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An incredibly fast-paced crime/thriller novel about a woman on parole who is hired to be a live-in family maid. You can see twists and turns coming for the most part, but you don’t know the specifics and that’s what keeps you on your toes.
The change of POV at a critical point in the story didn’t leave me wanting more, in fact it answered some questions but also gave me a thirst for more answers.
The plot centring on the injustices of the prison system and how poorly women in abusive relationships are treated by law enforcement and the ‘establishment’ made it more impactful for me.
Other than the police chief person’s daughter being Andy’s ex (cliche, lazy, forced…), the ending (last chapter with Andy’s mum at the funeral and the epilogue with Millie being interviewed at a new place) chefs kiss.
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Torture
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Pregnancy
Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
There were a couple things I was able to guess correctly from the start:
Things I enjoyed:
- Freida does a great job, I think, of building out characters in a way that provokes an emotional reaction to them. In most of her stories, I’m able to get into her characters’ heads and really picture what they’re experiencing - which means I’m more invested in how things end. She also has a habit of gently leading you to believe one thing and then pulling back the curtain - et voila!!
- I was trying like crazy to guess what would happen, and I think I got there a couple times from the heavy hints - but Freida also loves dropping red herrings that I fall for
- The complexity of this story to document
domestic abuse (to the extremes) and the toll it takes on the person who stays - how hard it is to escape - I know it took halfway through the book for the plot to start plotting, but I think it felt genius, because when Part II hits, you begin to question everything you read and how you interpreted it, and I LOVE this feeling
- The ending. I do not condone
murder at all, but the comeuppance felt like the story was fully completed. I’m super curious to see where the second books takes off from, now that we’ve been introduced to this new role Millie can play. I’m really glad Freida chose to haveNina protect Millie, even if she needed cajoling, because it’s true, Millie didn’t deserve to be set up for this just because she had a prison record - Just wow - at one point, I literally said
“I think there’s a plot hole, they never mentioned where the daughter went, she disappeared” AND THEN I LEARNED - The reveal felt like everything. I had to close this book multiple times and just gasp because it felt like a long time coming, but then to finally see how it played out???? Couldn’t have predicted the twist, even though everything felt like it made sense in the story world, especially the smaller reveals in the last few chapters
THE PEANUT BUTTER
Things I didn’t enjoy as much:
- Some of the writing around “foreigners” and accented English - although I think it was played up to reflect the stereotype of rich people being rude? But I was a bit sensitive to this
- Again, comments about
“I deliberately put on weight so I wouldn’t be sexually desirable” - How bratty CeCe was - and it was never really fully explained why she acted this way with people who weren’t her mother
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading the rest in the series!
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Classism
Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Deportation
Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy
Was this the best book I'll read this year? No. But I definitely enjoyed the ride and would recommend it to others (who are ok with the large number of content warnings applied here).
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent