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whatkelsreads 's review for:
The School for Good Mothers
by Jessamine Chan
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan imagines a world where mothers who are reported to CPS may be sent to a year-long training camp to learn how to be better mothers. It is a devastating look at how society treats mothers differently than fathers—the expectations are so much higher, and often conflicting and impossible to meet. Chan also does a good job showing how race, class, and age also play into these expectations, as the teenage moms and Black or Latina moms are seen as even less likely to succeed.
My issue with this book was the world-building. It required a tremendous suspension of disbelief to imagine this reality, even in 2025 in America. Maybe it’s just because I have a legal background, but I kept getting pulled out of the plot because of how unconstitutional the training camp’s operations were. I wish Chan had gone farther to create a more obviously dystopian version of America—perhaps one in which birth control is illegal, or women must be tested and licensed before being allowed to reproduce, or where women are no longer allowed to work or have bank accounts.
However, if you’re able to believe in Chan’s version of reality, The School of Good Mothers is an incredibly powerful read about the impossible demands of mothering.