Book Review: The Maid by Nita Prose

⋆⋆½

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: death, violence, bullying, racism, drug abuse, domestic abuse (physical, verbal and emotional), suffocation, stigma against neurodiversity, non-graphic torture.

Molly Gray is a maid. She adores her job at the luxurious Regency Grand Hotel, perfecting people's suites and taking pride in her ability to clean up any mess. Well, not any mess, as she soon discovers. Not a mess that includes the death of one of the hotel's wealthiest patrons, Charles Black, and Molly smack in the middle of the whole fiasco. Now, with the police suspecting her simply because she reacts a bit differently than most, she finds herself plunged into a disaster spinning out of control. Through her own cleverness (and with a bit of help), will Molly be able to expose the real killer before there's no getting out of her predicament?

I'm sure you have heard of Nita Prose's debut. Already a major success before it has even hit shelves (and soon to be made into a feature film), I was pleasantly surprised to find that the majority of reviews were in the four-to-five star range. I assumed I would love it, not only because I love thrillers, but also because I have a special place in my heart for eccentric, sometimes unlikable characters.

The problem is, Molly's eccentricity is a clear attempt at portraying a neurodivergent woman, without ever giving it a name. It's rather obviously intended for Molly to fall somewhere on the autism spectrum, but she also seems to have (stereotypical) symptoms of OCD. I don't know if this is due to the author conflating these two things, or if she's aware of the fact that these two can sometimes be comorbid, but I somehow doubt it's the latter, considering how Molly's personality and traits are handled.

I won't spoil anything here, but just know that Molly is constantly used and taken advantage of, all because she sometimes struggles to read social cues, and often takes things literally. It's disheartening to read it, particularly in what is otherwise pitched as a sort of heartwarming, "cozy" type of mystery. She also has a habit of speaking as if she's in an episode of Downton Abbey, or depending on the occasion, like Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory. The singular character of color (aside from two hotel guests) is similarly stereotyped, although to go into detail would reveal a huge part of the plot. Just know that it was enough to make me pause, and wonder why exactly Prose felt it was right to go down that route.

Let's list a few of the stereotypes that Molly embodies: she's unable to read expressions; mimics sayings she's heard constantly; requires everything to be neat and clean; everything must be arranged correctly, perfectly aligned, at exact mathematical angles which she's easily able to come up with in her head; she shows little or no emotion; and she is socially awkward in pretty much everywhere. Do these characteristics truly exist in those with autism, OCD, and other similar things? Yes. But to make Molly's entire character revolve around them, to use every single stereotype, to give her very few traits outside of this, and to do it all without much subtlety or finesse...it felt both unrealistic, and borderline offensive.

Now, let's tackle why I gave it two and half stars. Without the egregious issues I listed above, I genuinely think I would have enjoyed this book. The writing was fun to read, and Prose's descriptions are beautiful and a pleasure to read. Despite the author's failings when it comes to Molly, I liked her very much and it wasn't hard to root for her. The other characters are also cute and the found family trope is utilized well here. The mystery isn't the most surprising or intriguing I've ever read, but it does its job, and it's more of a vehicle used to grow Molly's character anyway.

There were too many flashbacks, often in the middle of a scene, which would frustratingly take us out of the action, but I assume that many of these smaller issues will be dealt with once it's in its final form for publishing. Those are minor things, easily overlooked, especially when the story is compelling and enjoyable. Were it not for those other, bigger problems that left a bad taste in my mouth, this could have easily been four or five stars. Two and half stars feels fair enough to me; decent, but by no means fantastic, with its glaring errors in characterization and misuse of worn-out, tired old tropes about mental health and neurodivergency. Not to mention the ending, which felt both like a trick and a cop-out. 

To sum it up succinctly: not the book for me. Many others have loved it, but I simply can't get past the issues mentioned above.