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starrysteph 's review for:

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
3.5
challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is a disturbing, chilling dystopian tale that feels terribly close to reality. While the School For Good Mothers as crafted by Chan doesn’t physically exist in our current world, it is 100% present subconsciously in the lives of all mothers. This book is emotional & harsh & upsetting. The author touches on a decently wide variety of issues and themes (within parenthood and beyond), but some of it was very surface level. I would have liked to dive deeper into these women’s lives .. deeper into societal expectations that were already woven into the story. The ending/resolution didn’t quite sit well with me, either.