I liked all of the characters and thought it was an entertaining read.
Thanks to netgalley for providing me with an arc for review. All opinions are my own.

A joyous book because I learnt about different cultures and I loved reading about the relationships between the maids. I also enjoyed the mystery part and guessing.

Now You See Us depicts the not so glamorous and luxurious side of Singapore’s elite class. Told from the perspectives of three Fillipina domestic workers — we get a glimpse into the harsh realities of foreign workers, social and class divide, racism, corruption, and social prejudice.

Cora, works for the loveliest ma’am but she’s constantly worrying about her past catching up to her. Angel, working as caregiver who loves her role but starts to feel threaten by a new worker and unsafe in her environment. Donita, the youngest and newest worker has the most demanding and crazy ma’am!! They constantly bicker about Donita’s “poor” work ethics, to the point where her phone is revoked. Donita struggles to adjust to her work while maintaining a social life and even a relationship?? I mean that’s kind of hard when you only have HALF of Sunday’s off! 💀

The three become closer than ever when one of their fellow maids is accused of murder! Dun dun dun..

I felt each character had soo much more to say about themselves, and it wrapped up too neatly in the end. I think I would have preferred a more realistic ending, as opposed to a happy one lol. But hey, that’s just me. If you like stories that end well, then this one is great. The murder isn’t the main focus on this story, nor should it be marketed as one. It definitely could have been fleshed out more, rather than just in the background of everyone else’s struggles.

This story felt like a commentary on Singapore’s demand for foreign workers but at the same time their harsh exploitation of these same workers. Personally, I’m not that knowledgeable about the topic so this book was definitely an eye opening account. The author herself was raised in Singapore and moved to the Phillipines at age 15. The murder is loosely based on Flor Contemplacion, a Filipino domestic worker who was accused of murdering a child in Singapore.

There’s also themes of feminism, religion, homophobia, and xenophobia explored. How religious organisations continue to promote anti-LGBTQIA sentiments under the guise of women’s rights and education.

This book starts to pick up in the middle, and I honestly wish it was a bit longer!

In Singapore three Filipino maids met and have interconnecting stories that look at a murder being falsely accused against another Filipino maid. Each of the maids have more to their stories than meets the initial eye, Cora whose nephew died in unclear circumstances, Angel who is hiding something about her past with relationships and Donita who is young and firey. The worlds they work in are full of secrets but the lives they are forced to live because of the way they are treated is horrible.

This story looks at murder, gossip, conversion therapy, domestic violence against house workers and many other topics and Jaswal does it with care and a little bit of humour to make this story more accessible to more people. In the acknowledgements Jaswal discusses her inspiration from true events and interviews completed and it is heartbreaking. And this book is incredible! Whether you go in for what is uncovers about that world from a fictional story or want something funny with a bit of some heavy twists - this book is for you!

My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Australia for this ARC!

4 and a half stars

Three women make their way to Singapore to work as house helpers. When one of their friends is accused of murdering her employer, the trio do all they can to help, after all, the person who knows the elite the best, are the ones who work within the same household.

After living in the Middle East, I am very familiar with the concept of house helpers. A lot of my friends there had them and they were all lovely women with their own story of why they were away from their family working. It was great reading about Corazon, Donita and Angel and I especially loved how their little community banded together to help one of their own. I'm glad I read this book - I really enjoyed it.