Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

43 reviews

laurareads_bcn's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

Definitely a page turner once you get into the story, even if some parts were kinda predictable 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Confinement, Drug abuse, Infertility, Pregnancy, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

jessclarkee's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body shaming, Confinement, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Torture, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Mental illness, Violence, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Murder, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

nyquillll's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I’m sitting here, nodding my head, almost like a physical agreement with myself that I did enjoy this book. I finished it in a day and wow, wow.

There were a couple things I was able to guess correctly from the start:

that the prologue was in the POV of Nina, the wife; that Enzo would end up in a relationship with one of the women; and that Millie would somehow find herself locked in the room at some point

.

Things I enjoyed:

• Freida does a great job, I think, of building out characters in a way that provokes an emotional reaction to them. In most of her stories, I’m able to get into her characters’ heads and really picture what they’re experiencing - which means I’m more invested in how things end. She also has a habit of gently leading you to believe one thing and then pulling back the curtain - et voila!!
• I was trying like crazy to guess what would happen, and I think I got there a couple times from the heavy hints - but Freida also loves dropping red herrings that I fall for
• The complexity of this story to document
  domestic abuse (to the extremes)
  and the toll it takes on the person who stays - how hard it is to escape 
• I know it took halfway through the book for the plot to start plotting, but I think it felt genius, because when Part II hits, you begin to question everything you read and how you interpreted it, and I LOVE this feeling 
• The ending. I do not condone
  murder
  at all, but the comeuppance felt like the story was fully completed. I’m super curious to see where the second books takes off from, now that we’ve been introduced to this new role Millie can play. I’m really glad Freida chose to have
  Nina protect Millie, even if she needed cajoling, because it’s true, Millie didn’t deserve to be set up for this just because she had a prison record
• Just wow - at one point, I literally said
  “I think there’s a plot hole, they never mentioned where the daughter went, she disappeared”
  AND THEN I LEARNED
• The reveal felt like everything. I had to close this book multiple times and just gasp because it felt like a long time coming, but then to finally see how it played out???? Couldn’t have predicted  the twist, even though everything felt like it made sense in the story world, especially the smaller reveals in the last few chapters 
• THE PEANUT BUTTER

Things I didn’t enjoy as much:

• Some of the writing around “foreigners” and accented English - although I think it was played up to reflect the stereotype of rich people being rude? But I was a bit sensitive to this
• Again, comments about
  “I deliberately put on weight so I wouldn’t be sexually desirable”
• How bratty CeCe was - and it was never really fully explained why she acted this way with people who weren’t her mother 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading the rest in the series! 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Sexual assault, Classism, and Pregnancy

mollykmyers's review against another edition

The book became wayyy too dark and creepy. The torture and gaslighting was too much for me 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Misogyny, Mental illness, Body shaming, and Gaslighting

victoriasutherland's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Body horror, Abandonment, Body shaming, Suicide, Gore, Toxic relationship, Torture, Confinement, Murder, Mental illness, Bullying, Violence, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

loudo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Death of parent, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Excrement, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Self harm, Suicide, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Classism, Abandonment, Medical content, Murder, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Mental illness, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Deportation, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

eryncaroline's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Book Club has started strong this year! It is incredibly fast-paced, with short chapters that keep you powering through it. I love a mystery that makes you desperate to know more and understand, and this sucks you in from the very first chapter. That "I need to know" feeling propels you through this story. The twists that they advertise on the cover do not disappoint, and I was absolutely shocked. The last 40% of the book keeps you on your toes. Be prepared to read this in one sitting!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Murder, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infidelity, Body shaming, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Infertility, Gore, and Death

The confinement and physical/mental abuse in a domestic violence situation are prevalent throughout this book. The fat shaming and comments on one of the character's body, weight and general appearance can be difficult to read.

hmwoodward's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

The first book club selection of the year went by fast! The book starts at the end and you are left to try and piece it together before it is all over. You definitely are led to believe the story will take you one way and then it takes you another. I don't want to spoil it, but it doesn't go exactly how I anticipated it would at the start.

Was this the best book I'll read this year? No. But I definitely enjoyed the ride and would recommend it to others (who are ok with the large number of content warnings applied here).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Vomit, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Excrement, and Gore

Minor: Death of parent

sarah_amy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Up there with my favourite thrillers - so much so that after my first listen, I started again immediately. Very cleverly crafted; I did not see the twists coming. It made me feel strong things about the characters and what was going on - a sign of a great read. Be prepared - it's very dark and graphic but will leave your jaw on the floor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Stalking, Torture, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Confinement

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Infertility, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

princessdana36's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

This book gave me a full blown anxiety attack. There were so many twists, turns, and unreliable narrators that I couldn't keep track (well, I could, but I just didn't want to! Whom can you trust in a book like this!) Gone Girl has nothing on this book. Sure, Gone Girl was better written, but this book elicited more visceral reactions than Gone Girl. I haven't even compared anything to that book since all psychological dramas/thrillers started comparing themselves to Gone Girl. I think the writing has to be improved. It needed some polish and another pass through with an editor, but the imagery was solid. Some of the phrasing was a little unprofessional, but it painted a vivid picture. All in all, not a pleasant book, but a readable one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Child abuse

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Confinement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis