Reviews tagging 'Death'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

69 reviews

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

aguattery's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

The first quarter was tough to get through. It took me a while to adjust to the present tense writing style. There was good representation but it did feel a little over the top at times throughout the book, not adding anything to the story.  

After the first quarter I really enjoyed it and there were a few moments that actually made me emotional. Overall I think it's a well done dystopian novel that made me feel angry and frustrated in a good way. I think the ending was actually a little clever - providing closure but not in the way you would expect. I like that it wasn't about a fight against the system but rather a look at how people who are part of a system often can't escape it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Kidnapping, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Body shaming, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Car accident, Confinement, and Miscarriage

savzilla'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? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Torture, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

dreamdoughnut's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Miscarriage, and Grief

Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Death, Self harm, Sexual content, and Racism

ddjojo27's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Death, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

carolynlovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Dysphoria, Classism, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Racial slurs

Minor: Infidelity, Child abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

roeschcj1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

This was a very emotional book that kept me guessing.  There were lots of twists and turns throughout and often I wasn’t sure who could be trusted.  While I wanted what was best for the main character and her family, I often did not know what that was.  There were times that I felt bad got her but other times that I was upset with her.  The whole book was from her point of view, and often I quested if her point of view was what was really happening. Overall an interesting read that I enjoyed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

garlinds's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Based in a not-so-far-away future, Frida, a sleep-deprived single mother with post-partum depression and a poor support system, has a "bad day" and leaves her toddler home alone in an exersaucer for 2 hours. After a concerned neighbor calls and a welfare check happens, the child is taken into custody and Frida is determined unfit to be a mother and sent to a new government program called "The School for Good Mothers" so that she can learn the skills needed to be a worthy parent.

This book was hard to digest, it made me uncomfortable and I'll be gathering my thoughts for a while. The whole time I was reading all I could think about was the long-lasting emotional and physical trauma that each character was going through at the hands of the "system" and those in power. As someone who works with teens who have varying levels of CPS involvement in their home lives, it was heartbreaking to think of the impact this program would have on Harriet's future, as well as her mom's

Most prominently this book critiques the unrealistically perfect standards that we put on mothers. But it also examines both race and class disparities and the stressors that come along with them. At the end of the day, many of the mothers in the "school" would have benefitted from a stronger support system from the get-go rather than a fascist system that waits for them to make a mistake and uproots their whole entire lives.

At the end of the day, this was a great debut that could have used a little bit more development to make it more of a page-turner. The pacing of the book was slower and more repetitive than I thought it needed to be, I would have loved for it to have explored some of the relationships between the characters a bit deeper. That being said, this is an amazing book for discussions and I look forward to hearing other people's thoughts.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC of The School for Good Mothers in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Infertility, Pedophilia, and Sexual content

deandra_lalonde's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt