Review: The Community

The Community by N. Jamiyla Chisholm
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Powerful memoir about how a child is affected by being raised in a cult and the author's experience with coming to terms with this. Chisholm does a wonderful job of explaining the strain that her early experiences went onto affect her as an adult, in trust and relationships. She gives an account of what she remembered and how she drew out discussions with her family to heal the wounds from the experiences. I found it a compelling read that was an interesting examination of why people choose the lives that they do and how those choices impact other family members and friends.
I highly recommend this book.

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Review: The Housemaid

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a chance finding at my local library and I read it almost completely in one sitting. What a propulsive story that really grips the reader from the beginning. It begins with Millie, who has lived a difficult life and is at her low point. She has been paroled from prison, was fired from her job, and is living out of her car. She is trying to find something new but with her background, she is becoming desperate. Then a job for a live-in housemaid, with cleaning duties, light cooking, some childcare, and errands, she is amazed by the obvious wealth of the family she would work for and is interviewed for the job. She knows that a background search will reveal many of her secrets so she isn't holding much hope for being hired. Let's just say that the story is just getting started and go into it blind to any further details.
This story was a page-turner and kept me reading way too late, but I loved it. And there is a follow-up book that is coming out soon and a decent backlist for this author. She is new to me but the topics on her backlist are perfectly in line with what I enjoy for a thriller. Her background is perfectly suited to her niche. I can't wait to dive into all of her work.
Highly recommend!

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