Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

21 reviews

nojerama's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.5

Wow this book moved at breakneck speed I literally read it in one day. Absolutely gripping and so much of Korede's feelings towards her sister and other women in her life resonated with me so much. Absolutely loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Police brutality and Medical content

saraellenme's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

bex_knighthunter's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.25

I picked this up on a whim, and am so glad I did! This felt vey original - a morbid family drama set in Nigeria that is both funny and dark. It was very readable with short chapters, entertaining writing, and I was never sure what would happen next. The situation and characters did frustrate me often, but I think that was the intention of the author given the family dynamic is so toxic, so that is not necessarily a bad thing! I liked that the perspective was the put-upon sister of a serial killer, where we can see her enabling behaviour and also how trapped she is. I also liked the way the book criticises how often we allow pretty privilege to blind us to someone's flaws.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Blood

nicole_schmid's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

This book has a very intriguing concept, written neither in the POV of the serial killer nor the detective trying to stop them, but the killer's sister. We follow her struggles as she is torn between helping her baby sister and giving justice to her victims, especially considering that her newest victim is someone she herself is interested in.
The ending was a bit predictable, I found, but enough doubt was shed onto the conclusion that I was not completely sure. Refreshingly, this is not a cheesy romance movie ending where everything ends well and everyone is happy.

The protective big sister remains as such, choosing her family and moral code over justice and the man she loves.

Overall, I do not think this book is especially outstanding (excepting the fact that it is set in an African country without being about racism, colonialism or the aftereffects thereof), but I quite enjoyed it and it was a quick and engaging read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug abuse and Pedophilia

avishajain's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

2.0

Was really expecting much more from this book, it ended up being kinda bleh. I was expecting it to be funny, it was anything but. Don't bother reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship

moiralyle's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

chichio's review against another edition

dark funny 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

OBSESSED WITH THIS BOOK. HONESTLY.

Such an interesting take on sisterhood because it uses a serial killer and her sister to explore an, otherwise, common theme of sibling rivalry as well as the sibling solidarity that exists alongside it. 

Loved how drastically different both Korede and Ayoola were and how they were both revealed to be terribly flawed in completely different ways. 

This was a really fast paced read with punchy, short chapters and an overall plot that had me hooked from the very beginning. Had elements of dark humour dotted throughout that had be laughing/smiling despite the crimes that had happened just two pages prior. 
 
Will hold a special place in my heart… especially because it’s based in Nigeria❤️🤌🏾

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Body shaming

lydiavsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

Wow I loved this! I expected this to be good but nothing special but wow I was wrong. Read this entirely in one afternoon, I didn't even put it down long enough to get a bookmark. For such a short and genuinely funny book it covered themes of toxic families, abuse, enabling etc brilliantly. I loved being in Korede's head with all of her struggles and questionable decisions 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug abuse

terrixvr's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

The plot was a bit predictable but i enjoyed the character of the older sister. I also like the flashbacks, they added some much needed context. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Domestic abuse