I didn't see the twist coming! I couldn't put this book down. If you're looking for a book that will keep you up, this is it.

Synopsis:

Working as a housekeeper for the Winchesters is my last chance to start fresh. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own… Every day I clean their house, cook and take care of their daughter before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor. I try to ignore how Nina is unpredictable, and how her husband seems more broken every day. As I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. I only try on one of Nina’s dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

Review:

This book was a crazy rollercoaster read. It is packed with action and you are wondering how everything is going to unravel as you read. I could not put this book down. The characters are all awful and unredeemable but somehow I wanted to find out more. I did find some of it a bit gruesome / cringeworthy and had an idea of where things were headed but it was very well done overall. I was literally on the edge of my seat!

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.

I received a free copy as a host for The Gloss Book Club.

Whatever took me so long to read this book!!! It was fast paced, and so amazing... I could not put the book down once I started. And luckily the next book is on Kindle Unlimited, so I'm grabbing that soon too.

Gripping secrets lurk beneath a seemingly perfect life in Freida McFadden's "The Housemaid," a fast-paced thriller perfect for fans of domestic suspense. Cut-off from her family and living in her car, ex-convict Millie seeks redemption by taking a live-in housekeeper job, unaware of the tangled web of lies and manipulation she's entering. With Nina, a seemingly privileged but deeply troubled wife of loving Andrew, Millie navigates a household fraught with tension and hidden agendas.
Millie's desperate determination and Nina's unpredictable facade create a constant sense of unease that will keep the reader engaged until the final page turn. McFadden masterfully ratchets up the suspense with unexpected twists and cliffhangers, keeping you guessing until the very end. While some plot elements might echo "The Last Mrs. Parish," "The Housemaid" stands on its own as a thrilling exploration of secrets, power, and the masks we wear to protect those that we love.
If you crave pulse-pounding suspense and enjoy unraveling domestic mysteries, "The Housemaid" is a must-read. Just be prepared to lose sleep, as this addictive page-turner will hook you from the first chapter.

Millie has been living in her car and urgently needs to find a job and a place to stay. Fortunately, she secures an interview for a nanny position. The interview with Nina goes well; she seems nice and easy to please. Furthermore, the house is beautiful and appears easy to maintain. It almost seems too good to be true, but Millie desperately needs this job.

Going into this, I had no idea what to expect, knowing only that it was a thriller. I decided to read it without delving too much into the details, and I'm glad I did. Having more background information might have lessened my enjoyment. It's a quick read – not a sophisticated or prolonged thriller, but one that captured my attention and kept me hooked until the end. You'll definitely have fun reading this one!

THIS WAS SO GOOD! I am always unsure about over hyped authors, but I read this, was shocked and it really stuck with me. Then, I picked up a load of her backlist (and her other housemaid one) and think I may have just found one of my new favourite authors. Totally gripping, full of twists and turns and just, brilliant!

I read this book a long time ago and not sure how it ended up on my list. This was one of my first favorite books from the author. Looking forward to her third book as I have read the first two.

Freida McFadden writes books so well, you forget the life you had before starting one os her books!! This one has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster!!!

I flew through this book a sure sign of a good read.

Full of twists and turns with a creepy undercurrent. I was burning the midnight oil to get it finished.

Freida writes a story which will keep you hooked as the suspense builds . I didn’t want the book to finish and found the short punchy chapters, told from different perspectives, very easy to read.

This first rate thriller is definitely one to put on your TBR list .

Thankyou to NetGalley and Bookouture for the arc of The Housemaid by Freida McFadden.

5 Stars was totally blown out the water, another sensational gripping book by Freida, loved everything that happened all twists and turns had me at the edge of my seat wanting more, read within 1 DAY highly highly recommend

What an incredible book this was! I really recommend it and it was very, very hard to put it away. 

Some of the characters were so easy to hate, others were easy to love. 

There is only one chance to make a good impression or do you sometimes have to reconsider? Was the first impression really a reflection of the person's character? Sometimes you have to be yourself to get what you want and sometimes you just have to pull the wool over people's eyes.

You never ever should underestimate anyone. 

My favorite character? It has to be Enzo. 

This is an excellent start to a series you just have to read. You honestly don't want to miss out on this one. 5 stars

Thank you

I really enjoyed this book- honestly one of my favorites of the year! The pace was quick and kept me interested and I finished it in 2 days.

I did find it to be a little predictable;the woman is the "crazy one", but it turns out it's actually a ruse and the husband is psycho. I was a little frustrated that Nina just set her up to take her place. Looking forward to reading the next one.

A woman takes a job with a wealthy family as their housemaid. She will be well-paid and be able to infiltrate their lives because they have no idea who she is. Until everything turns on its head...

This is a twisty thriller, and it's easy to see why it's a favorite. I loved it.

