Comments on: Review: The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden

By: Ursula Berliner

Ursula Berliner — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 23:52:11 +0000

This might’ve been better served as a short story, as the repitition of events in the first half of the book could’ve been dropped entirely. I wonder if any other readers found the word “hot” lost all meaning after the first few chapters. If Millie is obsessed with that single quality in Andrew, I’m certain she will find menopause most intoxicating. 2 stars for me, only because I was desperate for mindless entertainment between books.

By: Iris

Iris — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 21:26:18 +0000

I hated The Housemaid with an absolute PASSION. I, too, am reading this in my book club, and this is both my first and last book that I will be reading of anything written by Freida McFadden. Freida’s writing is so egregiously bad in this that it is honestly comical.

To be fair, I can’t say for certain if her other books are written just as poorly, because I will not be indulging in them, but if this is any indication, I am truly afraid. The fact that she has made this book into a franchise with two other full books + a novella, really shows how dedicated she is to her craft. Her craft being cashing in as much money as possible, and milking an already piss-poor excuse of literature. Truly astounding to me.

Here’s a good example of how bad the writing was. A direct quote that is in this godforsaken book:
“Thankfully, there’s an address on the flier, so I know exactly where to go.” – page 60, Chapter 11.

I am happily included in the 1% with you, and it pleases me greatly to know that another reader also disliked this book as much as I did.

By: Joli

Joli — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 13:33:39 +0000

In reply to CJ. YES her lack of instinct! The complete disregard for her own safety...come on. So many eye rolls while reading it.

By: CJ

CJ — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 02:52:42 +0000

I wanted to enjoy The Housemaid. I found Millie’s logic and rationale iritating and her character weak especially as an ex con. After the first red flag, her instinct would have kicked in to get out of this horrible environment. Its almost unbelievable. I dont understand the hype. Got to page 115, eyerolled then DNF.

By: Jean

Jean — Sat, 29 Mar 2025 02:49:18 +0000

The best thing about “The Housemaid” was that I was able to get my credit back from Audible. Even knowing that it’s written at a 12-yr-old level didn’t justify its lack of character development and unrealistic dialogue, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to any of my middle-school students. The Enzo character was the least believable, but he had some strong competition. I think that with a lot of help from a good scriptwriter it could be made into an okay film, and I did kind of like the ending. But the NYT best-seller list? More of a mystery than this book.

By: Liz

Liz — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 03:34:52 +0000

Oh thank goodness I found my people. I’ve been listening to the audiobook and wondered if I should have read it instead but it sounds like I would’ve been irritated either way. I am about halfway through listening to it but had to read the spoilers because I am having the hardest time getting through it. I don’t understand why so many people liked it!

By: Joli

Joli — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:01:03 +0000

In reply to Memoona Akhtar. Oh man, did not see that blurb...I read the ebook version. Clearly just hyping it up to sell more, even though that's not even true! Bleh.

By: Memoona Akhtar

Memoona Akhtar — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:18:53 +0000

I agree with this review and I’m bemused at the number of rave reviews! So many things just didn’t make sense and were completely unrealistic and far-fetched. There wasn’t enough character development for me to care too much about what happened to them. Even the blurb really annoyed me after I’d finished the book as it’s deliberately misleading:
‘I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white 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.’
Millie doesn’t only ‘try on’ the dress but wears it on a night out. And she realised about the attic lock from the very beginning when it definitely wasn’t too late to leave. Lazy writing in my opinion.
Anyway, I was frustrated enough to have to leave a comment and glad I found some like-minded people!

By: Joli

Joli — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 16:02:35 +0000

In reply to Steph Santiago. Ha! Yes! Us Housemaid haters have to stick together...somehow, there aren't that many of us.

By: Steph Santiago

Steph Santiago — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 15:17:50 +0000

Hopefully I’ve found someone with the same taste because I agree with everything about this review. Except I thought the end was almost as dumb as the rest of the book. SO much hype for a super predictable book with no depth.