Book Review: The Maid by Nita Prose

Rating: ★★★☆☆(3/5)

---

Introduction: I chose to read this novel last month because it was a Good Reads 2022 winner for Readers’ Favorite Mystery and Thriller. I had high hopes for it. When I started to get ready to write my own review I chanced a look at the Good Reads reviews and realized a pattern. ARC readers and those who do a TON of reviews with little actual reviewing other than fluff were the ones rating this book at a 4 and 5. The longer and more opinionated reviews were in the 2-3 zone. I can see why.

---

Summary: A Brief Overview (Without Major Spoilers)

Molly or as she calls herself, Molly the Maid, is a maid who truly loves her job. When she faces a murder mystery with one of her guests her naivety leads her to being the top of the suspect list for detectives. She has to deal with her own social awkwardness to help solve the case before she ends up behind bars herself.

---

What Worked for Me:

Growing up I loved the series Amelia Bedelia. Amelia took everything literally. You had to really spell it out for her and explain what you wanted or else she would comically get it wrong. This is Molly. I can handle a quirky character who is very obviously neurodivergent.

Giselle- The newest Mrs. Black was very patient with Molly. Molly had lost her Gran months prior and was struggling to codify life without her. Giselle is very good at doing this for Molly when they speak.

The plot itself- It was a very decent thriller. There were twists and turns and enough to keep me wanting to know what happened.

---

What Didn’t Work for Me: Trigger Warnings and Criticisms

She is VERY neurodivergent coded but it seems that no one in this universe can Google search signs of Autism or Neurodivergent. I am all for characters with differences but to have the others in the plot just act like she’s weird for the sake of being weird was beyond annoying.

---

Final Thoughts: If you want to see what The Maid is about for yourself, read it. If it is lower on your TBR list, let it stay there for a while. You really aren’t missing much.