i enjoyed my time, don’t get me wrong, but i was left wanting. for one the pacing was too fast for my liking. the chapters are a page and half at most and by the time i felt immersed in a scene we were already into the next. next all of the characters feel pretty flat, save for Korede and she could still use more fleshing out. but my deepest upset is the lack of character growth. nothing changes with Korede and Ayoola. no lessons are learned and if they are then they’re completely ignored.

ugh, really good thriller. very dark, but a quick read.

3.5/5 enjoyed the audiobook as well.

Well-written, good characters and a style that's easy to get through. Towards the end it felt like something was missing though, but still a good story and concept

3.5 stars. Surprisingly breezy and readable, and had moments of clever humour I wasn't expecting, but not quite as substantial as I would have liked.

did her sister at times suck ? yes. is it sweet that she always stood by her when it mattered ? absolutely

i’m in between four and five stars not because i found anything wrong but because i wish the cathartic messy ending could have happened, and that’s my own personal qualm because even without it, it’s a well written satisfaction.

This book was really well written and it was a fast paced read. I feel the way they reacted was so fast and rushed through, We never see what happens in the moment of the murders which makes this book feel less horror and more like a family thriller drama.This book is the first dark book I've read and I found out I disliked. The ending was a bit disappointing, still I enjoyed it a lot and it was really easy to read :)

Very suspenseful. Never really knew what to expect next. But I hated the ending ngl

A fast paced literary book that started off strong. I enjoy literary fiction in the way I enjoy poetry. I also enjoyed being in Korede’s head (for the most part).

I wildly detested Korede’s self deprecation throughout the book though.

There’s something utterly sinister and grotesque in the words and structures Oyinkan Braithwaite (the author) chose when describing certain Afrocentric features (big lips, wide noses, afros, dark skin, etc). Like using an Afro to symbolism a decent into madness, and MUCH more. These descriptions are even more sinister when compared to how she describes light skinned female characters in the book.

It honestly comes off as blatant colourism and self hatred.

Oyinkan does an appalling job showing us how/why Korede was ‘ugly’ and how/why Ayoola was ‘beautiful’, as she simply just wrote Korede to be a dark skin woman and Ayoola to be a light skin woman with a ‘button nose’ as a baby…don’t all babies have button noses?! Hm.

Such a bland ending!

I would’ve given this book a 5/5 or at the very least a 4.5/5, but 2/5 is what it deserves at best!

[EDIT] After discussing this with my book club, I must say I appreciate it much more. The complexity of the book is actually insane... how she’s managed to fit so many issues and leave us with so many important questions in such a short book is actually quite impressive. An interesting story... suspenseful enough, no time to get bored, as it's quite a quick read... but the characters, the plot, the point... they all lack quite a bit of depth for me. Despite that, it's not bad, and I do like the way it's written in short chapters, with flashbacks and thoughts all mixed in together.

it was very fast paced but what the fuck is the ending?

it was fun but what is this ending???

super readable, biting prose, definitely a page-turner.

Holy shit this book is AMAZING!

3.5

this was so short and sweet (well, no, not that at all). So worth it! It's exactly as cool and interesting as the blurb makes it sound!! Ahhhhh I loved the premise and it was done so well. I liked the setting and the ending was a bit chilling and horrifying, although it was kind of exactly what you should expect. I'm so glad my advisor lent this one to me 😱

this is the sort of book where the title tells you all you need to know. i didnt expect much beyond an alright read and thats exactly what i got.

a clever choice in leaving the house girl virtually unnamed to really show how classism influences the main character

3 to 3.5 ⭐️

Alsoooo: so lustig fand ich’s nicht, aber auf jeden Fall ne wilde Idee🧚‍♀️

Yes, her sister is a serial killer. But this book is really about family, sisterhood, and the legacy of childhood abuse. It is beautifully written from the perspective of Korede, the responsible, protective older sister. The short, vignette-like chapters keep things moving along briskly. It's a slight little book, but it will make you feel and think.

I really enjoyed this - it is a quick read with short chapters and a compelling story line. It is also interesting because it is set in Nigeria, so it gives the reader a sense of the day to day life in that country. The eponymous serial-killing sister is deftly drawn in all her narcissistic, sociopathic glory, as is her careful, attentive sister, Korede. This was a fun book to read on my last trip.

Not sure how this story is supposed to partly fall under comedy when there was not anything remotely funny about the story. There was no characters development or redemption at the end. You are given just enough information to gain a general sense of the characters due to the story being fast-paced—which is good because this story did not need to be dragged out.