Reviews with content warning for Torture - The School for Good Mothers

Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

31 reviews

ruffian23's review against another edition

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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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boldlydanialie's review against another edition

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dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

What a tough read. Dystopian isn't my primary genre and the lines between the imaginary and real are blurring every day with each new policy or law being proposed that targets gender-marginalized folks. I also recognize as a child-free twenty-something that I'm likely not the target audience of this book.
That being said, this book is a painful reminder about race, gender, surveillance and the state. As horrifying as it was to read, its even more horrifying to think about the way mothers are penalized harsher than fathers, how much harder that is on black and brown parents.

The irony of Frida continually approximating herself to whiteness when in the end that doesn't help her get her child back.

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fkshg8465's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

Wanted to give this four stars, because my heart is too broken, but because I can hope for them, I give the book all five

II cannot understand. Are there really schools like this? Reminds me of a cross between One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Handmaid’s Tale. Cruel. So cruel. So nonsensical. Complete oppression. I really, really, really hope these schools do not exist.

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taysbooktalk's review against another edition

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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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elwhits's review

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challenging dark sad tense 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

5.0

i sobbed. incredibly challenging book to finish and i hate to call books important but the way it examines the lose lose game mothers (esp mothers of color) are forced to play when the state decides to intervene feels pretty fucking important. like i’m close to believing this should be required reading for anyone who works with kids. the prose is also just gorgeous and the characters are real. probably going to get added to my all time favorites once i’ve sat with it a little longer.

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