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jamihoneycutt's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I adored this book. Think Eleanor Oliphant mixed with Only Murders In The Building. I found it to be so heartwarming and fun. These characters are so lovable and unique. I already miss this book. Living in Molly’s mind was a treat. Word is that this is being adapted into a movie and I can’t wait to see it translated to screen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
catherineduplessis's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
THIS. BOOK. WAS. SO. GOOODD!
The fact that Molly (the main character) has a hard time understanding people’s emotions adds to the mystery of this whole murder mystery storyline. I felt bad for her, I wanted to be there for her, but, mainly, I wanted to give her a big hug. That’s how good the writing is. And, to add to all of this, when I thought the story was finished, the very last pages managed to surprise me and litterally had my jaw dropped. Ans easy 5-stars books! 👏
* Adding Nita Prose on my I-want-to-read-everything-they-come-up-with list * 🙌🏻
The fact that Molly (the main character) has a hard time understanding people’s emotions adds to the mystery of this whole murder mystery storyline. I felt bad for her, I wanted to be there for her, but, mainly, I wanted to give her a big hug. That’s how good the writing is. And, to add to all of this, when I thought the story was finished, the very last pages managed to surprise me and litterally had my jaw dropped. Ans easy 5-stars books! 👏
* Adding Nita Prose on my I-want-to-read-everything-they-come-up-with list * 🙌🏻
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Cancer, Gun violence, Infidelity, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse
ashley_books_cats_judo's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I requested this on Netgalley thinking it was for some reason a push on the book that is now a Netflix series which I was planning to watch after reading the book so I thought this was perfect.
This book has nothing to do with the Netflix series 🙈 it turned out to be so much up my alley and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Molly is a maid at the Regency Grand and I think a good way to describe her character is Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory. She was raised by her grandmother and is very trusting of everyone and takes them at their word.
Molly ends up being framed for murder and her friends help her figure out what’s gone on after she’s been arrested.
I flew through this book in a couple of sittings.
Have you made an error picking up a book with a similar title you thought was another before? Luckily for me, this was totally up my alley and a great mistake on my part.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Penguin Random House Canada for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
This book has nothing to do with the Netflix series 🙈 it turned out to be so much up my alley and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Molly is a maid at the Regency Grand and I think a good way to describe her character is Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory. She was raised by her grandmother and is very trusting of everyone and takes them at their word.
Molly ends up being framed for murder and her friends help her figure out what’s gone on after she’s been arrested.
I flew through this book in a couple of sittings.
Have you made an error picking up a book with a similar title you thought was another before? Luckily for me, this was totally up my alley and a great mistake on my part.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Penguin Random House Canada for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Excrement, Gun violence, and Pregnancy
librariangeorgia's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Toxic friendship
thespinystacks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was a truly interesting and endearing novel. Molly is a maid, who has certain eccentricities ( think - Eleanor Oliphant). She doesn't read social cues in the way that many other people do, and for that, she has found herself in a precarious situation, one of which she isn't even aware of.
At first I thought the pacing of this story might be a little slow for me, but by 30% in I was truly sucked in and didn't want to put it down. A drama / mystery storyline combined with a truly endearing lead character, 'The Maid' sort of has it all. Towards the very end, I even found myself crying as Molly is more and more aware of how she is different but the same as the people around her.
Molly turns to her Gran, she leans on her for social cues and remembers "how" to act with the rhymes her Gran taught her as she navigated the world.
This is a classic whodunnit, but at its crux the meaning of the story is that different doesn't mean bad, and I think we could all use a little of that in the world right now.
At first I thought the pacing of this story might be a little slow for me, but by 30% in I was truly sucked in and didn't want to put it down. A drama / mystery storyline combined with a truly endearing lead character, 'The Maid' sort of has it all. Towards the very end, I even found myself crying as Molly is more and more aware of how she is different but the same as the people around her.
Molly turns to her Gran, she leans on her for social cues and remembers "how" to act with the rhymes her Gran taught her as she navigated the world.
This is a classic whodunnit, but at its crux the meaning of the story is that different doesn't mean bad, and I think we could all use a little of that in the world right now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, and Murder
Minor: Drug use, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
anovelbeauty's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
3.5
Note: I received an eARC of this book in order to provide an honest review.
