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A review by sandalwood_neroli
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
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.
I like the concept--a government-mandated reform school for "bad" mothers who've neglected, abandoned, abused, or fallen short of impossible parenting standards.
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
Graphic: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment
Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Lesbophobia