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A review by dododenise
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book made me think a lot.
My mom asked me to read this to hear my opinion as a psychologist. I definitely sent her some very long messages as I was reading.
Now looking at the whole product, I am not entirely sure what the point was. A lot of things happen. But in the end they illustrate the same story: troubled people need help instead of being treated horribly. And a misogynistic overly policing system like that will also not know about basic pedagogy and psychology or how to teach it (that school was filled with horrible teachings).
I think what makes it a bit lacklustre now that I am finished is that I feel like this story could have been told in a more “enjoyable” manner. Writing a book about how policing mothers will be more damaging for everyone involved is an important one. Yet I sit here disliking every single character other than the daughter. All this book really gave me was thinking about parenting and how child protective can be improved, and being upset about how stupid the people and system in the book are. This might as well have been a nonfiction book philosophising about pedagogy/child protection and I wouldn’t have to deal with the unbearable characters (I understand the point of the unlikable characters but that approach rarely ever works for me and it didn’t now either).
My mom asked me to read this to hear my opinion as a psychologist. I definitely sent her some very long messages as I was reading.
Now looking at the whole product, I am not entirely sure what the point was. A lot of things happen. But in the end they illustrate the same story: troubled people need help instead of being treated horribly. And a misogynistic overly policing system like that will also not know about basic pedagogy and psychology or how to teach it (that school was filled with horrible teachings).
I think what makes it a bit lacklustre now that I am finished is that I feel like this story could have been told in a more “enjoyable” manner. Writing a book about how policing mothers will be more damaging for everyone involved is an important one. Yet I sit here disliking every single character other than the daughter. All this book really gave me was thinking about parenting and how child protective can be improved, and being upset about how stupid the people and system in the book are. This might as well have been a nonfiction book philosophising about pedagogy/child protection and I wouldn’t have to deal with the unbearable characters (I understand the point of the unlikable characters but that approach rarely ever works for me and it didn’t now either).