Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - My Sister, the Serial Killer

Pretty good book! The beginning fourth is a bit slow after the beginning incident, but as soon as the ball starts actually rolling, it picks up! Considering this is a pretty short read, the first fourth being kinda a slog doesn't ruin it entirely, since when it picks up it Picks Up!
The shortness also helps it; it gets in, tells it's story, and gets out. A great bite sized thriller to enjoy, especially since there's a good audiobook version of it!
An enjoyable read about the effects of trauma on two sisters who have never truly had to deal with their trauma and being actively unable to deal with it properly because... well, the world is what it is. Doesn't help that one of them also is a serial killer.

Content Warnings

flamingtashhh's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Quick! Really flew by. An easy read in terms of difficulty, but could be challenging emotionally. I almost wish I’d seen more of the characters, but the plot may have outpaced them; the static characters worked well for the plot. I’m absolutely not a fan of crime novels, but this one was pretty good for the genre. I knocked a star because I typically value character development more, and another one because it didn’t challenge me really. But the framing of the serial killing through childhood violence was interesting and made the novel feel less voyeuristic than a typical crime novel, so that bought back another 3/4 star for me.

Content Warnings

7bookrats's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny tense fast-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

My Sister, The Serial Killer is a fast paced and hard to put down read. It strikes a balance of a light-hearted slice of life and an emotional tale about Korede's relationships, loyalties, experiences and past.

Content Warnings

caprivoyant's review against another edition

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challenging dark

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Book review in a face: 😐

Lemme 'splain. You know how sometimes you watch TV shows that are actually kind of horrible but you love them at the same time? That's how I felt at the beginning of this book. I think I actually told my friend: "this is an absolute s-h-i-t show, and I love it." 😅

BUT! Then that started to tank with some ⚠️ CW ⚠️ child abuse that hit a little too close to home for me.

In the end, it was a wash for me. Honestly, I don't think I was prepared for it. I didn't look up content warnings before I started reading and that was a dumb move on my part.

If you've been eyeing this book for yourself, maybe this'll help to tell if it's your kind of book or not:

👍🏻 This book might be for you if:

you kinda love troubled/flawed characters
you're into character studies
you're ok with throwing your own moral compass out the door for a bit
(note: normally, I'm ok with this but this book took it a little too far imho)
you're good at reading between the lines at thoughts/feelings/memories that a MC won't admit even to herself
you can read about some horrible things without feeling the horrible things
(this is where I went wrong)

👎🏻 This book might NOT be for you if:

you want to feel like you can relate to the main characters
(unless you're a serial killer...??)
you're in the mood for a thriller
(this might be marked as a thriller, but I'm not convinced)
reading about a serial killer and her enabler is going to be hard for you
you are healing from childhood abuse and/or are in a grief space for a loved one — especially if that person was killed

I hope this helps. I definitely read this book at the wrong time. I also assumed it would be more of a thriller, so my expectations for this one were just OFF from the get-go.

⚠️ PS - I don't even really have any idea where to start with content warnings with this one. There are so many. Child abuse/pedophilia were the ones that really got me, personally, but there's: infidelity, gaslighting, domestic abuse, murder (duh), police crappiness, and so many more things?! I'll put these in the CW section, but please know I didn't take extensive notes, so I might be remembering the intensity of these incorrectly. 😬

Content Warnings

sarahaf712's review against another edition

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dark 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

5.0

Content Warnings

eva_t_'s review against another edition

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dark tense fast-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

3.0

I just enjoyed it and liked that it had short chapters so it was easy to get through. As others have said the payoff was a little underwhelming so I was a bit disappointed. Also some of the characters were a bit flat. But I did like it and would recommend it as a good read and entertaining.

Content Warnings

jitterbugsnap's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Content Warnings

naja's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

yay for murder and loving your sister.

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