Review: The School for Good Mothers

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

1/2 STAR

I'm not finished with this book, and my opinion may change, but I doubt it. This book has just been making me more disgusted (and more bored) by the page. So I may end up adding to this review.



If you are looking for a dystopian novel, this is not it.

" (dys·to·pi·an
/disˈtōpēən/adjective
relating to or denoting an imagined state or society where there is great suffering or injustice.)."

If you are looking for a HORROR novel, this is the one for you.

If you are looking for a book that resonates with the somewhat reverse bigotry -then this is the novel for you.

Are you woke? Then you will love this book.

A book cannot be dystopian if these things take place in "real" life already. What do you think it's like for women in jail for child abuse? This place is a jail that also teaches. Prisons (long term) do that too. And that may be where you find the horror creeping in. There is only one thing that would make this dystopian (the children), and even that is a stretch in this day and age.

By today's standard these women and, I presume, men have broken laws, laws meant to protect children. Although nowadays, I believe we go a little too far with what can be claimed as abuse.

The characters are nothing to be sympathetic for. They are flat and lifeless. The co-parents of Harriet are about as PC, correct as you can get without losing your 'self.'



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SYNOPSIS: "In this taut and explosive debut novel, one lapse in judgement lands a young mother in a government reform program where custody of her child hangs in the balance.

Frida Liu is struggling. She doesn’t have a career worthy of her Chinese immigrant parents’ sacrifices. What’s worse is she can’t persuade her husband, Gust, to give up his wellness-obsessed younger mistress. Only with their angelic daughter Harriet does Frida finally feel she’s attained the perfection expected of her. Harriet may be all she has, but she’s just enough.

Until Frida has a horrible day.

The state has its eyes on mothers like Frida — ones who check their phones while their kids are on the playground; who let their children walk home alone; in other words, mothers who only have one lapse of judgement. Now, a host of government officials will determine if Frida is a candidate for a Big Brother-like institution that measures the success or failure of a mother’s devotion. Faced with the possibility of losing Harriet, Frida must prove that she can live up to the standards set for mothers — that she can learn to be good.

This propulsive, witty page-turner explores the perils of “perfect” upper-middle-class parenting, the violence enacted upon women by the state and each other, and the boundless love a mother has for her daughter."