Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - The Maid

This was one of those books that the more I thought about it, the more I hated it. Molly, the main character, is very obviously autistic although this is never mentioned. Words like ‘odd’, ‘weird’ and ‘different’ are used to describe her. Like, when exactly is this set?? They mention emojis so it’s obviously set fairly recently and yet no one considers the possibility that Molly is neurodivergent? Is it set in a world where autism doesn’t exist?

Also, the 2 twists at the end of the book kind of infuriated me to the point where each twist lost it a star.

she smothered her grandmother with a pillow as an agreed way to end her suffering and then, in the last chapter, it turns out she knew who the murderer was the entire time as she had a conversation with her before she phoned for help the second time. There weren’t ever any clues to point to this and it came completely out of nowhere, which means Molly lied to everyone who helped her to clear her name, and we as the reader, were lied to as well. A plot twist shouldn’t come completely out of nowhere, on a reread, you should be able to pick up on subtle clues that point towards it. Maybe there was and I’ve just missed them??

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emily's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

lyzz's review against another edition

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mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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thndrkat's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

There were aspects of this book I found enjoyable, but more that I didn't. Prose does a great job at times with the contrast between what we know to be true and what the main character believes to be true, creating some truly cringy moments that I found entertaining. But more often, the story is cringy in a truly unpleasant way, from the unnatural dialog (such as countless instances of "my dear girl..."), to the absurdly two-dimensional characters (portrayed with stereotypes that are simplistic at best, offensive at worst), and the severely unbelievable wrap-up. I don't normally read mysteries, so I don't have a sense of the normal level and types of tropes, but this is not a book I would recommend. However, I picked it for a book club, so I had to finish it!

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