i received a copy of the maid from harper collins nz in exchange for an honest review.
star rating
the maid review
i was really excited to read the maid. i’d seen it all over instagram and read multiple raving reviews. unfortunately, my reading experience wasn’t on par with the vast majority.
my biggest concern with this book is the portrayal of our main character, molly (the maid). molly is neurodivergent, although it’s never specified on page. instead, it’s played off as her being quirky or cute. the confusing part comes when one minute, molly couldn’t tell certain social queues, and the next she was solving complicated situations. but i guess this is fine though because molly isn’t actually neurodivergent? she’s just cashing in on the trend for “different” female main characters?
while i could go into more detail, i think elle and janb did a fantastic job at explaining it.
(i think it should be worth noting that there are a few poc portrayed in this book – all of which ended up playing other maids or dishwashers. one of these characters was an illegal immigrant. the use of drug dealing was just salt on the wound.)
that aside, the book wasn’t that bad. it was interesting enough. the first half was downright boring due to the lengthy internal monologue trying to prove just how different molly was. and how she loved to clean. the second half was where things picked up. there were a few plot twists, most of which were easily solved. there was only two i didn’t manage to guess, and for one of them i feel somewhat betrayed as i really enjoyed that character! 😂 (the other plot twist came at the very end, where our main character withheld information regarding the killer which made no sense).
there were several characters that i liked – and the molly’s love interest wasn’t one of them (which made reading it a little annoying). while i didn’t like molly for most of the book, she grew on me by the end. the other characters who pop in along the way in support of molly were easily my favourites. it was heartwarming to see everyone band together to try help molly out.
all in all, it wasn’t a bad book, but i definitely wouldn’t rush to pick it up anytime soon.
8 Comments
I’m about halfway through The Maid right now. I’m enjoying it, but I did notice the way she couldn’t figure out when someone was happy, but then she’s seems to know exactly what someone else is thinking and feeling. I’m just going with it for now. Great review.
hopefully you enjoy it a little more than i did! it definitely seemed odd to me, and so much so that it bothered me. i wish i could’ve just gone with it.
I’ve been seeing this one all over too—sorry you didn’t enjoy it as much as you hoped you would.
it’s unfortunate, as i was expecting so much.
i probably won’t read the book but i’ve been curious about it since i’ve seen it all over. i appreciated your review a lot!
yeah it’s one of those hit or miss books unfortunately.
i started reading it. it is so boring. after i read ur review i won t finish it
usually, if you’re not feeling it in the first 100 pages, there’s not much point in continuing.