Book Review: Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3) by Heather Vogel Frederick

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Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3)  by Heather Vogel Frederick  is the third book in a middle grade book series that is being rereleased. Chaos erupts in this third installment as the daughters in the book club get themselves into trouble. Each of the girls have big changes in their lives:  Jess is going to boarding school; Megan's grandmother comes to live with her; Emma starts a campaign against school uniforms; Cassidy has a lot of unexpected change coming to her family. Will the mother daughter book club stay together? I'd like to thank NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Dear Pen Pal  by Heather Vogel Frederick with it's upcoming rerelease to the public. I always love a good book that involves books, even if its target audience is children between the ages of eight and twelve. It wasn't until I reached the end of the book that I realized that it...
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Book Review: The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1) by Freida McFadden

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Banner of the Complete Book Series of The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1) by Freida McFadden is the first book in a series and opens with Millie interviewing for a housemaid position for the wealthy Winchester family. She's relieved when she learns that the job is hers until the gardener warms her of danger. It can't be worse than prison, right?

I purchased a paperback copy of this book from my local BJ's Wholesale Club, and I have to say that I was not disappointed at all. This story helped give me a headstart in getting out of my reading slump because it's a fast, engaging read. With that being said, I was expecting to be completely blindsided by the ending, and I had quite a bit figured out relatively early on, so when the big twist came about, I wasn't really too surprised. I am eager to read the rest of the series to see how it pans out.

The Running Bibliophile's Book Review of The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1) by Freida McFadden
As far as the characters, I really liked the main character of Millie, who we know from the start has recently been released from prison and on parole. We do know that she has told some white lies, which sets the story up to be told from the perspective of an unreliable narrator. We don't know why she went to prison until the very end, and it wasn't exactly what I expected it to be. I don't want to give away anything in that regard, so I won't say more. 

Nina and Cecelia are both hot messes. I couldn't quite figure out the total 180 in personality change in Nina once Millie started working, but I did have some suspicion that it had something to do with Nina's husband Andrew. Cecelia acts like a spoiled brat and apparently doesn't remember meeting Millie during the interview, which I find surprising because it isn't like the time between Nina interviewing Millie and Millie's start date is that long of a time period.

At first, I really liked Andrew, but when he helped Millie out a time or two, I knew he had to be putting on an act. I absolutely despised him, but I can't entirely blame him due to the way he was raised. 

When it comes to Enzo, I wasn't sure if he was completely trustworthy or not. He did warn Millie of the danger, but I kept wondering if he was putting on an act.

All in all, I enjoyed The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1) by Freida McFadden. I gave it four out of five stars due to some of the predictability of the storyline. I can't wait until the rest of the books in the series has been delivered to my house!


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