Emily and Elizabeth spend their childhood locked in a bedroom and terrorized by a mother who drinks too much and disappears for days. The identical twins are rescued by a family determined to be their saviors.
But there’s some horrors love can’t erase…
Elizabeth wakes in a hospital, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak. The last thing she remembers is finding Emily’s…
“Whoever said lying was hard was so, so wrong. Lying was easy. Lying was like a hot knife slicing through room-temperature butter. Lying was a bunch of words strung together in a pretty sentence designed to make the other person feel like everything was fine. Telling the truth, however, was impossible.”
Made a mood board for the book I most recently listened too! Review: This book is a solid 4.25 ⭐️ I listened to it as an audiobook and felt both narrators (Ms. Hope and Kitt) were both easy to listen too! It was a maze of twists and turns, full of DEAD ends and false pathways to the truth. It kept you guessing until the literal last chapter! I personally do not try to solve things while listening so even though I suspected certain things most of this caught me by surprise. This was my first Riley Sager novel and will not be my last. I think he has a very creative mind and the plot twists were 😚👌🏼. I love how interconnected the story was with past and present. It gave 1920's gilded age turned horror.
It’s hard to find an employer who doesn’t ask too many questions about my past. So I thank my lucky stars that the Garricks miraculously give me a job, cleaning their stunning penthouse with views across the city and preparing fancy meals in their shiny kitchen. I can work here for a while, stay quiet until I get what I want.
It’s almost perfect. But I still haven’t met Mrs Garrick, or seen inside the guest bedroom. I’m sure I hear her crying. I notice spots of blood around the neck of her white nightgowns when I’m doing laundry. And one day I can’t help but knock on the door. When it gently swings open, what I see inside changes everything…
That’s when I make a promise. After all, I’ve done this before. I can protect Mrs Garrick while keeping my own secrets locked up safe.
Douglas Garrick has done wrong. He is going to pay. It’s simply a question of how far I’m willing to go…
RATING :: 4 / 5
Review under the cut! 🚨 Beware SPOILERS! 🚨
Please remember that these are only my opinions. Read the book yourself - your mileage may vary. 💜
This is the second book in the Housemaid series. I read this immediately upon finishing The Housemaid - I couldn't help it, I was hooked! It wasn't quite as good as The Housemaid - still excellent though!
A word to the wise - do not read this review if you haven't yet read The Housemaid. It contains spoilers for The Housemaid, and I really don't want to spoil such a good book for you. Go read that first - trust me, it's worth it.
It's been several years since the events of the Winchester house. Millie has her own apartment now, she's going to college to be a social worker, and she's dating a sexy hot-shot lawyer named Brock. Problem is, she just lost another job - for a really, really silly reason - and doesn't have enough money in her bank account to cover next month's rent. She needs to get another job, and fast.
Lucky for her, she gets a call from Douglas Garrick, the CEO of Coinstock, asking her to interview for the position of part-time housekeeper. He hires her on the spot and gives her pretty basic instructions - follow the grocery list to a T, keep the already pristine house spotless, and don't bother his wife. She's sickly, you see, and sleeps in the guest room for privacy. Let her rest.
It's not hard to follow the instructions - in fact, this is the easiest gig she's ever done. But Millie can't stop thinking about Wendy Garrick. She can't resist knocking on the guest room door one day, just to check if Wendy's doing okay, and what she sees inside sets her on a path to save another housewife, no matter the cost.
This book follows the same pacing and style of the first. It's almost formulaic in a way. The tension ramps up slowly, with little problems getting bigger and harder to solve on nearly every page. Of course, since you've read The Housemaid, you kind of know what to expect, so you're already scanning every line for foreshadowing, any little clue that will tell you the truth before the big reveal. I was so proud when I figured out what was going on! Take that, McFadden - I've beaten your game!
And then something happened that [the reader] did not expect...
Once again, there's only a little spice, and it's entirely fade to black. Don't go into this expecting sexy romps with sexy husbands, because you're not going to get it.
The tension stays ramped up for the entire book, especially since you're expecting there to be a big world-changing twist right around the corner, but it manages to escalate even further until you, like me, will be on the edge of your seats.
There is a side-plot that felt...lacking. Millie is dating a young lawyer named Brock. He's madly in love with her, constantly asking her to move in with him and suggesting that she should meet his parents. There are clearly wedding bells in the forefront of his mind. Millie, however, is unsure. She should be happy to be dating someone that will skyrocket her from 'broke as hell' to 'comfortably middle class', but she just...can't get into him. Especially since she has to hide her sketchy past, afraid that he'll leave her on the spot if he finds out her truth. I tried to care about this side plot, I really did. It was nice for Millie to have someone at her side, supporting her. But I just feel like this side plot was contrived so Millie would have a lawyer in her speed dial. Maybe it should have been handled differently - maybe it should have been cut out entirely. I'm not sure. All I know is, this side plot left me tired and itching to get back to the real story.
Just like the first, this is not a lighthearted book. I've listed the content warnings above - this is certainly a Dead Dove: Do Not Eat situation. Check the warnings before you read and decide for yourself if you're in a good place to read this book. DNF as soon as you stop having a good time. Your health and safety come first.
But if you're in the mood for a tense story with twists the side of the Titanic and danger around every corner? This is definitely worth a read. Two thumbs, way, way up. I might not read it again soon, but I'm definitely coming back someday.
Thanks for reading my book review! Remember, this review is just my opinion. I (almost) always recommend you read the book yourself and see if you like it!
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Hello fellow Swiftie Readers! This is Jen, and Meg @thegreatimpersonator and I just finished reading this book together! Set during a monstrous blizzard, a couple becomes trapped in a house they were supposed to be viewing to buy, a house that belonged to a psychiatrist who was murdered. A thrilling mystery with twists and turns of all sizes begins to unravel as the main character, Tricia, discovers endless amounts of cassette tapes - recorded sessions that the victim had had with her patients. Tricia has no idea what she's getting into when she presses play on that first cassette recording. This book was a very easy read and very hard to put down, with short chapters and complex, mysterious characters.
“There’s something in his expression that sends a chill down my spine. And then he shakes his head, almost imperceptibly. Almost like he’s trying to warn me. But he doesn’t say a word.”
❝ a writer should never have the audacity to write about themselves unless they’re willing to separate every layer of protection between the author’s soul and their book. the words should come directly from the center of the gut, tearing through flesh and bone as they break free. ugly and honest and bloody and a little bit terrifying, but completely exposed. ❞
The silent patient by Alex Michaelides just finished this book honestly i'm speechless. This book is incredibly well written with the gripping plot and characters was well developed. The plot twist at the end caught me completely off guard it honestly left me staring at the wall for a good 20 minutes, honestly glad I have read it my reading slump is cured. If you like psychological thriller this novel is for you. (5/5)
Favourite quotes:
"Remember, love that doesn't include honesty doesn't deserve to be called love."
"Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive, and will come forth later, in uglier ways. SIGMUND FREUD."
"The aim of therapy is not to correct the past, but to enable the patient to confront his own history; and to grieve over it. ALICE MILLER."
