Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Maid by Nita Prose

60 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

sierrabowers'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

rachjy's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment

catarina_pego's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Bullying, Murder, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, and Addiction

Minor: Cancer

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Deportation, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Cancer, and Murder

vireogirl's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

Read it in one evening. Several chuckles. Nice to see a neurodiverse character. A bit cheesy at times but there were some twists I didn’t expect and a lovely message of embracing who you are. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Torture, Abandonment, Addiction, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Physical abuse

Minor: Bullying, Gun violence, Infidelity, Alcohol, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

samburkhouse's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Grief, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Terminal illness, Infidelity, Bullying, Death of parent, Ableism, and Cancer

Minor: Deportation, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment

anekk78's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Only minutes into this book it became one of my favorites ever! It is beautiful book about human relations with a murder sprinkled over. And the main character is an Eleanor Olyphant type character, you’ll either live her or hate her. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Terminal illness, Grief, Addiction, Death, Murder, Drug use, Death of parent, and Cancer

annaofjesup's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Minor: Deportation

misskitty14's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Many murder mysteries are helmed by a neurodivergent detective (Holmes, Poirot, Monk), but most of them rarely get into how their mind works and even fewer acknowledge the challenges faced by these characters' disability (their attention to detail is simply a superpower). The main character of the novel, Molly Gray, is neurodivergent but this does not make her a superhuman detective. Instead, the reader comes to realize how much Molly doesn't see or understand because of the way her mind works. It can be frustrating at times to watch as she trusts the wrong people and misunderstands situations that are very obvious to the rest of us.  I've heard many people with neurodiversity discuss how they hate that their disability is oftentimes represented as a superpower rather than an actual disability (comedian Fern Brady has a whole stand-up about it). Overall, I found this aspect of the novel to be incredibly educational and led to increased empathy on my part.

The reason I don't give this book 5 stars is because of the ending. Prose fell into the classic murder mystery trope of keeping valuable information from the reader.

From the beginning our main character knows who killed Mr. Black (it isn't anyone ever put on our radar) but never tells anyone or discusses it in her own mind.

Before I got to the end of the novel, I thought I figured out the answer, which seemed very obvious from the beginning, but I was impressed by how the pieces had come together. Instead, like all other murder mystery authors before her, Prose decides to justify a left-field answer by withholding information from the reader, information that should be known to us since we are inside Molly's head.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Bullying, Terminal illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

mercy killing