My Sister, the Serial Killer: A Novel Hardcover – November 20, 2018

What can I add to the pert-near 11,000 reviews & ratings already here?Let me try ...About 300,000 years ago, on the Africa savanna, Homo sapiens arose.We had a different leadership system than we see today.This leadership system began at least 2 million years ago.That was in the relatively safe African forest with Australopithecus, our ancestral genus.Then, climate change forced them [us] out onto the teeming & dangerous savanna.The apes we evolved beside — chimps and gorillas -- got to stay in the African forest.Can we think back to how we evolved as a social species, long, long ago on the African savanna?[After all, the book is set in Africa!]Many women [& a few men] are gradually realizing that men do a crappy job of running things.That is becuz with Civilization we got — 1] Monogamy, & 2] Private Property, & 3] Male Primacy.So — What system was more natural earlier during our pre-civilization evolution?Well, our clans of about 150-or-so people likely did not have a single individual as “chief”.I think we had a Council of old folks — mostly a bunch of older women.I think this author senses this whispering to her from her genome.And she is not the only such author [see below].We also had a 9-step system of justice.It went like this —offense — outcry — arrest — examination — shaming — confession -- sentence — punishment — forgivenessI believe we all still have access to this in our hearts — in our DNA.Today, we mostly see this system operating in Superman comics & other superhero fictions.This stone age system of Justice kicked in naturally, often beginning with a child or a woman screaming.Folks came running.The apparent offender & victim were surrounded, & the issue was brought before the Council of Old Women.It was quickly resolved — with a true confession & if appropriate -- due punishment.That was followed swiftly with true forgiveness — & things returned to normal.We lived this way for, likely, more than 2 million years, & this system of Justice got into our DNA.Then, we left Africa & the system collapsed; strongmen, often with a few cronies, took over.Now we have Civilization, & Justice seldom happens so naturally anymore.Don’t you sense a growing dissatisfaction with the ways certain men are running things?Can’t you sense a growing awareness now, especially among women, that we ought to be doing better?Some of us can kind of quietly & thoughtfully access a sense of this system.I call that “listening to your genome.”The author of this seemingly trivial & arbitrary book is — I think — listening to her genome.How many abusive men are killed in this book?I seem to recall about 5.Including the abusive father who succumbed to a heart attack while his 2 daughters watched.There is also Dr. Tade, who got only a knife wound — & a spell in jail.I was thinking about all of the above as I read, you see?So, I was looking to the end of the book as a confirmation of my notions.Would the sisters — especially the attractive one, Ayoola — come to traditional justice?I was hoping — Not!And I was not disappointed when they got away with hauling off the last abuser.Which suggests we might enjoy a sequel?A little background —First, in 2021, I read My Sister, published in 2018.Then, in 2022, I read The Power, published in 2016.I suspect this 2018 book, Sister, owes at least part of its inspiration to the earlier recent novel.The Power, from 2016, by Naomi Alderman, envisions women rising up — to power.In it, women discover this amazing power: a built-in taser, which which they can subdue abusive men.So, I sort of read them backward, & that has gotten confusing at times.However, after reading Sister, as soon as I started The Power, I was struck by some coincidences —1] Nigeria is the setting in My Sister, & Nigeria is also important early in The Power.2] An important man in each book — both Black Nigerians — appears early & lives to the end of each novel.3] Their names are similar, Dr. TADE in Sister, & TUNDE the reporter in Power.4] Both books have to do with women attaining power over abusive men.It seems to me that the author of the 2nd book, Sister, is giving a vigorous nod to the earlier author of The Power.Ayoola & her sister lack this power — but they subdue & dispose of such guys the best they can.A review of The Power on Wikipedia includes this note — ”Allie kills Tatiana and decides to take the world back to the Stone Age to reset its growth and structures based on women's powers."Please glance back above about what I said about our ancestral species!These authors are listening to their genome!

