Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

12 reviews

jourdanicus's review against another edition

Enraging and depressing. I get that Frida is probably not supposed to be a likeable character, and I usually like unlikeable/unreliable narrators, but she (and the other characters tbh) didn't even seem that well-developed either. I struggled to get through the story from her perspective. I wish the commentary on social inequity had more nuance and depth, that really could have saved the book for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, and Infidelity

Moderate: Classism and Racism

Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit

daniellenelson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Racism, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Vomit, Suicide, Blood, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, and Emotional abuse

lastokes61's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

Frida Liu is an overworked,  exhausted, divorced Mom who has a very bad day. She leaves her 18 month old daughter alone for 2 hours, and gets caught. This reckless act causes her to lose custody of Harriett.  To regain custody Frida must attend a 12 month re-education program for mothers, where the mantra is " I am a bad mother, but I am learning to be good."  The "reform school" has the mothers under constant surveillance.  Their trainers are mostly childless women and the mothers are forced to bond with robot children and care for them under every conceivable situation.  The issues of race, gender imbalance in parenting, mental health, isolation, and the state dictating "perfect" parenting styles are all at play here. This is a very Orwellian.  So much to discuss about in this book. This is an intense and capivatiing debut novel. Definitely worth a read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racial slurs, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Outing, Classism, Vomit, Self harm, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Body horror, Death, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

taysbooktalk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

There are not words for this book, and not in a good way. I like to think if a book had me sobbing, nearly to a panic attack, and I will never forget- that it was an amazing book. It’s not. It’s intentionally meant to rip you apart and trigger you. It’s sold as a dystopian. It’s not. It’s weird and uncomfortable and gut wrenching. This not a Nicholas Sparks or Kristen Hannah book. This is not sad book that tells a story. This is not made to entertain you. It’s not made to make a difference or touch lives. This is made to hurt people. I don’t know that I will ever recover from this book. PLEASE DON’T READ THIS.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Body shaming, Car accident, Eating disorder, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Grief, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Violence, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, and Vomit

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Vomit, Violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Miscarriage, 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.

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

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

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Child death

Minor: Vomit and Rape

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.

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Content Warnings

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

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

bookfrisson'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.

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Content Warnings

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

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

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