Freida McFadden's The Housemaid (2022): Book Review

I recently picked up Freida McFadden's The Housemaid from my fun-TBR list, hoping for a little thrill to kill time. What I got was more like a rollercoaster ride through Crazytown, as I found myself rolling my eyes and feeling disturbed throughout much of it.

Having enjoyed McFadden's The Boyfriend and read a few chapters of The Devil Wears Scrubs, I thought I was prepared for the thrilling yet disturbing scenes ahead. While it fell a bit short on the thrill factor, it succeeded in being quite disturbing. Additionally, romance isn't really my thing, so I found it hard to stomach the swoony moments, especially lines like, "Oh, he's so handsome! If only he weren't my boss's husband!" I seriously rolled my eyes every single time.

Things took a turn for the weird with some seriously messed-up punishments. I won't get into the details, but let's just say it's definitely not a cozy mystery. However, I'll give credit where it's due; I did enjoy watching the main character kick butt and save the day from a very troubled individual. Can "psychopath" be an appropriate term here? Oh, the mother's reaction was also astonishing—I literally exclaimed "WOW" out loud.

This book isn't going on my "best books ever" list, but it was entertaining enough for a lazy afternoon. If you're into dark, twisty stories and don’t mind moments that make you think, "Did they really just say that?" then you might enjoy it. Just don’t expect Shakespeare.