Reviews - The School for Good Mothers

9.63k reviews for:

The School for Good Mothers

Jessamine Chan

3.7 AVERAGE

sandalwood_neroli's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional tense medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Not really sure how I feel about this one.

I like the concept--a government-mandated reform school for "bad" mothers who've neglected, abandoned, abused, or fallen short of impossible parenting standards.

And when the robot children dolls were introduced? Absolutely unhinged. I did not see that coming at all!

I appreciated that there was a school for "bad" fathers, too--but the contrast was telling. The men seemingly faced less emotional conditioning, kept their privileges (weekly hour-long calls with their children vs ten minutes for the women if they’d been good enough), and seemed to have a possibly smoother path to regaining custody.

There’s a lot here about gender, race, privilege, and lesbophobia--but I’m not sure the execution always worked for me. Some of it felt a little too overt or heavy-handed, lacking the nuance I think it was aiming for.

As for Frida... idk. While I found myself rooting for her at times, her "one very bad day" involved leaving her toddler home alone for over two hours to get coffee and do work, with the back door unlocked, and then forgetting about said child. And she's someone who has resources--her ex-husband, his new girlfriend, their mutual friend, money from her loaded parents to hire a babysitter...

Interesting and unsettling for sure, but I'm not sure I fully connected with it the way I wanted to, and I think I liked the idea more than the execution.

Content Warnings

marla_kay's review against another edition

2.5

dark emotional sad fast-paced

Dystopian trauma porn, but for moms. 🫠
This follows a Chinese American woman who gets her child taken away as she enters a futuristic reform school complete with sexism, racism, robot children, and the occasional death. Dark all the way through.

angel07141789's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A mom makes a terrible decision one day and her entire life spirals into a nightmare.

krystaljenson's review against another edition

4.0

This is a book I'll be thinking and talking about long after I've finished it. I love a dystopian novel that toes the line of feeling eerily possible. The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because I kind of wished the storyline expanded beyond the setting of the school for 90% of the book.

erin_heger's review against another edition

4.0

dark reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

williamtrevorforever's review against another edition

5.0

unforgettable

Enjoy this not-that-dystopian view on motherhood and societal prejudices. Beautifully written, powerful to the core, you never fully empathise with the main character, but there is a pervasive kinship that refuses to yield.