: it’s a popcorn thriller! Treat it as such than as a literary classic. As long as you read it with your logical side kept aside, you can have fun with it. 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. The Lowells’ maid isn’t the only strange thing on our street. I’m sure I see a shadowy figure watching us. My husband leaves the house late at night. And when I meet a woman who lives across the way, her words chill me to the Be careful of your neighbors.

I got severe whiplash from the twistiest turns … Every time I thought I had it figured out… WRONG!!! … I am still reeling … outstanding … If you love a top notch psychological thriller that will have you questioning your own sanity , then this 5 star read is for you .” NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The "mystery" is kinda obvious. It's like The Wife Between Us mixed with... idk, Gone Girl? There wasn't really any suspense. You know what's gonna happen. From Part II onward I was speed reading like a mf. But I was invested in the whole revenge vibe like ok girl go OFFFFFF.

Then we have Andrew Winchester. He makes a lot of money, is so very handsome, and seems to be a wonderful father and husband. Millie can’t stop herself from fantasizing about him. He seems perfect in every way to her and cannot understand why Nina isn’t over the moon about him. The dude Millie shot is not Douglas! The real Douglas is a schlubby goober and not the handsome-ish man Millie killed. Oh dear.

The story covers the tale of Millie, our protagonist housemaid who starts work at a posh house after recently being released from prison. She’s hoping to keep her past from her new employer and earn enough money to move out of living in her car and start a real life for herself. However, her boss, Nina Winchester is incredibly odd and begins to behave eratically convincing Millie something else must be going on it in this family. But then everything flips on its head! The Housemaid plot – 4.5/5 Absolutely gripping … I didn’t stop reading until I literally could no longer keep my eyes open no matter how hard I tried. (No lie, I ended up falling asleep and dropping my Kindle onto my face )… Didn’t stop till I’d finished… Fantastic! ” NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Yes, there were a few discrepancies that I caught while reading this (but who’s counting, 😉), so I’m going with 4.5 stars rounded up. I will say that I do hope we see Millie again in a third book 🤞. I will also be cutting this review short as I plan on doing some cleaning up of my own 🧹🧽🪣 The blurb doesn’t do justice to the book and totally misrepresents it. It also contains minor spoilers. Thankfully, I read the blurb only after completing the book. There is a dark humour underlying Millie’s narration, I liked those random funny moments even when the proceedings were not hilarious at all.