I have seen this book EVERYWHERE since joining the Bookstagram community back in March. It’s one of those that at first glance I thought I would hate, but then out of curiosity I picked it up and holy hell was it a crazy ride! Was it perfect? Absolutely not. Were parts of the plot totally implausible? Yep, but did I care? Absolutely not. The book is too much fun, and is full of twists and turns and characters that you really want to punch in the crotch.

The book begins with a woman speaking to a police officer. There is a dead body in the attic and the woman is certain she is about to go to prison. Flashback three months earlier to the day when our protagonist, Millie Calloway, is being interviewed for a job by the (at the time) charming and very put together Nina Winchester. Nina is very wealthy and lives in a huge house with her husband Andrew and her 10-year-old daughter, Cecilia.

Millie desperately needs this job – she’s an ex-con, living out of her car and was just fired from her job. If she doesn’t find another job and a place to live real quick, she could violate her parole. She’s certain that Nina won’t hire her because which rich, white woman is going to want an ex-con as a live-in housekeeper? Much to her surprise Nina offers her the job and it’s not long before Millie is moving in.

The first weird thing that Millie notices is the Italian landscaper who can’t speak English, but seems to be warning Millie of something. And then there’s Nina. The warm and charming woman Millie met during the interview is anything but. She’s constantly screaming at Millie and making ridiculous demands, and let’s not talk about the devil-child Cecilia. Millie can’t afford to quit or be fired, so she takes Nina’s abuse until she can find something else. Her only saving grace is Nina’s husband Andrew. If it weren’t for his kindness, Millie might go crazy – but is Andrew really the sweet, caring husband he appears to be? How could someone as nice as him possible put up with someone like Nina?

What I loved is that about halfway through the book, the perspective changes and we get the other side of the story and holy shit! I thought the first half was wild, but it was nothing compared to the second half and wow I did not expect that ending AT ALL.

I think one thing that made this book so enjoyable was that I imagined Elizabeth Moss as Nina Winchester – the wealthy woman who hires ex-con. If you’ve watched The Handmaid’s Tale you know how good Elizabeth Moss is at playing both sweet and “don’t fuck with me” crazy. I would love to see her play the role of the unhinged Nina. I also pictured her costar Madeline Brewster as Millie and I pictured Alexander Skarsgard as Andrew. Lock them in your head and then read the book. Thank me later.

To say much more about the plot would give away the fun twists, so I’m going to cut this review short. It’s a super-quick read with really short chapters which made it fly by for me. I read it in a few hours and I loved the crazy ride. I can’t wait to check out the sequel!