Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

18 reviews

elwhits's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i sobbed. incredibly challenging book to finish and i hate to call books important but the way it examines the lose lose game mothers (esp mothers of color) are forced to play when the state decides to intervene feels pretty fucking important. like i’m close to believing this should be required reading for anyone who works with kids. the prose is also just gorgeous and the characters are real. probably going to get added to my all time favorites once i’ve sat with it a little longer. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Racism, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, and Lesbophobia

apollinares's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.75

This book made me deeply uncomfortable, sad, furious, exhausted. It takes a lot of skill for an author to evoke that much in a reader all at once. I like how raw and honest the portrayal of Frida's ordeal was, and how processing grief and one's own mistakes is presented as a non-linear, messy process. 

Frida isn't a likeable character. She's convinced us of it on page one, and she's convinced herself of it long before. As someone whose mother made mistakes she deeply regrets, and as someone who has had many conversations with her about what those mistakes did to both of us, I genuinely feel for Frida. I've seen other reviews condemn her, and it's really interesting to me where a reader would draw the line on what they find unacceptable in a parent, and how much they're willing to dehumanise a mother/discredit her emotional needs, when they learn the mother has made a mistake that caused her child harm. I'm not trying to excuse abuse, it's just fascinating how quickly someone's empathy for a person, and their sense of nuance, disappears when the person in the wrong is a parent. I mean, people are rating the book lower because the protagonist has done something wrong and that makes the book supposedly bad. The point is right there, guys, come on...

The way blame is placed in the book is interesting to me, too - how the women are treated as irredeemable, and how the state would rather interfere once harm has been caused (and arguably proceed to traumatise the child even more) than offer parents mental health support before mistakes like this can occur. It's infuriating to experience and to process, and when the fathers were introduced, I became so much angrier knowing how much easier they supposedly have it. 

The ending is tragic and inevitable. I don't know how else Chan could have ended this book. Frida's unravelling is addicting, and sad, and I couldn't look away the whole time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

islabjb's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and War

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Vomit, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Classism

disquiet's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Rape and Vomit

alisonvh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book is rough, but so well written, and it does a great job of discussing the impossible expectations our society has of mothers. Can’t wait to discuss it with my book club.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Rape, Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol

melishahigdon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book was enlightening. I have never thought so much about how unfair part of the system actually is in the US. I was floored by how learning a lesson was not good enough for the system and administration, how doing a good thing was always overlooked because something Frida did was always wrong and that she “was a bad mother.”

This also showed me how unfair things could and probably are for those who aren’t white mothers in the United States, how the inherent, systemic racism affects American mothers who aren’t white.

There was a little discussion about the treatment of problematic fathers versus mothers: the fathers weren’t treated as poorly as the mothers in the school, which ostracized the mothers from humaneness like the fathers were shown.

I have a lot to say about this book, so if anyone wants to discuss it with me, please PM me. I am completely floored by this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, and Blood

ericageorge91's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was, in theory, an excellent book. The writing was great, the story compelling. I just found myself so furious on behalf of the main character for the majority of the book. Like I felt like I read this in a rage. It was very good commentary on how much societal pressure is on mothers and it made me want to burn the whole system down. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Lesbophobia

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

5.0

After a brief lapse in judgement and a failed attempt at proving herself capable of caring for her 18-month-old daughter, Frida Liu begins a new education program by Child Protective Services, meant to turn bad mothers into good ones.  Isolated from their loved ones, Frida and a few hundred other offending mothers will be rigorously tested over the course of a year—their reunion with their children is at stake.  Although many make or break moments unexpectedly happen off the page, near-constant suspense propels this book, and Chan’s brilliant style makes it nearly impossible to put down.  This dystopian novel about parenting, love, and survival is unforgettable.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Alcohol