I have to confess, when I first saw this book come out a few years ago, I was on the fence if I wanted to read it. I must have read the synopsis of another Sister book, there were a few that year, and added it to this cover on accident because not reading this book 2 years ago was a mistake. I'm giving this book 4 stars and here's why....but before I go into what I liked about this book, let me quickly tell you what it's about.2 sisters live in Nigeria. Korede is the older sister and Ayoola the youngest. The two girls come from a well to do family where the father has died years past and the girls and mother are trying to carry on. Korede is a soon to be Head Nurse at the local hospital and Ayoola is a fashion designer and Youtube influencer. It doesn't say their ages but I would guess that they are close in age maybe 2-3 years different and that in the present they are around 24 and 26/27. It says in the book that the father died 10 years ago and that right before he died he was trying to sell his daughter at 14 to a Chief of another village. It was a great business opportunity. In the present and where the story begins, Ayoola needs Korede to come quickly because she has killed another man. Korede has been cleaning up her sisters "messes" since she was 17. She fears this will be her new norm and Korede will forever be the one to clean up all the blood while her sister continues to be a serial killer.As the story unfolds you continue to flip flop on who the reliable source is. Is Ayoola a serial killer who has a thirst for murder or is she reliving her terrible childhood and has to kill to purge the pain. Is she a sociopath? Is Korede innocent in all of this? Why does she continue to help her sister? Is blood thicker than water?This story felt like a very modern re-telling of We Have Always Lived in the Castle. When family members know exactly what has happened during the "accident", but never spills the beans, but also is constantly wanting to.This story felt very real. There are the rare sisters that lose love for their siblings. But in most cases I think, sisters would do ANYTHING for one another. When Ayoola was first born Korede claimed her. "She is MINE!" Korede said. As they grew, Korede was her protector. Going so far as holding Ayoola's hand while she was being punished and hit. Korede or trying to shelter her from a pre-arranged "wedding" or possessing from a man Chief? So of course when Ayoola calls frantic about another murder...Korede is quick to help, begrudgingly even. It's like, "why do you always have to ruin my evening with your murders?" This story is so great because it gets it right. Korede love hates her sister and when push comes to shove....well she's family.Oyinkan did such a good job with making me HATE Ayoola. She's so arrogant and manipulative. She has no real empathy. She does what she wants without acknowledging the consequences. I was frustrated for Korede. I wanted to throttle Ayoola for the way she acted like a spoiled entitled brat. And the playing things off "what???" was so annoying. I could relate. I could feel my blood boiling. Like what if my sister acted the same way? I have two and they both can be very annoying. But I'm the older sister and so must protect them.I loved the short bursty chapters. Those are always great because it makes me feel tense like I'm watching an action film. What's going to happen next? It also gives me the feeling of reading the book quickly and everyone wants to read books quickly...unless you are a weirdo or a great fan of the Dark Tower series by Stephen King and want the story to go on as long as possible that you put the book down 200 pages before you reach the end of the 7th book and it's been two years since you last picked the book up. That kind of weirdo or great fan.Lastly, it was great to read a book outside of the United States. I got a feel or small peek of another culture. I loved reading Yoruba and Hausa I believe is what the languages were called. I have no idea how any of the words are pronounced, but I loved looking at new languages and trying to figure it out.If you like quick reads about a pretty apparent plot twist that has to do with serial killers and sisters definitely pick up this book. It was enjoyable.

The hype around this book was 100% justified. This is a masterclass in tension, creating it, relaxing it a little and then pulling it tight again. It is likely to be shelved in crime, but I feel that structurally it owes a lot to horror. I had to read it in bites, which is unusual for me, but I was having these “I can’t watch.” moments where I had to take a break and get my emotional equilibrium back before I returned to the characters.There is a freshness to the piece. There is nothing obvious about the plot. The characters are well rounded and treated with respect. The Sisterly relationship is just perfect. There are some interesting choices in chapter length which I think work well and the style is suitably economical and spare for a piece of Noir. It is what I call genre+ where a writer takes genre structures and uses them as a springboard for something that bit elevated.I loved Korede and loved the way she was drawn down into a moral quagmire by Braithwaite. All the external motivations and internal motivations lead inexorably to a satisfying conclusion. Where I have my only note of criticism, I think the ending could have been written into a little more. I like it, I just think it needed to be expanded a little more.This is the perfect book to be turned into a movie, and Working Title have already bought the option. I just hope they do it justice because this could be such a good movie.