So creepy. It is very well written, you can just imagine the terror and torture she felt working for the tyrant that was Nina. It makes you think of how awful staff have it in some households. I know it turned me right off wanting to be a maid for anyone ever - really dark and twisted. Very enjoyable!

Great thriller. Was a quick read, well-paced and interesting. Just enough, what's going on here, and why would you do that to keep you going. Twists and turns, not crazy out of the blue, but enough to make it not trite and boring. Also good ending.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC, even though late, not sure I would have picked it up otherwise. Will be reading the second.

A great read with interesting twists! I am always nervous when a book has so much hype but this one lived up to it. Finished it in just a couple days and picked up the sequel right away. Excited to check out more from this author too.

Millie cannot believe her luck, because she has just been hired as a housekeeper (not maid) by the wealthy Winchesters. Compared to the past 10 years that she has spent in prison and the months after her release that she has spent living in her car, this is heaven, right? Wrong.

The very next day after she's hired, Nina Winchester, her employer, starts behaving, for want of a better term, completely bonkers, and making Millie's life a living hell. She's even given a room to live in that is a converted attic with a lock that closes from the OUTSIDE. At this point, you or I, or any sane person would have nope-d the hell out of there, right? But not Millie.

There's also Cecilia, the daughter, who's a total brat, and looks like the stereotypical creepy kid from all the horror movies, with her staring eyes and frilly dresses.

Enzo is the gardener, who doesn't speak a word of English, but tries to warn Millie of danger as soon as she arrives at the property. But hey, how would we have this entire novel if she heeds his warning and every other alarm bell that is going off in her head, and every other red flag that is waving right in her face?

And then...there's Andrew Winchester, the smart, successful, gorgeous, considerate hunk who seems to be the perfect husband and doting father. Millie can't help but be attracted to him and wonder what it would be like to be with a man like that, if only Nina were out of the way.

When something like THAT happens, you know it's ALWAYS a bad idea.

The story is divided into three parts. Part 1 and 3 are told from Millie's POV, and Part 2 is from Nina's POV.

There are TONS of inconsistencies, plot holes, convenient co-incidences and totally illogical behaviour by the characters at times. I literally laughed and rolled my eyes at some of the stuff that was going on.

But overall, if you read it the way you would watch some TV show in the spirit of, say, 'Desperate Housewives' then you'll be okay, and won't get annoyed by the book. It's just meant to titillate that part of human beings that crave drama and intrigue and can't look away from a fire or a wreck. It's just one of those books that you can slip in-between two 'heavy' books that you may read.

Enjoyable in an overly dramatic and trashy kind of way.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC of this title in return for my honest review.

Finally,, this book filtered to the top of my pile! And I think one reason for this taking so long is all the hype that has surrounded it, and its sequel The Housemaid's Secret. I'm not one for following the crowd while the hype is high, it's more of a deterrent for me than a reason to jump on the bandwagon so now things are a little calmer, I felt the time was right to see whether I agree with the buzz that this book (and its author) have brought to the book world.
This book is written from 2 points of view: the housemaid, Millie and her employer Nina Winchester. Chapters are clearly titled so it's clear whose voice we are hearing - although it would be difficult to mix things up in this respect. Millie has had a tough start in life, a fact she does not shy away from - it's made her who she is, right to her core. Nina, however, has many more layers to her character and not all of them are pleasant. Her daughter Cece is obnoxious and makes Millie's life a misery, but with the example she's been set by her mother it's not surprising that she behaves as she does. Nina's husband Andrew is charming, handsome, and Cece appears to have far more respect for him than she does her mother.
The story takes place over a short time span of just 3 months, which when you consider all that happens within that timeframe, it's all very intense. The rules and restrictions that Nina imposes on Millie are strict and unreasonable, leading Millie to seek friendship with the mysterious Enzo, the gardener at the property who speaks little English and keeps his distance from the house. The few words he does impart to Millie have her wondering if indeed she is safe in Nina's employment.
I'm not going to spill any beans regarding the twists and bombshells that Freida McFadden drops into this book, but suffice to say that yes, every drop of the hype given to this book is well-deserved and earned throughout its pages. I was shocked and excited to keep on reading "just one more chapter" and stayed up far later than I should have done when I had to go to work the following day - but there are characters in this book who just get under your skin yet still manage to shock you in ways you'll never expect.
A brilliant story - I went straight to my local library to grab the sequel to this book and read them back to back - one luxury of having left book one so long to read, I suppose! My poor bookshelves now have yet another 'must read' author queuing up for space! Freida McFadden, you're a legend!

Really enjoyed this book. Great characters and all the twists and turns kept me reading late at night - I finished this in 24 hours. Loved how the book was written in two halves.

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this one. It was gripping. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.