Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

84 reviews

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

jordan21's review

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. 

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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.

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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

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

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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

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. 

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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

bookdragonkatie's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

Infuriating. An extremely well-written and well-crafted novel, but absolutely infuriating and heart-wrenching. Check TW/CW before picking this one up; it is not a book I would recommend to just anyone, but I do think those who enjoy dystopian novels, particularly those novels that feel real or that they *could* see happening in the near future, will enjoy this read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Bullying

Moderate: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Addiction, Cursing, Self harm, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Confinement, Racism, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Child abuse, Death, Pregnancy, and Violence

m_a_j's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Racism, Kidnapping, and Racial slurs

nessreadsalot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

Frida is a struggling mother who just had  a very bad day. Now the government has decided that she is not a fit parent and must be retrained. 

A dystopian novel that felt very much like an episode of black mirror. 

 

Frida and the other parents at the school must practice with robot dolls that look like their children to prove they are fit to have custody of them. 

I just felt really hopeless and uncomfortable throughout this book and desperately wanted Frida to have some redeeming factors. None of the characters were particularly likeable but I still felt devastated for them and their situation. 

This was a really interesting observation on the standards of perfection that mothers hold themselves to. While there were fathers there too they were outnumbered by the mothers 3:1. 

The fact that mothers were also only allowed talk about themselves in relation to their children really hit me! 

I went into this book blind and  would find it hard to say I enjoyed reading this book because of the content but it was well written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Child abuse, Abandonment, Racial slurs, and Self harm

junglejelly's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.75

I couldn't put this book down at times. It's so immersive and gripping.

The characters aren't loveable but they're incredibly relatable. They're not prefect but make a great comparison to how high expectations are held for mothers in this world.

I found the plot gripping but predictable in the way that I wasn't surprised at what came next. I've read a few reviews saying the events are not believable but I found them to be a little too believable (e.g.

the constant contradictory behaviour of the instructors and expectations of the school and the lower expectations for the fathers

).

As someone who is not a parent, I still felt the devastation come from the characters. It was hard not to relate to them all (yes even Gus and Susanna) under such awful circumstances.

Overall a very good but sad book with contrasting features making it a compelling read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Moderate: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Grief, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Eating disorder, Sexism, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Self harm

sageysage's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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

Fascinating and well thought out premise/plot. The experiences the women in the book have to go through are insane and made my jaw literally drop and share passages with my partner. I wish more was revealed in the ending.

I struggled to understand if I was meant to want Frida to reunite with Harriet as her mother though. Despite her progress, I do think she was unfit to parent. However, the decision for her not to be able to visit Harriet at all felt cruel and obviously her treatment in the centre was inhumane and psychologically damaging. I really wish they revealed how the days following her kidnap of Harriet went, and if the details of the program ever leaked or if those responsible faced any consequences for their treatment of the mothers and artificial children.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Self harm, Rape, Police brutality, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Suicide, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Mental illness, Racism, and Miscarriage