Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

76 reviews

crystalsparkles's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

Highly recommend checking out the trigger warnings first and only read if you can truly handle them.  This book is soooo good.  The story had me raging, and bawling, frustrated by injustice and hopeful… It is devastating. There were times when I didn’t know if I could finish the story, because it almost hits too hard. Especially in the global political climate, who’s to say this is too far of a stretch for North America sometime in the nearish future.  It will surely make you question your own parenting.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Racism, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Classism, Alcoholism, Violence, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Alcohol, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, and Blood

Minor: Pedophilia, Kidnapping, and Cancer

afrenette's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Misogyny

Minor: Kidnapping and Sexual assault

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

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

jthomson7's review against another edition

dark sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Abortion, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Racism, Child abuse, and Sexual content

gedlek's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

A very interesting read! I thoroughly enjoyed it although it was upsetting throughout. I may be pessimistic but I can see a lot of through lines from real life to what happens throughout the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse

Moderate: Abandonment

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

jessiejonesbentley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Confinement, and Death

laurenlee2158's review

dark emotional sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Racism, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Suicide attempt