Audiobook Review: 'The Housemaid's Secret' by Freida McFadden, narrated by Lauryn Allman

Spoiler alert: If you have not read the first book in this series ('The Housemaid' by Freida McFadden) and intend to, you might not want to read this review. As much as I try to avoid divulging things, some things are inevitable.

Note: This review focuses more on the book aspect rather than the narration, but I wanted to give credit to the narrator as well, which is why it is mentioned in the title. 

Millie Calloway is still alive, but her financial situation hasn't improved. She's struggling to find jobs, what with her history, and trying to get through college isn't making paying the bills any easier. She primarily works as a housekeeper and a babysitter, but that's not all. There are several women she's saved from abusive husbands, but it's a service she stopped providing several years ago. That is, until she is hired by a man named Douglas Garrick. He lives in an impossibly spacious (by New York standards) penthouse with his wife, Wendy. According to Douglas, Wendy is ill, and cannot leave the guest bedroom much. 

This is strange, but Millie tries to obey Douglas' orders to leave Wendy alone until she starts noticing disturbing clues that all point to one very obvious thing. Is it time for Millie to go back to her old business? Of course, she is putting herself in extreme peril, as readers of the first book know, but there are added challenges this time. She doesn't exactly live in the safest neighbourhood and has to constantly look over her shoulder. There is also the matter of the black Mazda that keeps following her. As though this wasn't enough stress to deal with, having to keep lots of secrets is putting her love life, which is finally looking up for once, in jeopardy.

In the event that you have read my book review on the first book of this series, 'The Housemaid', narrated by Lauryn Allman as well, you might remember that I really enjoyed the book, but was worried that the second one might turn out to be repetitive. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I was drawn in right from the start. The writing style and overall format in the way the book changes perspectives was pleasantly familiar in the way of feeling like I knew an exclusive inside joke. 

The consistent style had nothing to do with the plot, which was fresh and much better than I could ever have dreamed of. There is not much to say about the writing except that it was great, but what I would like to focus on is the social message subtly given in the book. Millie mentions the 'Bystander Effect' she learned about in her social psychology class. It is related to how bystanders are unlikely to help someone who is visibly in trouble if there are other people around as well. Millie is someone who never walks away, or stands and watches while someone gets hurt. It is something she says many times throughout the book, and it's something the readers know quite well through her actions. I would like to take this as a personal message and as inspiration. Maybe it wasn't an intended lesson, but if it was, it was perfect; impactfully delivered, not too preachy, and not guilt-tripping in the slightest. It is a reminder of why fiction is not mere entertainment; it gives an author a medium to send out extremely powerful messages in digestible forms that will reach far and wide. This was perhaps the part of this book that resonated the most with me. 

Some writing advice I have heard in the past is that the author should be ruthless in hurting a character (physically, mentally, emotionally, choose your adventure) to keep the readers rooting for them. After the first book, I already had a special place for Millie in my heart, but McFadden's adherence to the above-mentioned advice only strengthened this sentiment in me. There were several points in the book when I wondered, why can't poor Millie just have the peaceful life she deserves for once? 

This book did not disappoint, and in fact exceeded my expectations. Writing a standalone novel is hard enough, but writing a series is even more so. If an author can write a good second book in a series, they have earned my respect for good. Regarding the narration, Lauryn Allman, like Freida McFadden, did even better this time than in the first book. It was exciting to see more of her voice acting repertoire through characters like Wendy. I am looking forward to listening to the next audiobooks in the series, both for the superb writing and narration. Note: I would recommend this book as 16+

Audiobook Review: 'The Perfect Marriage' by Jeneva Rose, read by Mozhan Navabi and Andrew Eiden

Sarah and Adam Morgan have been married for ten years. She is one of the most respected criminal defense attorneys in the present day, and he is an author with a career that tapered off after one popular book. Sarah is not successful for nothing; she devotes all her time to her work, and in the meantime, Adam is directing his affections elsewhere. Sarah has no idea until the woman Adam was cheating with is found dead, stabbed 37 times. Adam is the prime suspect. A guilty verdict from the jury will lead to a death penalty, and the odds are not in Adam's favour. Who should come to his rescue, though, but one of the best lawyers of her time? Sarah herself chooses to defend his case. Despite his disloyalty, she still loves him, and she is his best, and perhaps only, chance at survival. 

The story is narrated from a dual perspective; those of Sarah and Adam. Adam knows he is innocent, and yet his reckless actions while under house arrest are not going to make him look good in court. While Sarah searches for evidence to prove him innocent, Adam conducts his own investigation in parallel. He needs to know the truth. 

I always love a whodunnit, especially a courtroom drama, but this one felt somewhat lacking. A lot of the characters felt unidimensional, especially Adam. While the author did a good job of portraying him as pathetic, that was all there was to it, without any further nuance. I wonder if that was intentional, and if yes, what purpose it served. Despite that, Andrew Eiden was an outstanding narrator, inserting bleakness into his voice, and adding to Adam's narrative, uplifting the book in its quality. The final chapters had some of the best narration I have ever heard. 

The police officers were remarkably indistinguishable from one another, although that may just be one of the disadvantages of listening to an audiobook over reading a book. Adam's mother, Eleanor, was irksome in her treatment to Sarah, which of course made me very sympathetic to Sarah. The doting mother-in-law who thinks her son can do absolutely no wrong and thinks her daughter-in-law is worthless is not an uncommon trope in books. It is unfortunately very true even in real life. However, it felt overdone to a point where I felt like I was listening to a bad soap opera, and wished they would move on with the story already. In general, something just didn't sit right about the characters' reactions; it was all too melodramatic for me. I love seeing strong and successful women portrayed in books, who completely own their futures and have enough of a self-esteem to take what is rightfully theirs. Other than that, I did not feel like there was anything special about Sarah's character. Mozhan Navabi delivered quite an admirable performance, though.

That being said, I was still hooked. The writing style was gripping enough for me to complete the audiobook in two days (mind you, that's nine hours of listening). It was fun to pick up on when characters acted suspiciously and formulate my theories about the killer, as is the case with any good crime or mystery novel. However, the ending left me completely disappointed. When I finally found out who it was, I couldn't help wondering why I spent all those hours of my life hanging on to every word for this underwhelming answer. I am not sure if a lot of the plot is deep psychology I do not understand, or if it just needed to be better planned out. A lot of the foreshadowing throughout the book felt too obvious. It seemed like the author had a certain idea of how she wanted things to go, and after coming to a conclusion, she went back and dropped hints here and there. I know this is an important part of the revision process for an author, and gives their readers something to think about, but it could have been done more subtly and organically, in my opinion. 

Overall, I have very mixed feelings about this book. The fact that I could finish it this quickly says a lot about how the author's skill in keeping the pages turning (not that I had pages; it was an audiobook, after all). Otherwise, I would not give it full marks for plotting. This was, however, Jeneva Rose's debut novel, and an impressive effort. I do not doubt that by now, six years into the future, her writing has improved by leaps and bounds, and I hope to stumble across her more recent work soon.