Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by. Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life's complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection. But Molly's orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it's too late? A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.
Alright I think I’ve had enough. I was really trying to give this a chance but now I’m actually mad. Somehow Molly can understand context clues about someone in her life stealing from her and Gran but she can’t understand when drug trafficking is happening right in front of her? That was the last straw I’m dnf’ing
0I’m struggling with this book big time. It’s nice to have a character represent the struggles you’ve had in life but it’s so clear that a neurotypical is using autistic traits as a joke. Molly is not consistent at all. Within one chapter we established that one of her rules from Gran (the rules she does not break) is that honesty is the best policy, and then she tells a blatant lie at the end of that same chapter. I’m not saying autistic people can’t falter, but there was zero struggle at all for her to break one of these golden rules.
2I’m struggling with my feelings about Molly’s character. She’s a walking stereotype of autism in a borderline offensive way. Why does she need to act like a child to get the point across that she is naive and lacks social skills? Neurodivergent representation is important but it’s not representation when the author is infantilizing the character to get their point across. I think the thing that’s bothering me most about the stereotypical portrayal is that we’re constantly being told that Molly has certain autistic traits over and over again (such as being unable to read facial expressions). Show don’t tell is something this author would probably benefit from greatly. TL;DR the portrayal of autism (whether on purpose or by accident) is lazy and lacks proper research into actual autistic experiences.
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