Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

77 reviews

alisonvh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

This book is rough, but so well written, and it does a great job of discussing the impossible expectations our society has of mothers. Can’t wait to discuss it with my book club.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Ableism, Blood, Eating disorder, Suicide, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Self harm

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Chronic illness, Rape, and Vomit

laynemandros's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy

sampinter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.25

This speculative fiction thriller was truly a wild ride. The entire concept of a “School for Good Mothers” was upsetting and far too realistic during the current political climate. I felt so much empathy for all of the mothers even while I found myself questioning their decisions and behaviors with their children. This story will stick with me for a very long time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexism, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

epellicci's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

1.5

This book is messy and dark. After one very bad day, Frida is removed from her daughter and sent to a school for bad parents to repent for their mistakes and learn to be better mothers, with the aim of earning back parental privileges at the end of a 12 month programme. The story is bone-chilling, offering the reader - and the mothers - absolutely no hope as they're sucked into the grip of an all powerful Child Protection Service (CPS) which isolates, berates, and generally traumatises every character. The unfair power dynamics are overt and infuriating and the minimal resistance from those inside the school, or out made me despair. Even the solidarity between the mothers was shallow and hard to believe. I often wished there had been more groundwork, discussing the politics and structures around the school, and a perspective from those who worked there. It was all-in-all, just a bit miserable 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, and Racism

Minor: Violence and Miscarriage

amandabcook's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Colonisation, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Sentient robots

alyssackim's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

There was a lot to like about this book, but some things that stopped it from being a successful read, in my opinion.

Overall I had a fine time reading the book, though the middle was slow and the ending sub-par. It is worth the read for the thought experiment, but I felt such dread whenever I would pick it up, it was relentless in that way. I just wanted much, much more.

Pros:

• Talks about several not oft discussed subjects:
  • Model Minority discomfort
  • Class and racial profiling for parents, especially mothers
  • White western standards of parenting and how that affects people self-image, particularly if those people are immigrants. Frida's relationship with her parents and how people see the lack of physical affection as a bad thing, for example. I loved the contention between Susanna and Frida, the crunchy granola mom that Susanna was was a nice touch.
• I loved the voice of the character, how you see her gaslighting herself and truly convincing herself that she is a bad mother, that she deserves this punishment is fascinating and well-illustrated.
• Great concept.
• Well built characters and relationships (mostly) 

Cons:

• Lack of worldbuilding. The world seemed identical to our own except for this new program. Without the benefit of worldbuilding or really any look at other parts of society outside of the small family unit and the school itself made the severity - and therefore the premise - unbelievable in an otherwise realistic setting.
  the perfect robot children furthered my suspension of disbelief, we got no build up, no mentions of even close to this level of technology. For the record, I enjoyed the robot children and their place in the story. But
  the cruelty shown to them by the teachers, the teachers cartoonish bad-ness and other things about the school made it so much harder to immerse myself in the world and therefore believe the predicament our main character finds herself in.
  • I can't help but thinking nothing about this school would fly under our judicial system, almost every aspect of it seemed to fit "cruel and unusual punishment." But I suppose the US has had dozens of prisoners in solitary confinement for 20+ years with no coherent reason, so, who knows what counts as cruel and unusual nowadays.
• Did not follow through on the concept to a satisfying degree, it just ended up falling flat. It would have been great to see more of
  the dolls and the moral ramifications that they present. What if she stole the doll instead? Or got her daughter back and yearned, not for Harriet, but for the doll?
• The commentary about motherhood and the standards that pedestal affords was too sharp for me, too on the nose. The whole book was trying to make a point that I think would have benefitted from more subtlety. I didn't need the book to ram the fact that "mothers are held to higher standards than fathers" down my throat the whole time, and in such a brutalist fashion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide and Sexism

Minor: Kidnapping

graveyard_witch's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

The School for Good Mothers dives into what it means to be a "good mother". While a lot of the events in the book may sound extreme to some readers, they don't deviate from the societal expectations of mothers. The social services part of the book also isn't much different to what we have now. Unfortunately, the system is incredibly harsh on mothers (especially POC mothers), and in many places it is nearly impossible for women to get their children back as they lack proper rehabilitation and support programs. I really enjoyed the social commentary; it is something I think a lot about as a woman who may one day have children. The pacing itself was too slow for me, I didn't find it as suspenseful as some people were claiming. I also found that it was very wordy and that not much happened. In the end, it was an alright book and im glad that I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Minor: Sexism, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

meowkira's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Child abuse, Classism, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Grief, and Sexism

hilaryreadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Sexism

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Rape

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