Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
- Read an installment of a series.
- Share your review/recommendation below.
- Include the title, author and series name.
My Super Series Sunday pick is The Housemaid series by Freida McFadden. So far, it consists of The Housemaid, The Housemaid's Secret, and The Housemaid is Watching (due June 11). Introducing Millie: a young woman, recently released from prison, living in her car desperate to start fresh. She lands a job as a housemaid to the Winchesters.
Millie cooks, cleans and cares for their daughter. But something is off. Nina tells strange lies, the daughter wears white frilly dresses all the time and Andrew seems like a broken man. By the time Millie realizes her small attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it is too late.
"There's something about this room that's making a little ball of dread form in the pit of my stomach." ~ pg. 9
Freida...girl..the twists! The memorable scenes! The masterful storytelling in The Housemaid is chef's kiss. I don't want to give the story away but just know it will have you frantically turning the pages until the surprising end. This thriller is on par with Gone Girl, The Woman in the Window and The Girl on the Train. That's all you need to know, Bookhearts!
The sequel titled The Housemaid's Secret picks up with Millie's new housemaid job. The Garricks have a stunning penthouse with a fancy kitchen. But Millie has not met Mrs. Garrick or seen inside the guest bedroom. Millie hears her crying behind closed doors and notices blood on nightgowns when doing the laundry. Shit jumps off when Millie finally knocks on the door and sees inside. While The Housemaid's Secret was not as gripping as the first book, it was still a page-turner. I figured out the twist but Freida threw me for a loop about halfway through. A brilliant set-up!
"For women having issues with their husbands, she helps them out. Takes care of it for them." ~ pg. 207
In the third installment titled The Housemaid is Watching, Millie's past is far behind. She used to clean other people's houses; now she lives in a quiet cul-de-sac with a huge yard for kids to play and a ride-or-die husband. Even though she is wary of her new neighbor, Mrs. Lowell, she accepts a dinner invitation. In true naive Millie fashion, she dismisses red flags: being greeted by a maid with a cold stare, a warning to be careful of neighbors and a shadowy figure watching her family.
I read The Housemaid is Watching as soon as it auto-delivered to my Kindle. I expected Millie to be her usual naive self. But GIRL...you are just NOW wondering what Enzo has done and is capable of doing?! It was time for this story to come to an end because I couldn't take more of Millie's blind trusting assumptions and really how many more neighbors or employers will fit the MO of this trilogy? While it was nice to see Millie as a homeowner, wife and mother, it was far more interesting with her as the housemaid. The quote below sums up my opinion perfectly. Hey, the author said it; I didn't.
"The third in a series usually isn't that great, so it's not his fault." ~ pg. 300
Title: The Housemaid
Author: Freida McFadden
Published: April 2022
Pages: 329
Edition: eBook
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤
Title: The Housemaid's Secret
Author: Freida McFadden
Published: February 2023
Pages: 311
Edition: eBook
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤
Title: The Housemaid is Watching
Author: Freida McFadden
Published: June 2024
Pages: 341
Edition: eBook
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤
No comments:
Post a Comment