Reviews tagging 'Death'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

69 reviews

whatannikareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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

3.0

i think the premise and some of the commentary made were interesting, but it was just soooooo long to get through. it gets a bit stagnant in the middle section; i think at least 20 pages could've been easily cut and in general it could've been edited down to make the thesis more poignant and succinct. when i did get into a good reading rhythm, it was enjoyable, but because it is essentially several small snippets within each chapter, it feels like you're taking so much time to make minimal progress, which i think distracted me from the overall plot! but there are some good ideas in here, and it does make one reflect on what it means to be a proper parent particular with a childcare system like that of the US's constantly waiting to tear "bad" moms in particular down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Confinement, Abandonment, Infidelity, Classism, Death, and Forced institutionalization

jojo50's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Death, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, and Child abuse

Moderate: Self harm, Miscarriage, Torture, and Physical abuse

kelisabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Infertility, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Biphobia, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

ginnypie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This was one of the most brutal, devastating, and bleak books i’ve ever reas. This is a dystopian novel  about a CPS- funded boot camp/reeducation for parents who’ve been found to be negligent or abusive. The wardens of this school remind me of some of the more insane  mommy bloggers  that i’ve come across, with lots of obvious misinformation. The writing style is very matter or fact and i believe it was done intentionally to emphasize how hopeless Fridas situation is. 

There’s also a camp for fathers and that camp is a lot more lenient than the mothers camp, which i believe directly reflects standards for motherhood v fatherhood and it just pissed me off. 

The way they abused these women and the dolls is a little too real to how mothers are treated in our general society. This book broke my heart every chapter and i am hopeful that this will give me a lot more patience and understanding when it comes to interacting or dealing with mothers. I don’t know if i can recommend anyone with kids read it because it’s genuinely so hard to read and Bleak but if you have the stomach for just pain please read it 

It briefly touches on how CPS treats black and brown mothers differently than white mothers and i wish it went deeper into it. 

I am just sad now. 

I think it was well written and the pacing was okay and if you want to feel bad read it but i need hope im my books and everything was just bleak 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Racism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Suicide, Misogyny, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, and Child abuse

ottercorg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

A heavy read with a slow first half, I did enjoy this one. An interesting premise full of antagonists that made me want to pull my hair out for their ignorance, but not enough to make me want to stop reading. 

I appreciated Chan's writing style and characters, and for once also appreciated the open ending. 

I think a true happy ending wouldn't have been appropriate, but a true sad/negative ending would've been overkill or too much to take.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Suicide

pich's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

i thought there would be more of a dystopian theme, but i think that’s not a bad thing with this book. it was a bit slow at first, and i wasn’t too fond of the pacing at times, but i think the end redeemed itself.

the scenes with the dolls made me so extremely uncomfortable, but that was the point. the dolls definitely symbolize something, as well as the actual kids, and i think the way they were written was really heartbreaking. the later scenes with harriet were so touching yet devastating. the fact that frida took harriet in the end was a very conflicting moment, seeing as all she wanted was to be a good mother, yet knew it would end badly for the both of them.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, and Death

Minor: Sexism

ruffian23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture

jacs63's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

** spoiler alert ** OMG...what a read. 
It's a brilliantly written, sad and frightening book, that is actually so scary, I couldn't sleep for a bit after finishing reading it late last night. 
With the whole mess that the USA has become over the years, E.G. You can't get an abortion in some states, even if you are a 10 year old rape victim; You can shoot someone without asking any questions, if they come onto your property; Police killing people instead of just arresting them; You can have a gun in Florida, without having to be trained or have any checks done on you or your mental health; Mass shootings; etc etc etc, what this book talks about could happen. Very easily in some States.
It has a dystopian feel but it could be set today. 
Any writer that make me ugly cry when someone is saying goodbye to a AI doll has got to be some kind of writing genius. 
The ending was what you would expect the main character to do. 
It's a heart-breaking novel that looks at misogyny; racism; the outlandish expectations of parenting etc. I didn't love Frida, but I got her.
Probably not everyones 'cup of tea' but it was definitely mine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Mental illness, Death, Dysphoria, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicide, Miscarriage, Sexism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Racism

elsebeok's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicide, Child abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Confinement

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content

mheiling's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Infidelity

Minor: Infertility and Miscarriage