Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

14 reviews

andreamargarita's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicide, Child abuse, Racism, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Death, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Cancer

Minor: Self harm and Terminal illness

melaniekarin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

Absolutely devastating and beautiful book about a dystopian child welfare system that severely punishes mothers 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Suicide, Abandonment, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Child abuse

kayteslibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Death, Cancer, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

becksreadsbooks's review against another edition

dark sad medium-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

3.5

I think this was around 3.5 stars for me. I think it's worth reading, but something about it didn't resonate with me as much as I hoped it might. After talking about it with my friend, I decided that I might have emotionally connected with THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS a bit more if I was a mother. I was able to understand the points the book made--and they certainly were great points--but I personally just didn't connect with the emotions described because it isn't like anything I've ever felt before. 

A few random thoughts I had while reading: 

-Something interesting to me was how differently Frida was treated from Gust and Susanna. They also did plenty of things that endangered Harriet--I'm looking at you, low-carb diet--but because it was under the guise of caring, it wasn't viewed as an issue by the state. It definitely was related to race, especially given how child care systems and CPS disproportionately affect Black and brown communities. 
-The discussion of the mothers' offenses was really interesting in light of Texas's recent law about trans children and gender-affirming care. That added an eerie element that I could see fitting into the dystopian world of THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS very well.
-I often see a lot of discourse online about how different the standards are for mothers and fathers, and that was definitely reflected in how the "bad mothers" and "bad fathers" were treated. Definitely interesting seeing how that played out in this book, especially with Frida's ending versus Tucker's ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Child death

Minor: Pedophilia