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dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not for the faint of heart due the themes of the book. Reads like a conversation of someone in a police interrogation which keeps you at the edge of your seat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Death of parent
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very thoughtful and engaging critique of social class and the power dynamics/imbalances of domestic work. Truly a harrowing story about the entrapment of poverty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was challenging. TW: animal harm and death.
On one hand, it’s a good, thrilling story that takes you on this journey. Estella, a maid is talking to us, an unnamed audience on the other side of mirrored glass about her experience working for a family. The daughter drowns, and we meet Estella after the fact as she tells her story. It covers issues of class, service work, poverty, family dynamics and secrets. You fall into this rabbit hole with all its twists and turns and get sucked into the story. It feels like a descent into madness.
On the other, the way the on page animal abuse and deaths are treated as a mechanic to move the plot along is unfortunate and took me out of the story. Especially because of how gruesome it is. I never feel like these scenes are necessary.
On one hand, it’s a good, thrilling story that takes you on this journey. Estella, a maid is talking to us, an unnamed audience on the other side of mirrored glass about her experience working for a family. The daughter drowns, and we meet Estella after the fact as she tells her story. It covers issues of class, service work, poverty, family dynamics and secrets. You fall into this rabbit hole with all its twists and turns and get sucked into the story. It feels like a descent into madness.
On the other, the way the on page animal abuse and deaths are treated as a mechanic to move the plot along is unfortunate and took me out of the story. Especially because of how gruesome it is. I never feel like these scenes are necessary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Classism
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death
Moderate: Death of parent
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Police brutality
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
This book was fascinating to read, by a Chilean author. From the start, it is clear that our narrator, Estela, is being interviewed by someone. As the reader, we have some ideas about who that might be, but I don’t want to spoil anything you can’t find in a synopsis. Estela is the maid of a family and is being questioned by an unknown person from an unknown agency about the death of the little girl of the family. What follows is really her whole account of how she came to work for the family, the family dynamics, what led up to what happened and what she knows about it. I can’t really decide if I like or dislike the way it ends. It leaves us as the reader in charge of deciding whether we believe she snapped and took the life of a little girl who was selfish and domineering, yes, but who was also smart and loved by Estela, or whether she is being set up by the parents to take the fall for an accident or them losing their temper or being negligent or… something. Estela is sort of the textbook definition of an unreliable narrator, yet she puts a story together with characters that are cohesive and whose actions make a lot of sense. Big themes… class dynamics, the way people treat those they see as being beneath them, the values that children pick up from their parents about how to treat others. Pretty important for right now!
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Moderate: Sexual violence
Not really engaging and felt flat. Not interested enough to continue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think this book is really interesting and well done but unfortunately two central plot points—child death and animal death—are two things I really don’t like reading about and had I known those topics would be so prominent I would have never picked it up. Definitely worth a read if you’re up for it and gives Parasite vibes for sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death