Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - The School for Good Mothers

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

67 reviews

laurenlee2158's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-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

4.5

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beebalm's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

I would rate the first 25% and last 10% differently than the rest of the book, with it improving as I went on. Lots of questions still unanswered, and I'll admit that my guess for how it would end was close but wrong.

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ehmannky's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

4.5

An intense dystopian view of modern motherhood, complete with the social expectations to be perfect, to never accidentally or purposefully harm a child, racist expectations, strangers thinking they know best, and the fear of losing your child for "abusive behavior." After Frida leaves her toddler alone for 2 hours, she loses custody and is forced to go to the School for Good Mothers to regain a chance to even have visiting rights again. But the school itself, an intensification of motherhood with Silicon Valley horror with every interaction quantified and measured, is set up for people to fail. It's a heartbreaking look at motherhood, with what happens when social nets fall through and when mothers are expected to be perfect, no exceptions. I really liked that all the "Bad Mothers" were lumped together--Frida and other mothers who "abandoned" their children (some just having abandoned them to walk a few blocks by themselves, left them with a 12-year-old niece to babysit, etc.) with those who have done more serious things like hitting and leaving children in a hole. The book asks us to think if any of these women (and their children) really deserve to be subject to the terror and trauma of separation and that there has to be a better way to ensure safety for children without tearing them from their parents.

I think that while the middle school sections were a bit too long (I think this book could easily be 50 or so pages shorter), this is still a fabulous book.

Spoiler

I was *sobbing* at the end when you learn that Frida and her parents don't regain any kind of custody and are just expected to be fine not seeing Harriet until she's 18

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ohheytaylorrae's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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mktaylor15's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-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

4.5

This was very well written but a warning to any parent, this book will be upsetting and probably traumatic. I was very upset by the end

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savannah98's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Four stars instead of five because I feel like there should’ve been one more chapter at the end. It felt like the book ended right at the climax of the story.

CPS is already almost to this point in America, and that’s what makes this story so haunting. Aside from the reeducation camps, CPS can do any of the things shown in this book. They can rip children out of homes with little to no evidence of abuse or neglect. They can place children in foster care for differences in opinions on parenting tactics. For clutter in a home, for a parent failing a drug test for marijuana, for getting a second doctors opinion on a medical issue. You thought SIDS was scary enough as is? What if I told you that CPS can use that as an excuse to take your other children out of your custody as well, even though the cause of SIDS is still undetermined and is not in any way linked to parental failure?

This novel is not haunting because it tells of some dystopian world that could never exist where lives can be ruined and families ripped apart over any reason the government picks. It’s haunting because it is so adjacent to reality and the horror that many families are currently facing due to government overreach.

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