Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

89 reviews

cartermon4's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was so frustrated throughout the book, but it definitely hints at real world inequalities and insane expectations for mothers.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Grief, Addiction, Sexism, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Death, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Misogyny, and Animal death

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Stalking, Racism, Confinement, Racial slurs, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Xenophobia, and Vomit

Minor: Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident

stacy_27_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Save my girl Frida from these white men. This book made me feel so many emotions. I was going through it. Justice for my girl Frida, Emmanuelle, and Harriet.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Racial slurs, and Child abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, Death, and Suicide attempt

kezharri's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Really enjoyed the concept but feel the ending was confusing and a little anti climatic

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Sexism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Self harm, Violence, Sexual content, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

_nem_'s review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Death and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Blood, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

jesus fucking christ

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Confinement, Child abuse, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Misogyny, and Grief

Moderate: Classism, Violence, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Suicide, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, and Confinement

Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Lesbophobia, Rape, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, and Car accident

abbie_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.25

I was having a browse through some reviews of this one when I finished it and saw somebody comment that it would make a great limited TV series, and that immediately made me realise why it didn’t resonate with me as much as I thought it would. It has that almost-cinematic feel, where it sometimes seems like the author is writing specifically to see a scene played out on TV. The random forbidden romance thrown in, the draggy middle section, the coolly evil instructors, a lot of it feels written with a TV show in mind. And don’t get me wrong, it’d be a bloody compelling TV show!

Frida makes a huge mistake while looking after her daughter one day, but instead of a slap on the wrist, the state makes her participate in a newly rolled out programme to rehabilitate bad mothers. Separated from their children for a year, the mothers are sent to a defunct university campus to undergo 12 months’ of brutal training to become the best mothers they can be.

I enjoyed the commentary around issues like racism and misogyny, and obviously the sheer volume of responsibilities heaped on a mother’s shoulders (dads get more lenient punishments). But the middle of this book dragged so much. Chan obviously had a very clear idea of the school’s syllabus, but honestly I feel like the amount of description lessened the impact.

Frustrating and eerie, but not as powerful as I anticipated. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Confinement

jordan21's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The dystopian world that the author gradually creates is both stunning and disturbing, combining realistic details and circumstances with bizarre twists. The novel beautifully illustrates the perfectionist pressures placed on women and racist prejudices towards mothers of color. I wish I could read this again for the first time. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Child abuse and Suicide

Minor: Sexism

katiearcher's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Frida Liu is a bad mother learning to be good.

In this dystopian story, Frida has a bad day and loses custody of her 18month old daughter. In hopes of earning back her custody she is sentenced to one year in the school for good mothers. What’s scary about this book is that if our government could get away with this, I believe they would. While some might believe Frida’s time at the school is too exaggerated or unrealistic, I think it perfectly depicts the unrealistic expectations placed on mothers. It’s a system designed for failure, because no one can ever be a “perfect” mother.

I think the author does a wonderful job entrenching us in Frida’s pov, her anxiety, helplessness, and agonizing hope. I took some points off for the ending and some (imo) gratuitous sexual portions.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Child abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Child death, and Suicide

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, and Chronic illness

jess_eliza's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Abandonment, Suicide, Cursing, Child abuse, Death, Child death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Racism, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Alcohol and Lesbophobia

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Heartwrenching and infuriating. The type of dystopian that doesn't really seem that dystopian compared to the realities under the surface of child protective services and the unrealistic expectations on mothers today. A great look into generational immigrant trauma, motherhood (especially compared to fatherhood), mistakes, and love. The midsection could have been tightened up a bit, but I still appreciated how the details of daily life highlighted just how long this felt to the mothers too. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Pregnancy, Child abuse, Self harm, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Death, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Miscarriage

Minor: Body shaming, Physical abuse, and Sexual content