Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

24 reviews

kimveach's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.0

I enjoyed this contemporary story. It's not so much a mystery or thriller as a book about relationships and family.  It was excellent on audio with the narrator's lovely accent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mal214's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Medical content and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Police brutality, and Classism

zulmiro's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Racism, Police brutality, and Stalking

veronica214's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Korede's sister is officially a serial killer. And? Yeah, there wasn't much to this story. Not much character development and the ending wasn't great. 

However, the story is set in Lagos so the reader definitely gets a feel for the culture. Everything from gender roles, food, socio-economics, government corruption, death customs, etc. I did enjoy this aspect of the novel.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Gaslighting

Minor: Police brutality

erinkellyreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

 A tense, quick thriller that will have you frustrated and engaged from page one. I loved that it was told in short vignettes; it kept the pacing up as well as gave you nuggets of information one at a time. I was frustrated by the characters, but it also all made sense. Definitely a must read! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Fire/Fire injury

juan_adhd_reading's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book a lot! Such a quick read, and the chapters were so very short, but still managed to convey a compelling story. This story is in part a mystery-thriller, but more so is a story about family and relationships.

This story shows just how un breakable the bond between sisters is, and the length they will go to protect each other.

I don’t know how to talk about the characters in a way that won’t make the story off putting, because the reality is that there are no good characters here. Ayoola is a serial killer, after all, and Korede enables her. I think a lot could be said about how their father’s abuse plays into how they came to be like this, and especially why Korede goes to such great lengths to protect Ayoola. I did feel bad for Korede all throughout the book, because I really felt how trapped she is in this toxic relationship; how her bond with her sister might be too strong for her own good. 

Dr. Tade might have been just another sympathetic victim of Ayoola, but in my opinion he was kind of an ass. (Long rant incoming.)

Setting aside the fact that he never appreciated all that Korede did for him, and that he fell for Ayoola just because she’s pretty, he also blamed Korede for anything that Ayoola did. “Ayoola cheated on me because you’re not a good sister”, “Ayoola only seeks other men because you don’t love her enough”, “Ayoola would never hurt anyone! Why do you always villainize her!”, “You’re just jealous of Ayoola because you don’t have a man to love”… Korede told him very clearly that Ayoola would hurt him, she did all she could to warn him and make him break up the engagement (even if Ayoola wasn’t a killer, she knows she didn’t love him and wouldn’t want to marry him). But he just ignored his many years of friendship with Korede to still be with Ayoola, and he got what he got. Did he deserve all that? Probably not, but he had the chance to think and still chose to be horny instead 🫤.

Anyway, despite all that I really enjoyed reading this book, and would definitely recommend it. Especially if you’re in a reading slump.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Police brutality, and Gaslighting

gwenswoons's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kickitupanotch7's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism

augustinedreams's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

markwillnevercry's review against another edition

3.5

If I could, I would have read/listened to this book in one sitting. Instead, I took a break around the 60% mark to go to toilet. This was a wonderful book, that read really fast and didn't leave a bad aftertaste, which has not happened to me in a bit. I do not think this is one of those books, that I will be rereading over and over again searching for what I felt about it again, but not every book needs to be like that. Two sisters are getting through their trauma and not everything is realistic and it is okay and it was a great read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death and Drug abuse