A review by dytiscusfriend
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was a delightful morsel! It's length was appropriate for the narrator who is a concise speaker but I also found myself wishing I could read so much more about the life of this character (as is so often the case with the very best books.) Oyinkan Braithewaite is a powerful storyteller and seamlessly brings together elements of misogyny, classism, cultural differences, colorism, and the lived impacts of trauma into a moving and still entertaining tale about murder. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Drug abuse, Pedophilia, and Police brutality

This book is in some ways what a friend of mine calls, "a trigger fest." The author, however, delicately addresses each upsetting subject with the grace of someone well-versed in the impacts of trauma. I did not find this book disturbing or distressing to read despite directly addressing in the main plot situations I have personally experienced.

The story centers on a plain-looking nurse who's exceptionally attractive sister she protected from their father's physical abuse, and then after his death, from the consequences of the murders she commits. If you have trauma-responses to reading about child abuse, body shame, hospitals, or post-traumatic stress, I would approach this book with extreme caution.