Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

81 reviews

jennylee_reads's review against another edition

dark sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

gedlek's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

A very interesting read! I thoroughly enjoyed it although it was upsetting throughout. I may be pessimistic but I can see a lot of through lines from real life to what happens throughout the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment

junglejelly's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.75

I couldn't put this book down at times. It's so immersive and gripping.

The characters aren't loveable but they're incredibly relatable. They're not prefect but make a great comparison to how high expectations are held for mothers in this world.

I found the plot gripping but predictable in the way that I wasn't surprised at what came next. I've read a few reviews saying the events are not believable but I found them to be a little too believable (e.g.

the constant contradictory behaviour of the instructors and expectations of the school and the lower expectations for the fathers

).

As someone who is not a parent, I still felt the devastation come from the characters. It was hard not to relate to them all (yes even Gus and Susanna) under such awful circumstances.

Overall a very good but sad book with contrasting features making it a compelling read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

jessiejonesbentley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

laurenlee2158's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

beebalm's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual harassment

ehmannky's review against another edition

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.

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse

ohheytaylorrae's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

mktaylor15's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcoholism and Abandonment

savannah98's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol