I love that I 'm tearing up my reviews. At this rate, I will surpass my expected reading goal of 50 books this year.
My Sister the Serial Killer is the first novel written by Nigerian author Oyinkin Braithwaite and reminds me in many ways of Americanah, also by a fellow Nigerian. One sister, Korede, is a nurse and knows all about blood - its smell, its feel and how to clean it up in large part because she is a nurse but also because her sister, Ayoola is a serial killer that she has had to cover up for in many cases. We learn at the very first that Korede is in a position that she has to cover up for Ayoola's third murder - which she claims was the result of acts of self-defense.
This isn't a crime thriller, like a Tana French novel, but instead takes a critical and analytical eye towards the relationship between Korede and Ayoola and really attempts to pull back layers as to what it means to maintain familial loyalty. She attempts to answer questions such as does loyalty to family members supersede every other moral compass? Are there other principles that are more important? In every instance, their relationship is tested by things such as resentment and jealousy and competition. Korede is a successful nurse who is competent and "good," in that she has met all of the cultural expectations that have been placed upon her (with the exception of finding a husband). She is diligent and hardworking. Ayoola is seemingly her opposite: flamboyant, beautiful and spontaneous, careless and chronically underemployed or unemployed. There are no shortage of men that flock to her and during the novel, it became increasingly obvious that Korede felt put upon and resentful of having received no credit where Ayoola received it all, in spite of Korede's achievements.
I loved this book - it was short and quick but felt very appropriate and somewhat Austenian in some circumstances. I loved the social commentary and questioning that it engaged in and the tone it took - darkly comic and dry. It made me really think and question the degrees and lengths that people will go to protect family. Buy this one!
My Sister the Serial Killer is the first novel written by Nigerian author Oyinkin Braithwaite and reminds me in many ways of Americanah, also by a fellow Nigerian. One sister, Korede, is a nurse and knows all about blood - its smell, its feel and how to clean it up in large part because she is a nurse but also because her sister, Ayoola is a serial killer that she has had to cover up for in many cases. We learn at the very first that Korede is in a position that she has to cover up for Ayoola's third murder - which she claims was the result of acts of self-defense.
This isn't a crime thriller, like a Tana French novel, but instead takes a critical and analytical eye towards the relationship between Korede and Ayoola and really attempts to pull back layers as to what it means to maintain familial loyalty. She attempts to answer questions such as does loyalty to family members supersede every other moral compass? Are there other principles that are more important? In every instance, their relationship is tested by things such as resentment and jealousy and competition. Korede is a successful nurse who is competent and "good," in that she has met all of the cultural expectations that have been placed upon her (with the exception of finding a husband). She is diligent and hardworking. Ayoola is seemingly her opposite: flamboyant, beautiful and spontaneous, careless and chronically underemployed or unemployed. There are no shortage of men that flock to her and during the novel, it became increasingly obvious that Korede felt put upon and resentful of having received no credit where Ayoola received it all, in spite of Korede's achievements.
I loved this book - it was short and quick but felt very appropriate and somewhat Austenian in some circumstances. I loved the social commentary and questioning that it engaged in and the tone it took - darkly comic and dry. It made me really think and question the degrees and lengths that people will go to protect family. Buy this one!
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