Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

24 reviews

gwenswoons's review

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

annamariesreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

I'll be honest, I thought everyone's  reviews of this would be 5 stars across the board because I loved it.

I feel bad deducting points because of the feeling of

frustration

I felt at the end. Ultimately I think it's realistic that

Ayoola would get away with it (again) as Korede's devotion to her was nothing short of incredible.

However, what I liked most about this novel is that that the relationship between the two sisters is nuanced fascinating. Worried my above comment makes it sound simplified.

I have read alot of slow paced books year so far and this one zoomed by. Just what I needed to get out of the slump.

Although the characters weren't lovable, they were fascinating. I would like to shout-out Weruche Opia on the audiobook. The sheer number of voices she did... Astounding! 

I leave this review with one final comment-

alot of the time with serial killers, you don't get their 'why.'

So I think this is the perfect ending for Ayoola and Korede.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I really liked this book. I think the premise was interesting and the development of the story was cool. My issues stems from characters. Neither sister is particularly likable and neither is anyone else in this story. Pretty much everyone is a villain in my eyes. The doctor leads the main character on, the sister manipulates everyone, the mom coddles the younger sister, all of the coworkers seem either lazy or rude, the dad needs no explanation, and the main character can't decide whether to defend her sister or tell on her. I think this is another case of a book benefiting from some more content. It's still a good book just not the best. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Classism, Death, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Blood, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Violence

alisonfaith426's review

fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Child abuse, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, and Medical content

sissiemilia's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.75

I really like Braithwaite’s writing style and her dialogue is amazing. I just kinda struggled to connect with the characters. Half way through the story I found myself thinking ”why should I care about this story?” I also found that I don’t like the characters. And in a way that’s unusual for me. I normally love characters that are morally grey (or in this case probably just straight up horrible), but for some reason I just couldn’t like them as characters. The potential this book had with its themes and the way it let me down was dissapointing.

ALSO, this was marketed as a comedy, but I really struggled to find that aspect of the story. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

glutenfreemaggie's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective 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

5.0

This book was so fascinating. Also, FUCK TADE.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Body horror, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

_rowan_'s review against another edition

dark funny medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Death, Medical content, Blood, Gore, and Murder

brooketreads's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This was a pretty quick read as it’s short and fast-paced. My main hang up was that I felt it was really toned down for the situations that were happening. There wasn’t a level of panic at any point. Even at the end when things picked up, things still only felt dialed up to like a 6… I needed it at an 11). I will say the ending surprised me though.

My main notes from this included:

- Anger at Korede’s mother
- Suspicious of Ayoola maybe putting the blame on Korede at any point
- Anger at the doctor. It wasn’t the fact that Korede warned him several times. It wasn’t the fact that Korede was in love with him (and I don’t believe he couldn’t see it). It was the fact that he told Korede she would make an amazing wife one day, and then five minutes later is tripping over himself at Ayoola’s beauty. Barf.
Not to say he deserved what he got… because I did feel bad for him in the end. I don’t think Korede felt bad enough either.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Body horror

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

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

ruthmoog's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

4.25

I took a while to get into it but about midway through the excitement ramped up. 

It was really good to experience more diversity of life in Nigeria - and, surely, the serial killing is somewhat atypical!

The thread from upbringing to how Ayoola and Korede behave and interact was interesting, but sad, to unravel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Body horror and Adult/minor relationship

Police corruption