Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

43 reviews

readingwithtrey's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Before anyone comes for me, I know that this is going to be an unpopular opinion. But hear me out. I have a feeling that a lot of the readers who rave about this book haven't read The Last Mrs. Parrish. Had I read this book before that one, it would have probably been a 5 star read. I was hooked from the very first chapter and could not put the book down. But around the halfway mark, when I was scouring my brain trying to figure out where the story was headed (as one does while reading a thriller or mystery), I started to feel like I'd heard this story before. 

The story is written in multiple parts with the first part told from Millie's (the housemaid's) point of view. As soon as I hit part 2 (which switches to Nina's POV), I thought to myself "There's no way. This cannot be the same story." Granted, everything up until that point had only been somewhat similar to The Last Mrs. Parrish. There wasn't anything glaring, just the vibes that there's something more to this couple than meets the eye and for some reason the wife had "changed." But from Part 2 on, this book is 95% the same story as The Last Mrs. Parrish and this is where things went south for me. 

Tbh, I only continued reading because I was just so baffled that books could be this similar. (It's happened to me before with Love & Other Words and Every Summer After. But I thought for sure that had to be a fluke.) It really put a damper on the story and I thought I'd end up not leaving a star rating due to that. (I really try to avoid 1 star ratings whenever possible.) BUT the VERY last page turned the entire book around. The main difference between the 2 stories is the ending and I did prefer how this one wrapped up over The Last Mrs. Parrish. (If I write The Last Mrs. Parrish one more time I might scream, haha.) Because of that last page/"twist," I will be picking up the next book. I feel like it has to have it's own story line, and I look forward to seeing where it goes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Torture

Minor: Sexual content, Infidelity, Murder, Gore, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

hcrawfo3's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Death, and Emotional abuse

bookishxintrovert's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Gore, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse