Reviews tagging 'Death'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

75 reviews

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

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

Moderate: Death, Racism, and Sexual content

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

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

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

Minor: Sexual content and Injury/Injury detail

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, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Infidelity and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility and Miscarriage

lastokes61's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

Frida Liu is an overworked,  exhausted, divorced Mom who has a very bad day. She leaves her 18 month old daughter alone for 2 hours, and gets caught. This reckless act causes her to lose custody of Harriett.  To regain custody Frida must attend a 12 month re-education program for mothers, where the mantra is " I am a bad mother, but I am learning to be good."  The "reform school" has the mothers under constant surveillance.  Their trainers are mostly childless women and the mothers are forced to bond with robot children and care for them under every conceivable situation.  The issues of race, gender imbalance in parenting, mental health, isolation, and the state dictating "perfect" parenting styles are all at play here. This is a very Orwellian.  So much to discuss about in this book. This is an intense and capivatiing debut novel. Definitely worth a read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Outing, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

vulgarboy's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

Frida's very bad day lead to one of the most brutally human stories I've read in a long time. Admittedly, I do not like children. I do not envy parents. The School for Good Mothers lead me down a path of pure instinct and need for survival. Frida is beautifully complex and flawed, her shortcomings real and painful. Her desperation to see her daughter again - not just keep custody of her- was an intense struggle to behold. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

timetotalkbeauty's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

taysbooktalk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

There are not words for this book, and not in a good way. I like to think if a book had me sobbing, nearly to a panic attack, and I will never forget- that it was an amazing book. It’s not. It’s intentionally meant to rip you apart and trigger you. It’s sold as a dystopian. It’s not. It’s weird and uncomfortable and gut wrenching. This not a Nicholas Sparks or Kristen Hannah book. This is not sad book that tells a story. This is not made to entertain you. It’s not made to make a difference or touch lives. This is made to hurt people. I don’t know that I will ever recover from this book. PLEASE DON’T READ THIS.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and Alcohol