Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden

18 reviews

k8lynn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

binged this in a day!

i just didn't like how the structure mirrored the first book. i wish she would have made it more diverse!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Rape, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Blood, Death, and Toxic relationship

simplymegy's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Four hours. That’s how long I devoured this book from start to finish, which was a record for me. I actually thoroughly enjoyed this more than the Housemaid. 

It’s roughly around 5 years after the Winchester job. Millie is still working as a housemaid while trying to simultaneously finish her college degree. This time she finds herself employed by Douglas Garrick- a tech genius turned millionaire, and his wife Wendy. Douglas seems normal enough but Wendy has been perpetually locked in her room due to a “medical condition”. Of course, Millie’s curiosity gets the better of her..

I liked that we get to know what happens to Millie and Enzo, because I actually liked them together. I liked that this could actually be borderline cozy mystery, because it’s dark but at the same time not too disturbing. Some triggers- there is domestic violence and rape scenes subtly implied but not explicitly described. There were also some funny moments in this book that wasn’t present in the first one (Broccoli, anyone??).

Mc Fadden’s prose is addictive and so far have the most satisfying endings of all the mystery novels i’ve read so far.  Hopefully on the 3rd book, Millie wouldn’t be as gullible but I don’t care as long as she keeps doing what she does best 😎.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape and Domestic abuse

franzis's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Rape

silversparkles50's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Rape

kotletka_polina's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I’m honestly surprised to see so many extremely positive reviews. I hated literally all the characters because they’re flat and boring, the main character Millie gets dumber with each book and I felt secondhand embarrassment numerous times while reading, some of the characters where just fillers that only had purpose for one scene in the book but you have to tolerate them for the rest of the story. 
The plot is more entertaining than in the first book, the ending is not as predictable but there’re some plot holes. I think when you write from an antagonist perspective you have to make them deep so the story and their motivations are interesting but in this case “the villain” is one-dimensional and irritating. 
Overall, it was an emotional rollercoaster, because, on the one hand, the plot and twist are intriguing but, on the other hand, characters are flat, unlikeable, annoying, many of their decisions are questionable, some of the plot points are over the top and therefore not believable. I’m not sure I’ll pick up the third book in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Rape, Body shaming, Violence, Sexual assault, Vomit, Infertility, Infidelity, Police brutality, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Stalking

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent

vbarker91's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Death, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Minor: Suicide, Rape, Infertility, and Gun violence

typedtruths's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

 

#1) The Housemaid ★★☆☆☆

much better than book one but my favourite part was still enzo calling brock 'broccoli'


Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Stalking, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Death

Moderate: Eating disorder, Alcohol, Infertility, Vomit, Sexual assault, Rape, Fatphobia, and Body shaming

Minor: Classism, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

➸ Trigger warnings for fatmisia & body-shaming, classism, attempted rape, infidelity (on-page), discussions of domestic abuse and violence, disordered eating & food thoughts including calorie counting and food shaming, suicidal ideation, alcohol consumption, infertility mentioned, blood depiction, emesis, death of a mother from a stroke mentioned, murder by gun & knife violence, physical assault, stalking, incarceration for physical assault mentioned, and poverty & financial difficulties discussed Context: The protagonist's employee has her whatever-a-male-mistress-is-called pretend to be an abusive, violent husband. This includes physical abuse, attempted strangulation, electronic monitoring, and food deprivation. Mentions of the protagonist working to free previous clients from domestic abuse situations, including murdering the abuser when necessary. Her neighbour attempts to rape her and she pushes him down the stairs. The police do not believe her and victim-blame. Her ex-boyfriend hides drugs in his apartment in revenge, and her neighbour goes to jail for drug possession. The protagonist was in jail for assaulting her friend's rapist because he died from his injuries. Wendy, the protagonist's employer, also didn't tell her real husband that she was unable to get pregnant, even though he believed they were trying to have a child (hide spoiler)].

chloedevxxx's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Death, and Domestic abuse

torihutchinson's review against another edition

challenging hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

A little too predictable for me (especially for Freida McFadden). There was a good twist that got me but I could figure out the ending earlier than I’d liked.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Rape, Body shaming, Death, Physical abuse, Vomit, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Stalking, and Domestic abuse

kassidypf13's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Rape, Death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Emotional abuse