Review - 'The Housemaid' by Freida McFadden

My first Freida McFadden! And while I wasn't as enamored with The Housemaid as most readers were, I did find it decently entertaining.

To start, I can totally see why people talk about this book as being bingeworthy. It has all the hallmarks of a one-sit read, with short chapters, lots of dialogue, and dramatic developments one after another so you can't look away. There's this perpetual feeling that you can read just one more page, and before you know it, you've read the whole book.

But that isn't to say this is the most original story ever. There were definitely moments as I was reading this that I had the strongest sense of déjà vu, as if I've read the same exact thing somewhere else before. The book cheerfully employs several common thriller elements, and while there is nothing wrong with that, it does make it feel like the story had no real surprises, especially if you've read a lot of thrillers like I have.

One thing I found interesting—and I'm not sure if this was done on purpose—was the humor. On the one hand, the story seemed extremely earnest throughout, with every character and every point of view being serious in the way that thrillers always are. But on the other hand, there were moments when everything was so over the top that it felt like the author must be leaning into it, having a bit of fun at the reader and the story, all in one go.

A lot of reviews mention the bad writing, and I feel like that's a little bit unfair. It isn't that the writing here is bad so much as it is very simplistic. Let me put it this way—my two-year-old was curious about what mama was reading, so I obliged by reading a random passage to him. And he was riveted. He wouldn't let me stop. He even chose this book as his bedtime story three nights in a row! His favorite parts were the discussions about things being clean/dirty, the stormy weather, and the scene with the garbage truck. So there you go, if my toddler can follow along just fine, I think that tells you something.

Was this story entertaining? Yes. But it also left me feeling vaguely unsatisfied, having fulfilled none of my reading cravings. It's the sort of story I was into while reading it, but as soon as I put it down, I had no real desire to pick it back up again. I didn't really care about the characters, I could see where the story was going from a mile away, and reading through it felt like spelling out in long form something I already knew.

The thing is, there is a marked difference between a book keeping your attention because you just happen to have it open versus one you would actively seek out to read. And unfortunately for me, this was too much the former and not enough of the latter.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars