I found this book to be captivating, powerful, and totally devastating. I thought I was in for a good ole thriller .. but this story struck a deep emotional cord for me. Things don’t happen quickly in this book. The plot unfurls slowly, leaving you feeling disoriented more often than not. I get why this book doesn’t click with everyone, but I know it will stay with me for a long time. 

This book is a gripping, medium-paced thriller. I found the main topic super interesting (mob mentality murders), and the characters were very well fleshed-out. I’m now inspired to do some digging into the true crime that inspired this story. The one thing that was tough for me as a reader was the ending -

there were so many plot lines that the ending where they were woven together felt rushed, and it seemed that the main character was satisfied even though he didn’t get a real answer to the “why”/ the psychological questions he was asking.

Reread with my book club 10/7/2023: I thought it was even better the second time around! 

Korede has just gotten another call from her little sister Ayoola - her third boyfriend has been stabbed to death in “self-defense.” So she heads over with her cleaning supplies and protects her sister. Korede agonizes over the deaths, feeling guilty but also unwilling to turn in Ayoola. But then her sister catches the eye of Korede’s boss, a kind doctor (and also Korede’s long-time crush). Family is everything, but Korede doesn’t want to witness yet another murder.

It’s deliciously sharp - with quick chapters bouncing from one scene to the next. Korede is struggling to maintain any form of control, and we flash between important memories as she struggles with that trauma.

The writing is clever and darkly funny. Korede’s inner dialogue is sarcastic and filled with slightly-absurd justifications.

Braithwaite plays with the different forms of societal hierarchy and power. Men have control - whether they’re perceptive & aware of the intricacies of the world or not. Ayoola has power because of her beauty; she sometimes wields this manipulatively and other times is ignorant to the way she affects others. 

But the most important theme in My Sister, the Serial Killer is, of course, family. Korede has been her sister’s keeper since the day she was born. She’s been tossed aside by her parents and gives way too much of herself to Ayoola, but she can’t help it. Ayoola is her responsibility, and she loves her, and she’d do anything to protect her.

There are questions here around family loyalty & sisterhood, on guilt & responsibility (enabling others), on beauty & social media, on men’s general lack of ability to listen & learn, on trauma & cycles of abuse (violence causing violence). 

CW: murder, death, child abuse, blood, domestic abuse, violence, toxic relationship, medical content, injury, death of parent, emotional & physical abuse, infidelity, misogyny, gaslighting, grief, mental illness, pedophilia, fatphobia, fire, police brutality

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Original review February 2022:

A whirlwind of a book. Fast-paced, with some biting satire. Witty dark commentary on beauty, on family and sisterhood, on violence. I wanted it to be more - to be a bit longer and deeper and to dive into these characters more.

A lovely telling of the story of Circe.  Madeline Miller brings this epic to life in a thoughtful, engaging, emotional way. Her language is beautiful.