Anyone who's been around here before knows I love a good heist, even more so when it's tinged with revenge, con artists, women getting their power back, and some class commentary as this book seemed to be. And yet, despite being perfect on paper (it's also a historical novel!), The Housekeepers didn't win me over.

I really enjoyed the premise, as well as the details of the heist planning that were slowly unveiled, revealing the full picture only at the very end. The varied (and large) cast of characters added a certain dynamism, especially as the narration moved from one to the other to give the reader a bird's-eye view. Where most problems lay, for me, was in the execution: despite the high stakes and the numerous obstacles, I was never on edge or tense about the outcome in any way. If anything, for the most part I was simply... bored.

There were definitely some issues with the pacing for me, as everything seemed to move far too slowly and hardly any scene felt impactful and yet at the same time it appeared as though I hardly had any time to get to know the characters properly. Maybe there were too many of them for a book of this length, or maybe their backstories were too complex (it seemed everyone had a big, dark secret), but ultimately I cared about none.

The build-up to the heist took up the majority of the book, but when the climax came, it fell flat for me as if there just wasn't enough momentum to carry it over. There was simultaneously too much and not enough happening, which made for a frustrating reading experience, more a chore than a pleasure. 

Still, some parts were definitely good, with humorous elements and some interesting characters who would have benefited from more breathing room. I could see kernels of good writing here and it is a decent debut, so I might give the author's next books another chance even though this one didn't meet my expectations.

I received an advanced review copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.