My Sister, the Serial Killer
Ratings391
Average rating3.7
I wish this book was longer, but I understand why it's not. I really enjoyed the complexity of it, the family relationships, the friendship and rivalry between siblings (which I absolutely understand) and maybe that's the part I like the most, the way this book brings up the way these sisters interact, it made me think of my own siblings and how we behave and act. But I still it was more descriptive, I felt like it was too simple sometimes.
This was only 225 pages and the chapters were all only 4 to 5 pages long, so it went quickly. The digestible nature of the chapters made the pace much quicker than most books and added to the overall urgency of the story. It was a flourish of activity, mostly related to the title ... but at its core, I thought it was about jealousy, the burden we place on the oldest child, and the societal/spillover effects of psychopathy if it is left unchallenged.
I did not love this book. I appreciated its unabashed pulpiness, but the premise is stated in the title and it doesn't develop much beyond that.
What really worked for me is that the story is set in Lagos, and Braithwaite doesn't waste much time explaining details in the setting for a reader like me that is not that familiar with Nigerian culture. Food, clothing, common phrases are incorporated and the onus on the reader is to learn or keep up. I really appreciate that because if Ezra Pound can drop in untranslated Italian, German, French and Sanskrit into poems that high school students are supposed to give a shit about, I think US reading audiences can grow up when it comes to non-European settings. I also loved the grotesquerie of the main character, there's a slow inversion in the plot where we realize that a binary that we've been presented with is maybe not all as it seems, and I thought that was great.
What did not work for me is that the sharpness of the satire of beauty culture and social media culture kind of trails off, and I did not find it as clever as folks who loved it. I also think there wasn't quite enough conflict, either external conflict in plot or in the internal conflict of the main character.
Don't let me turn you off from the book, though. It's a strong first book, and my rating is way more “this was not for me” rather than “this was bad.”
I picked this one up coz many people were saying that it had a lovely sister dynamic, but I didn't see any of that. All I saw was Ayoola bossing Korede and Korede just blindly obeying her.
Frankly, I was so annoyed throughout most of the book that I almost dnf'ed it, but I kept waiting for something to happen so that I could change my mind but nothing did.
I loved the short chapters coz it was so easy to get thru but I wish the book was longer.
And because the sister was the serial killer, we didn't see most of the action happening, if we had a pov from the sister as well I feel like the book would have been a whole lot better.
We did get flashbacks of the things which happened in the past which led to why Ayoola acted the way she did.
But this book was just NOT for me.
This made me question tho, how far would you go to save someone you love?
Unfulfilling, but probably because I'm just too old. I found the characters engaging at first, less so as the story progressed, like they fell into ruts. Shallow ruts, which seems appropriate because they are all shallow personas, and again maybe I'm just too far away from that age.
I do think Braithwaite shows promise, and I look forward to more mature work from her. I do hope she finds a better editor: some of the mistakes (“diffuse the situation”, “shoe-in”) were cringeworthy.
Well that was a bit of a surprise. I went into this with low expectations, but found myself quite invested in the story.
The terrifying part wasn't a blood-thirsty killer, it was the cold, bloodlessness about everything else. This book is a terrific character portrait, but not of whom I originally thought.
Why did I pick it up?
Honestly, I picked up this book because it is the only book I have with me, at the moment.
Describe the book in 5 words
Page-Turning, Intriguing, Complex, Easy to Read, Dark
Who would LOVE My Sister, the Serial Killer I think anyone who loves getting into the minds of others and creating their own story of how the character became to be as they are. Quick Synopsis We meet two sister in this story. Ayoola, the apple of everyone's eye. Korede, forever the martyr and her sisters keeper. One of them is a serial killer. In this story we get a very small glimpse into the mind of a femme fatale.Thoughts I wish the author would have really delved into the effects of the abuse by the father on Ayoola's psyche. We get a glimpse into why, Korede feels overlooked. It's because no one in her life, truly sees her or knows her inner thoughts, save one comatose patient. We truly don't know why, Ayoola is the way she? Why does her mind function, the way it does? Why does she prey on men? Did the incident with the chief cause her to despise men who have no depth, who only sees her beauty? It seemed, Ayoola was on a quest to prove that men are shallow creatures, who only want a trophy, not an actual person. Why did Korede, as a health professional not get her sister help after she committed the second killing? Why such blind loyalty to always protecting her sister? I realize the resignation to protecting her youngest sibling, at all cost could be cultural. But why did she throw away her own moral compass? The author has left me with so many questions. Overall, I enjoyed this novel.
The book has a compelling plot that is chracter driven. The author threads lightly between past and present to explain the dynamic of the sisters and how killing can become a norm again. I feels more a story of sisterhood than one of a serial killer. While I enjoyed to progression the ending was a slight let down. There is also this felling for floating above an issue without really delving deeper
I'm lowkey so disappointed. I went into this book thinking i'd be a thriller but its actually a contemporary with a dash of a thrill i guess. I really liked the writing and the main character korede. I felt for her and her strained relationship with her sister. caught in the middle of her murderous tendencies and always being seen as lesser. korede wasn't perfect, she had her flaws and i loved that about her. even with her feelings towards her sister she still has her back. even though it's not really morally correct... but sisters before misters i guess lmao. I just wish that there was more murder?? also i see a lot of people say that it's too short but honestly i liked the length. yes it went by really fast but it worked for the story. i would recommend if you are interested but just know it's not as thriller-y as the synopsis makes it out to be.
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Ayoola summons me with these words – Korede, I killed him.
I had hoped I would never hear those words again.
I really enjoyed the audio version of this book. The characters and story are interesting and surprising. The writing was crisp and the ending was satisfying. Looking forward to discussing this one with other readers.
My Sister, the Serial Killer is a dark, funny novella that explores relationships within and without families. The story is fun and inventive, and I very much liked the ending. The book was not particularly gory, which I always appreciate, but having the murders take place away from narrator also served to give her the flimsy excuses she needed to believe her sister's narrative, which added to the book's humor. This was a quick read, and I'd highly recommend it.
This book was very interesting and kept me engaged for the whole 4 hours. For the book to be so short the author was still able to tell an incredible story. This book is about two sister one whom we learn is a serial killer and the other (our main character) her older yet protective older sister. The book explores the sister relationship and the idea that family should be there for each other no matter what. I loved it.
actual rating: 3.5 star
a book that is written so simply but has a very strong narrative. this was a quick read at less than 230 pages and is mainly about the struggle of family loyalty vs doing the right thing. it was an engaging read, but for me was one that won't be very memorable. still a really good read tho!
I like the dynamics, and this is something different for me which I enjoyed. However, there was little to no plot.
I enjoyed this book. It was a very fast read. I love how it gets right into what the book is about. I appreciated that the details in the book were not over sold, but enough so you can paint a good picture of what's happening. The ending kinda leaves you wanting more, however with the theme and tone of the book I think it was an appropriate ending.
I enjoyed this a lot! I don't normally read a lot of mystery/thrillers but I saw this on Netgalley and something about the title/cover just grabbed me. It was short and fast-paced but still had a fully-developed relationship between the two sisters, and a really dark sense of humor to it. The details about life in Lagos were interesting to me and set it apart from a lot of other mystery/thriller type books.