Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Maid by Nita Prose

16 reviews

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

   Molly, a neurodivergent maid, finds the rich and mean Mr. Black dead in his bed. It turns out he was murdered. And Molly ends up under suspicion for his murder. But some of the people at the hotel are not who they seem. And they may have used Molly's neurodivergence to their advantage. 
   I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I know some said it was inconsistent, but I find that, as a neurodivergent person, I can see how her seemingly very shifting rules don't shift as much as they seem to do to some people. I know that certain rules in my mind are different than how a "normal" person may have their rules. And once you get to the end it all makes sense, at least to me. 
   I didn't guess the killer, though I guess another one of the "plot twists" (the one with her grandmother.)

Narrator Rating: 3.5 stars
  She did a decent job but for most of the book she had kind of pout to her voice which was childlike and annoying for a 20-something woman.

Elemental Levels:  Fluff-3.5/5  Heartfelt-3/5   Helpful-NA     Horror-NA  Inspiration-NA  
Love aka Romance-2/5   Mystery-5/5     Predictability-2.5/5   Spice-NA    Suspense-2/5    Tear- 3/5  Thrill-1.5/5  Humor-1/5 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cursing, Misogyny, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Violence, Classism, Mental illness, Alcohol, Death, Gaslighting, Racism, Grief, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Deportation, Ableism, Cancer, Sexism, Chronic illness, and Confinement

Moderate: Torture, Gun violence, Murder, Drug abuse, Suicide, Body horror, Addiction, Police brutality, Slavery, Blood, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Xenophobia, Medical content, Death of parent, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Excrement, Pregnancy, and Medical content

rubellaface's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Very cute whodunnit with a very interesting premise-- a neurodivergent maid gets caught in the middle of a murder investigation and becomes a suspect when people take advantage of her. 

But the rest the read was a bit off-putting because the author is neurotypical, and I wasn't sure if she was doing a service or disservice to the autistic community. The author took inspiration from when she taught special needs children, but honestly I just read 'Yellowface'and I hope a sensitivity expert was involved... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Bullying, Ableism, Death, Drug abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Sexism, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Mental illness, Alcohol, Bullying, Police brutality, Murder, Chronic illness, and Racism

sierrabedwell's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I thought this was a great read. The main character obviously is on the spectrum and since you are reading from her point of view, it sheds light on how certain situations can become dangerous. people on the spectrum can have difficulties in social situations which is exactly how Molly became framed for murder. I really liked this story because it shows the flaws in the justice system relating to people with disabilities. It also has a twist at the end, but I thought it could have been executed better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Classism, Murder, Toxic friendship, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Ableism, Gaslighting, Racism, Abandonment, Addiction, and Grief

sarahrcb's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

1.5

I wanted to like this book, but honestly, the way that Molly was depicted really gave me the ick. Her whole thing is that she is clearly autistic, but instead of actually acknowledging her autism, the author leaned into some very demeaning autistic stereotypes, and the character was constantly infantilized by both the author and the other characters within the story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, Deportation, Domestic abuse, and Racism

Minor: Terminal illness, Murder, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

honestrabbit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Murder, Racism, and Toxic friendship

ak97x's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, Toxic friendship, and Ableism

Minor: Physical abuse, Vomit, Trafficking, and Racism

frantically's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

1.0

I'm not autistic, so keep that in mind while reading my review.

This writing style, this style of writing about neurodivergent/autistic people has been so overdone and to me it's nothing less than dehumanising. As other reviewers have pointed out, we're supposed to believe this takes place in the present (which I couldn't believe throughout the whole book) and still, not one character thinks "Hey maybe Molly isn't just quirky & annoying, maybe there's some autistic traits here".

I have friends who have autism, you probably have too and it serves none of us if they keep being portrayed as these quirky people who have no clue how to interact with others and seem to have completely different thought patterns — it just divides us even more.

The writing style distracted me from the whole mystery but honestly it wasn't life-changing either.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Racism, Bullying, and Domestic abuse

simrankohli's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Very rarely does an author manage to pull-off a genuinely good twist in the final chapter, in a way that doesn’t feel forced or cheap. My hat off to you, Nita. That aside, there are some major issues with the way characters act in this novel. The clearly neurodivergent protagonist’s inability to read social cues waxes and wanes to suit the plot. The villains are petty and cruel in a very obvious way, that makes the book feel like it was written at least three decades ago. The grandmother’s assisted suicide seemed very unnecessarily violent and out of place. Why a nice old lady who choose to traumatise her granddaughter during her last moments is beyond comprehension, considering the much less dramatic and painful alternatives. Also, the rich white lawyer lady swooping in mid narrative to save the bumbling autistic maid and drug mule-ed illegal Mexican immigrant left a bad taste in my mouth. Overall, a fun easy read, but with some major thematic caveats.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Drug abuse

thumbeleia's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Ableism

Moderate: Cursing, Murder, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Drug abuse

Minor: Racism

kataya09's review against another edition

2.0

I listened to this book through audible and I’m not sure I would have made it through this book if I didn’t. The main character is very two dimensional and naive at times and sharp at others, and yet still other times, completely oblivious. She only realized something when it was convenient for the plot. There were also random twists in this book that just seemed out of place due to the lack of foreshadowing or any hint of this making sense. The narration was great, the story, not so much. 3 out of 5 stars for the audio. 0.5 for the story.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism and Racism