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A review by carbs666
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really wanted to love this book because I thought the premise was very interesting, but I feel like it fell a bit short of the mark.
I felt like the book spends several chapters setting Frida up as an unreliable narrator by introducing uncertainty around her intentions on her Very Bad Day, and then just drops that in favour of having her be our portal into the fucked up environment of the school. I also felt like the book was commenting on so many things at once that it became background noise until something happened in the plot to briefly draw one thing into the spotlight.
I will say that this book does a very good job of illustrating the violence the state perpetuates against mothers, especially women of colour and low income women, and showing how cycles of trauma get continued. The books fantastic premise clearly show how state interventions into the lives of struggling families almost always make things worse, and the brief description of the different conditions at the school for fathers really highlight the way the states is unwilling to give mothers the benefit of the doubt but will do very little (if anything) to correct the behaviour of fathers.
I know we're not really supposed to like Frida but the whole thing with Tucker absolutely pissed me off. I'm also very conflicted about the portrayal of her final (doomed) act of desperation.
The book really shines in these pockets of emotional intensity. There are moments scattered throughout the book where a few sentences will just absolutely rock you, the moments where the cruelty of the exercise is laid bare and where Frida becomes someone you genuinely want to root for. I also liked how the book leveraged some spooky Gothic tropes to add atmosphere, but I would have liked to see more of it!
I did keep reading because I did want to find out what happened, so overall it's a pretty good book.
I felt like the book spends several chapters setting Frida up as an unreliable narrator by introducing uncertainty around her intentions on her Very Bad Day, and then just drops that in favour of having her be our portal into the fucked up environment of the school. I also felt like the book was commenting on so many things at once that it became background noise until something happened in the plot to briefly draw one thing into the spotlight.
I will say that this book does a very good job of illustrating the violence the state perpetuates against mothers, especially women of colour and low income women, and showing how cycles of trauma get continued. The books fantastic premise clearly show how state interventions into the lives of struggling families almost always make things worse, and the brief description of the different conditions at the school for fathers really highlight the way the states is unwilling to give mothers the benefit of the doubt but will do very little (if anything) to correct the behaviour of fathers.
I know we're not really supposed to like Frida but the whole thing with Tucker absolutely pissed me off. I'm also very conflicted about the portrayal of her final (doomed) act of desperation.
The book really shines in these pockets of emotional intensity. There are moments scattered throughout the book where a few sentences will just absolutely rock you, the moments where the cruelty of the exercise is laid bare and where Frida becomes someone you genuinely want to root for. I also liked how the book leveraged some spooky Gothic tropes to add atmosphere, but I would have liked to see more of it!
I did keep reading because I did want to find out what happened, so overall it's a pretty good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Body horror and Child abuse
Minor: Suicide