Reviews tagging 'Death'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

69 reviews

crazytourists_books's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.5

I have very mixed feelings about this one. I will try to write my thoughts without spoilers and hope it will make sense. 
For starters, I will say that I did feel for the protagonist, I have been in her shoes, feeling the constant pressure to handle everything, do great and longing for a break. I never did what she did, but I would lie if I said it never crossed my mind, because it did. All the expectations that society had from mothers are, sadly, very realistic and true. Everyone expect us to be perfect. To never get frustrated, never get angry, always put our kid(s) first, to forget that we (should) have a life that doesn't revolve around them. To always be there, never make mistakes, never complain and never ask for helps. Because we are mother, and mothers can do everything. Mothers can do wonders. At the same time, fathers, are expected to do the bare minimum and get praised for that. All these are true, and I have felt them day after day the last nine years that I have been a mother. 
But even though part of the book was, painfully, realistic, another part wasn't. And it was way to long. Too many details. Way too many details. It could (and should) have been, maybe 8 chapters shorter? That would have been brilliant. And if only it was a first person narration...

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Suicide

eve_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

 Overall Thoughts:
⁕ The sci-fi, dystopian bits don't really develop until about 25% into the book. It will feel like a contemporary piece at first, but give it time and things get wild.

⁕ Chan peels back all the layers of motherhood and explores how it is impacted by not only one's identities (including sexual orientation, culture, race, etc.), but also systemic sexism and white supremacy.

⁕ Moments that I thought were emotionally important to the story were completely skipped over and explained after the fact, such as Frida's final court ruling. It was frustrating to miss out on those key plot points that had been built up to throughout the story.

⁕ There are SO many characters of different ages and genders in this book. Catherine Ho's narration distinguishes each of them without detracting from the overall story

To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online/
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Self harm, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Racism, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Abandonment, Grief, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Sexual content

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

melishahigdon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

This book was enlightening. I have never thought so much about how unfair part of the system actually is in the US. I was floored by how learning a lesson was not good enough for the system and administration, how doing a good thing was always overlooked because something Frida did was always wrong and that she “was a bad mother.”

This also showed me how unfair things could and probably are for those who aren’t white mothers in the United States, how the inherent, systemic racism affects American mothers who aren’t white.

There was a little discussion about the treatment of problematic fathers versus mothers: the fathers weren’t treated as poorly as the mothers in the school, which ostracized the mothers from humaneness like the fathers were shown.

I have a lot to say about this book, so if anyone wants to discuss it with me, please PM me. I am completely floored by this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Racism, Vomit, Suicide, Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Abandonment, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

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

alicelalicon's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Death

sarahd0825's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-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

2.0

I really wanted to like this book and thought the idea behind it was great, but the execution was not. :/ I did like exploring the topic of what it would look like if the aunts from the handmaid's tale met modern-day CPS. However, I never developed any opinions on any of the characters and found them all a bit 2-dimensional... Frida was supposed to have a morally gray character arc, but I never really saw her character change throughout the story. Perhaps this was intentional but was just not my cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Torture, Self harm, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Death, Classism, and Alcohol

gabb_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Suicide, Child abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

evagomoore's review against another edition

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

5.0

This book completely broke me. It’s incredibly well written and I couldn’t put it down. The entire book is heartbreaking and makes you ache. I cannot remember the last time a book made me cry but this one did. I loved it and would recommend it to everyone. One of the best books I’ve read so far this year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Child abuse

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Confinement, Grief, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Infidelity

ninij's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I found this book to be do unsettling, and haunting but poignant at the same time. I am not a mother but it was so disturbing to me. And as the book when on, it was such an important commentary of the view of women as mothers in society. A true dystopian novel, and one that will definitely stay with me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Death