Book TW: assisted suicide, murder, ableism, IPV, physical abuse, drug trafficking, drug use, manipulation, police interrogation, immigration, infidelity, terminal illness, abandonment
The Maid is sort of an interesting mystery that tows the line between a traditional mystery and a cozy one. As you can see from the TWs, it deals with a variety of serious topics, but it’s generally in a fairly detached way, with certain exceptions. Another piece that makes this unique among mysteries is that our MC, Molly, has trouble interpreting and processing social situations. While no specific diagnosis is mentioned in the book, if you want a general idea, I would say that Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder would be a decent fit. So what that means for the story is that you as a reader will probably catch most of the plot threads early on and have to watch in mild horror as all the bad guys take advantage of Molly’s differences in functioning and betray her trust repeatedly. You will know this almost immediately... Molly won’t. This left me pretty uncomfortable for a good portion of the book, even though the tone gave me a pretty good feeling that it would all work out in the end. The general theme of the book is a good one (and is clearly stated): don’t assume what is “normal” functioning for you is how everyone perceives the world.
Fortunately there are redeeming characters that watch out for Molly and Molly herself has a lot of agency and does her best to continue learning. She is extremely caring and detail oriented and rule-following. She is also still grieving the death of her grandmother, her only close relationship, prior to the start of the story. It’s nice to have a character that does have differences in how they function also be dynamic and interesting.
I should note that because Molly’s social impairments are at the heart of the story, there’s a lot of ableism and derogatory statements and intentions toward her throughout, which are more intense because it is narrated in first person. Additionally, the police interrogations in particular (I think) have the potential to be triggering as the detective in the story views Molly’s mannerisms/differences with deep suspicion. So if that is a sensitive topic for you, it might be good to choose a different book. However, it may help you continue if you know that like most mysteries, it has a happy ending and the overall theme is to uplift Molly’s differences.
Where I think sometimes the story struggled was in formatting/placement of flashbacks, as they would often make the reading experience a bit confusing. Also, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the final twist, which makes Molly seem a bit more like an unreliable narrator than I think she was meant to come off as.
That being said, it was a pretty quick read and different enough from a normal mystery that I think I could recommend it to other mystery lovers. However, it definitely had a few problems, so it’s not a new favorite for me by any means. It’s just a decent, quick mystery and if that’s what you want (and pay attention to the TWs) then give it a read.
Book TW: assisted suicide, murder, ableism, IPV, physical abuse, drug trafficking, drug use, manipulation, police interrogation, immigration, infidelity, terminal illness, abandonment
The Maid is sort of an interesting mystery that tows the line between a traditional mystery and a cozy one. As you can see from the TWs, it deals with a variety of serious topics, but it’s generally in a fairly detached way, with certain exceptions. Another piece that makes this unique among mysteries is that our MC, Molly, has trouble interpreting and processing social situations. While no specific diagnosis is mentioned in the book, if you want a general idea, I would say that Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder would be a decent fit. So what that means for the story is that you as a reader will probably catch most of the plot threads early on and have to watch in mild horror as all the bad guys take advantage of Molly’s differences in functioning and betray her trust repeatedly. You will know this almost immediately... Molly won’t. This left me pretty uncomfortable for a good portion of the book, even though the tone gave me a pretty good feeling that it would all work out in the end. The general theme of the book is a good one (and is clearly stated): don’t assume what is “normal” functioning for you is how everyone perceives the world.
Fortunately there are redeeming characters that watch out for Molly and Molly herself has a lot of agency and does her best to continue learning. She is extremely caring and detail oriented and rule-following. She is also still grieving the death of her grandmother, her only close relationship, prior to the start of the story. It’s nice to have a character that does have differences in how they function also be dynamic and interesting.
I should note that because Molly’s social impairments are at the heart of the story, there’s a lot of ableism and derogatory statements and intentions toward her throughout, which are more intense because it is narrated in first person. Additionally, the police interrogations in particular (I think) have the potential to be triggering as the detective in the story views Molly’s mannerisms/differences with deep suspicion. So if that is a sensitive topic for you, it might be good to choose a different book. However, it may help you continue if you know that like most mysteries, it has a happy ending and the overall theme is to uplift Molly’s differences.
Where I think sometimes the story struggled was in formatting/placement of flashbacks, as they would often make the reading experience a bit confusing. Also, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the final twist, which makes Molly seem a bit more like an unreliable narrator than I think she was meant to come off as.
That being said, it was a pretty quick read and different enough from a normal mystery that I think I could recommend it to other mystery lovers. However, it definitely had a few problems, so it’s not a new favorite for me by any means. It’s just a decent, quick mystery and if that’s what you want (and pay attention to the TWs) then give it a read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Murder, Drug abuse, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Grief, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Infidelity and Abandonment
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