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yhteunice's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This is a heavily plot-driven story about a mother, Frida Liu, who has a terrible day and made a mistake that led her to be separated from her child, later be part of a system the government made for bad mothers. The main themes of the story is the struggle of motherhood and her "coming-to-be" of her Chinese roots. The way society created a structured and constrictive system of the high standards and expectations of how mothers should be. Creating an unjust perspective that mothers have to be a robot to their children.
It is frustrating to see the instances of it and reading it makes my blood boil (which means the book did a good job expressing the unethical & suffocating standards a mother should pursue). However, the pacing of the book is unnecessarily long. The point has been stated, and it keeps being repeated, making the growth seems rushed and difficult to understand. The transitioning of one scenario to another is not smooth and does not give the reader (or me lol) time to take in a particular arc or chapter.
Over all, the premise of the book and the theme are interesting and great for today's society. It's just that the execution was confusing, and it does not sit right with me. However, since it is the first book Ms. Chan has even written. I give more understanding towards it.
I rated this book 2.5/5 stars (2/5 stars since it's the only option lol). Would I recommend it to someone? Yes, /only/ if they'd want to understand the difficulties of motherhood. And it is also great for group readings to have many discussions. But other than that, this book does not give me the spark to necessarily recommend it directly. Do I think it could be written better? Absolutely.
Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
stephykay's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Gaslighting
hirachelhigh's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse and Kidnapping
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
Minor: Rape
hezajc's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
krissysbooked's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
shanno_h0's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Suicide and Toxic relationship
sarahd0825's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
mondovertigo's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Blood, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Self harm, Xenophobia, and Alcohol
dreamdoughnut's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Death, Infertility, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
garlinds's review
- 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
4.0
This book was hard to digest, it made me uncomfortable and I'll be gathering my thoughts for a while. The whole time I was reading all I could think about was the long-lasting emotional and physical trauma that each character was going through at the hands of the "system" and those in power. As someone who works with teens who have varying levels of CPS involvement in their home lives, it was heartbreaking to think of the impact this program would have on Harriet's future, as well as her mom's
Most prominently this book critiques the unrealistically perfect standards that we put on mothers. But it also examines both race and class disparities and the stressors that come along with them. At the end of the day, many of the mothers in the "school" would have benefitted from a stronger support system from the get-go rather than a fascist system that waits for them to make a mistake and uproots their whole entire lives.
At the end of the day, this was a great debut that could have used a little bit more development to make it more of a page-turner. The pacing of the book was slower and more repetitive than I thought it needed to be, I would have loved for it to have explored some of the relationships between the characters a bit deeper. That being said, this is an amazing book for discussions and I look forward to hearing other people's thoughts.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC of The School for Good Mothers in exchange for an honest review.
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Infertility, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Lesbophobia