Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

290 reviews

easta98's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Self harm, and Suicide

Minor: Rape, Alcohol, Drug use, Blood, Addiction, Car accident, Death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

abhirupa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This was such a difficult read because it was so FRUSTRATING!!! Like there were moments when Frida’s interactions with The System made me so mad I had to take a break and I definitely contemplated DNF’ing several times. I’m glad I didn’t, just bc I had a feeling I knew how the book was going to end and I was right, so I felt vindicated. But it’s not like it was a super shocking or crazy or innovative ending. My main issue with this book was that the context just didn’t make sense to me. The plot, especially with the school, was giving Handmaid’s Tale, but there wasn’t a description of any societal upheaval that would have made these massive changes to CPS and child custody laws make sense. Like I didn’t get what had gone wrong with society for this plot to have been feasible. If you’re a mom, especially if you have joint custody of their kids with your ex, this will probably be a really really tough read, and I’m honestly not sure if it’s worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Violence

Moderate: Suicide and Grief

farate's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, and Child abuse

shaemarie24's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

an incredibly well written, devistating novel that literally moved me to tears 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Miscarriage and Suicide

kathleenivy'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, and Sexism

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Abandonment, Self harm, Classism, Kidnapping, Colonisation, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

katiej's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

I felt all the emotions reading this one but mainly anger and sadness. The way the mothers are treated is disgusting especially when we start to learn how the fathers are treated. Although this has been described as dystopian I would say it’s a light dystopian so don’t let that put you off. There are clear undertones of The Handmaids Tale throughout that suggest Atwood was a big inspiration on Chan. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Pregnancy

Minor: Racism, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexism

mayavd's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Sexism

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

The School for Good Mothers is an excellent piece of dystopian fiction set in the very near future. Frida lives in a world in which Child Protective Services has become powerfully invasive. Immediately after her mistake, officials install cameras in her home. Later, Frida is sentenced to the titular School for Good Mothers. At the prison-like school, she is forced to constantly repeat the phrase "I am a bad mother, but I am learning to be good." In roleplaying exercises, Frida is punished for subjective actions like hugging or tone of voice.

If the above summary of this work doesn't already suggest it, this is a very dark novel. Jessamine Chan crafts an all-too-believable police state that dictates "proper" motherhood. And, as in real life, mothers of color are treated much more harshly by the system. Though I am not a mother myself, it's not hard to see that the extremes of this novel are an extension of the very real pressures that our society imposes upon mothers.

Overall, The School for Good Mothers was an incredibly captivating novel that made me think a lot about motherhood, societal norms, and judgement (both legal and cultural). At first, I thought that the School portions of this story dragged. Upon reflection, though, I think that may have been the point - readers start to yearn for graduation day right alongside Frida. (When will she finally be deemed good?) Additionally, I also initially thought that this book was too rooted in the gender binary; there is not a single mention of non-cis motherhood. However, I think that rooting this story in the male/female, mother/father gender binary is part of what made this book even more terrifying. All of the State's rules for motherhood were extremely patriarchal. Obsessing over puritanical ideas of femininity and motherhood is just one more way that the State controls and oppresses its parents.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Xenophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Violence, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Child abuse, and Suicide

pjwanders's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Self harm, Violence, Addiction, Gaslighting, and Medical trauma

haleybre's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Self harm, Child death, and Violence