Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Meine Schwester, die Serienmörderin by Oyinkan Braithwaite

44 reviews

leem97's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

I enjoyed it. Quick easy read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Grief and Adult/minor relationship

Dark themes but feels light-hearted. Focus is more on the sibling relationship.

ka_ke's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.0

It’s okay. I appreciate the complexity behind the need to protect ones sister, and protecting oneself by reporting the crime. It’s not easy to be in that position and I believe it was portrayed well. 

Otherwise the book gets very repetitive and eventually you figure out where it’s going 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Classism, Gore, Bullying, Grief, Mental illness, and Death of parent

augustinedreams's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Grief, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gore, Blood, and Death

Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Police brutality

samuelbrown23's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I have to say I did enjoy the comedy and tense sense that was mix into the story. I feel like the main character should definitely seek therapy after all the thing she been though, and as for her sister she just keep murdering due to never really experienced consequences of her actions. The main character take being sister keeper to a completely new level. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Violence, Grief, and Domestic abuse

heather_harrison's review against another edition

dark 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

4.25

I could not get enough of the audio book of "My Sister, the Serial Killer" - after picking this up on a whim and hearing some mixed reviews, I really enjoyed this. 

It walks the line between dark and funny. The writing is direct, and often sardonic. 

Korede is a plain no-nonsense woman, a nurse, and older sister. 
Ayoola is her beautiful younger sister who can seemingly do no wrong. Except for the trail of dead men she seems to leave in her wake. 

Femi makes three, you know. Three, and they label you a serial killer. 

I found both Korede and Ayoola absolutely fascinating, and their relationship is like a train wreck (you can't help but not look away). It is simultaneously disturbing and delicious.  

 "I am the older sister—I am responsible for Ayoola. That's how it has always been. Ayoola would break a glass, and I would receive the blame for giving her the drink. Ayoola would fail a class, and I would be blamed for not coaching her. Ayoola would take an apple and leave the store without paying for it, and I would be blamed for letting her get hungry." 

For anyone who is an older sibling, this not an wholely accurate representation per se, but you will feel so seen in how this book handles the expectations and complexities! 

 “It’s because she is beautiful, you know. That’s all it is. They don’t really care about the rest of it. She gets a pass at life.”
 

For a piece of writing that is so dark, funny and light - this does a pretty solid job at reflecting on not just women in patriarchal society, but also the weaponisation of beauty. 

For those that get it, get it - a fresh punchy piece of feminist satire. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Death of parent

ahhhreadzombiez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

This book hmm… I got through it very fast (in two days, really) but does that mean I enjoyed it? Well, not exactly. I didn’t enjoy the characters; it’s very hard to read a book when you don’t like a single character in it. And I can’t help but feel I continued to read it because I wanted to just see it through to the end and hope, just really hope that the characters would have some type of development that would make them just a tad bit enjoyable. It was just a tragic story with what felt like no real point. I wish I liked this more, but it just… didn’t do it for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Murder, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Grief, and Child abuse

Moderate: Rape and Pedophilia

markwillnevercry's review against another edition

3.5

If I could, I would have read/listened to this book in one sitting. Instead, I took a break around the 60% mark to go to toilet. This was a wonderful book, that read really fast and didn't leave a bad aftertaste, which has not happened to me in a bit. I do not think this is one of those books, that I will be rereading over and over again searching for what I felt about it again, but not every book needs to be like that. Two sisters are getting through their trauma and not everything is realistic and it is okay and it was a great read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Cursing, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Car accident, Murder, and Infidelity

Moderate: Animal death and Drug abuse

nindie's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Gore, Death of parent, Medical content, Violence, Blood, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, and Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Vomit

sakisreads's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

✨ Reread ✨

I remember thoroughly enjoying this book when I first read it. It’s simplicity (the title tells you all, right? 😅) was very appealing to me.

Korede doesn’t mince her words. It is evident in her rule-following and (obsessive) cleaning habits. There’s a routine, we stick to it and for good reason. On the other hand, Ayoola is this larger-than-life person and it’s very obvious that a shadow is cast over Korede’s entire life.

However, because the women have a shared experience (

Spoiler

the abusive dad for instance

), it is evident that they’ll stick together for life. I LOVED their connection, even when I hated it 🥲

Spoiler

Tade really thinking he could persuade Korede not to testify against him fucked me up 😂

A rollercoaster of emotions put into a short story. I was THRILLED 🙋🏻‍♀️

I loved reading Oyinkan Braithwaite’s interview at the end also. She said that there is no one ‘Nigerian experience’ and that she was a bit anxious about how this story might sound to certain audiences. But honestly, this is my second time reading it and I don’t often reread books but this one is undoubtedly worth the experience 👏🏼 I gasped and laughed several times 🔥

5 out of 5 stars from me ✨ Would highly recommend for sure!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, and Death

marigold82's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

The emotional responsibility we have for our family is so true in this. This book is not what I expected but it asks the question, who are we if we unequivocall  if permissively support a murderer?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Mental illness, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Medical trauma, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood

Minor: Adult/minor relationship