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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-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
I found the main characters flaws too repetitive but still a nice read.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-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
The worst part about this book is that you don’t want to put it down because you just don’t want to leave Molly in whatever situation she’s got herself mixed up in. She’s such a gentle, relatable and enjoyable character. It’s not easy to portray a neurodiverse person on the page, but Prose does an excellent job of helping the reader see the world as Molly does. This is assisted by the wonderful, unreliable first person narration.
This was a re-read for me and actually I had forgotten the ending and even until the last moment I couldn’t remember the twist so it was nice to come across the surprise again.
I have The Mystery Guest to read next, so on I go!
This was a re-read for me and actually I had forgotten the ending and even until the last moment I couldn’t remember the twist so it was nice to come across the surprise again.
I have The Mystery Guest to read next, so on I go!
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
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
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A clueless maid finds a dead body while cleaning and gets sucked into the investigation. Right from the start, it is pretty obvious what happened and who did it but our main character has no idea so the rest of the novel is spent being angry at her for not figuring it out. I’m still not sure if the mystery was supposed to be so obvious to the reader but it clearly is. Now, the thing about this book is that the maid, Molly, while never outright stated, is portrayed as having stereotypical traits of autism. I can’t speak to whether or not it’s a good portrayal but looking at other reviews, the consensus is no. This whole read was just frustrating and surprisingly slow for a short book.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really liked this book but it veered too much on the side of light mystery for me to rate it at 5 stars. The characters are cute and fun. And the mystery with a twist was good.
mysterious
tense
medium-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
If I had read all the hype about the book before I read the book itself I would have been very disappointed. However, I picked it at random to read on holiday and knew nothing about it at all.
I struggled with the depiction of Molly. It felt as if the author had found a checklist for symptoms of autism and stuck them onto Molly with blutac. Her character was pretty undeveloped other than her “cute quirkiness”. The fact that nobody else recognised her apparent neurodivergency and thus she became the major suspect for a murder is ridiculous.
Lack of characterisation and dependence on stereotyping ran through the entire book. The grandfatherly doorman who conveniently has a razor sharp lawyer for a daughter; the illegal immigrant who is easily exploited by a drug cartel; the hardnosed and incompetent police officer (who clearly needs to go on an introductory course on neurodiversity); the gangster and his moll and of course the slimey bartender.
As for the plot. Major (and rather dodgy) businessman is murdered in his hotel room. Police make cursory enquiries, decide it is possibly the most unlikely person they can find. No, of course it’s nothing to do with his business affairs, nobody who might have a grudge against him. It’s the maid of course, and it only takes them about two days to discover this and announce it to the press. Job done.
And so we go to court. Let’s just say that if this book had an editor, they fell asleep during this bit.
And the ending. All through the book Molly has behaved with little understanding of the world around her and the word naïve tattooed on her forehead. Then suddenly she puts together (albeit with the help of several other people one of whom is a lawyer and not only should know better but also put her whole career at risk if ever discovered) a plot to pin the blame on an innocent man. Rodney is a drug dealer and thoroughly unpleasant but he isn’t a murderer. Furthermore Molly knows this and still goes ahead with the plan. Meanwhile the real murderer disappears off into the sunset.
Oh and Mr Preston is probably Molly’s grandfather. Oh please….
Finally, clearly the book was set in the modern day yet the author seemed to hark to a bygone age of grand hotels. Sadly she is no Agatha Christie.
As you can tell I thought the book was dreadful and I only finished it because I couldn’t believe it could get any worse. I was wrong.
I read Eleanor Oliphant when it first came out and really enjoyed it. This author could do with reading it too
I struggled with the depiction of Molly. It felt as if the author had found a checklist for symptoms of autism and stuck them onto Molly with blutac. Her character was pretty undeveloped other than her “cute quirkiness”. The fact that nobody else recognised her apparent neurodivergency and thus she became the major suspect for a murder is ridiculous.
Lack of characterisation and dependence on stereotyping ran through the entire book. The grandfatherly doorman who conveniently has a razor sharp lawyer for a daughter; the illegal immigrant who is easily exploited by a drug cartel; the hardnosed and incompetent police officer (who clearly needs to go on an introductory course on neurodiversity); the gangster and his moll and of course the slimey bartender.
As for the plot. Major (and rather dodgy) businessman is murdered in his hotel room. Police make cursory enquiries, decide it is possibly the most unlikely person they can find. No, of course it’s nothing to do with his business affairs, nobody who might have a grudge against him. It’s the maid of course, and it only takes them about two days to discover this and announce it to the press. Job done.
And so we go to court. Let’s just say that if this book had an editor, they fell asleep during this bit.
And the ending. All through the book Molly has behaved with little understanding of the world around her and the word naïve tattooed on her forehead. Then suddenly she puts together (albeit with the help of several other people one of whom is a lawyer and not only should know better but also put her whole career at risk if ever discovered) a plot to pin the blame on an innocent man. Rodney is a drug dealer and thoroughly unpleasant but he isn’t a murderer. Furthermore Molly knows this and still goes ahead with the plan. Meanwhile the real murderer disappears off into the sunset.
Oh and Mr Preston is probably Molly’s grandfather. Oh please….
Finally, clearly the book was set in the modern day yet the author seemed to hark to a bygone age of grand hotels. Sadly she is no Agatha Christie.
As you can tell I thought the book was dreadful and I only finished it because I couldn’t believe it could get any worse. I was wrong.
I read Eleanor Oliphant when it first came out and really enjoyed it. This author could do with reading it too
“And that’s why assumptions are dangerous”
What an ending! Oooofff. I loved this book so much! I listened to the audiobook version of The Maid and it quickly became my walking buddy. I seriously had a hard time pressing pause. The story follows Molly Gray, a hotel maid who lives by routines and takes pride in cleaning rooms to perfection. But her world flips upside down when she finds a wealthy guest dead in his bed and gets tangled up in a murder investigation she’s definitely not prepared for.
I find Molly to be such a unique and lovable character her voice, quirks, and the way she sees the world just pulled me in. I found myself rooting for her so hard. The narration brought her to life in such a vivid way. It’s a heartwarming, witty, and surprisingly emotional read about kindness, trust, and finding your place in the world.
If you’re into character driven mysteries with a twist of charm, definitely add this to your list!
What an ending! Oooofff. I loved this book so much! I listened to the audiobook version of The Maid and it quickly became my walking buddy. I seriously had a hard time pressing pause. The story follows Molly Gray, a hotel maid who lives by routines and takes pride in cleaning rooms to perfection. But her world flips upside down when she finds a wealthy guest dead in his bed and gets tangled up in a murder investigation she’s definitely not prepared for.
I find Molly to be such a unique and lovable character her voice, quirks, and the way she sees the world just pulled me in. I found myself rooting for her so hard. The narration brought her to life in such a vivid way. It’s a heartwarming, witty, and surprisingly emotional read about kindness, trust, and finding your place in the world.
If you’re into character driven mysteries with a twist of charm, definitely add this to your list!