I heard about the author from a post on a writers’ group and d/l a sample of My Sister, the Serial Killer. I was hooked from the outset and bought the book. Oyinkan Braithwaite (OB) has subverted and refashioned ‘crime’ and produced a near-perfect noir except for a couple of important things – and I will come to those later - but they should not stop you from getting a copy pronto, taking the phone off the hook (as people used to say) and refusing to speak to anyone unless the house is burning down. Yes, it is that good.The voice of the book is Korede’s, elder sister to Ayoola, the former a hospital nurse, tall, angular and not pretty (as she tells us), the latter an exquisitely beautiful wild child, utterly devastating, self centred and lacking any right-wrong moral sense. There is a mother but the father is ten years dead, though he looms back into Korede’s present; he was a domestic tyrant of absolutely the worst kind.I don’t do spoilers but it suffices that the title announces the novel for what it is, but how it unfolds shows the young author to be a very bright star in the sky. The chapters are many and short, some a single paragraph, a page, max four – we should call them ‘scenes’. Each is headed by a word, usually one word, which signals the intent of the scene.The story has two locations: home for the family, a compound in Lagos in a large house, and the hospital where Korede works and where she moons and swoons over a handsome doctor who barely acknowledges her. OB’s writing has that wonderful thing where I felt transported to this part of West Africa. When Ayoola waltzes in one day at her sister’s place of work to ‘Take you to lunch’ (no, it is a kind of spying), the handsome doctor sees the sister and the amorous fireworks start. Korede also has a confessor, a patient in a coma whom she visits, sits with and pours out her sister’s doings. Of course, there is a consequence to this that you can probably guess.This is also a book with Nigerian culture stitched into it. People routinely, it seems tell lies, use astonishing verbal and mental juggling to turn black into white and guilt into innocence, the dexterity and virtuosity of which makes Donald Trump look like a beginner - and corruption is everywhere. Also the marriage plotting and scheming of the sisters’ mother is not a million miles from Jewish mothers in NYC. There is a fearsome patriarchy and where women are treated badly: make that very badly. There are Nigerian words, some in the alphabet I am using, others in a strange mix of letters with accent markings that are probably Yoruba – and I would have liked an end of book glossary – there is appreciable cooking and, well, I wanted to know what they were eating.It is a terrific read. OB suffered terrible writer’s block (see article, The Guardian, 15 Jan) and wrote MSTSK in a kind of desperation (hey girl, feel your pain, we’ve all been there).But I cannot give the fifth star, because of the ending. It is unsatisfying, ambiguous and for such a gifted young writer a bit lazy. Her editors should have known better, but perhaps they were thinking of a sequel – please, no – the story does not have the legs for it.Now: buy it!

A crime novel with short, punchy chapters, and a garishly neon cover that is so, "Come on, I DARE you to read me!"You're not supposed to like or take the side of a serial killer - and by God, I didn't! Ayoola is beautiful, seems to be bláse about everything, and a psychopathic killer. She gets her sister, Korede, to clean up after her. I'm torn between Ayoola playing a game or just showing her true nature. I don't think she's that intelligent to play a game, but I could be wrong. Korede's only 'therapy' comes in the form of a dying man in a coma. Well, he's not going to tell anyone, is he?This would be a fantastic tale for a book club to discuss. It seems a simplistic story, however it is not. It is chock full of questions. Some of which are: the roles women play in Nigeria; the roles of older and younger sisters; is anyone in this book real?; why is Ayoola killing men?; is blood thicker than water, is that why Korede backs her sister completely?Sharp, shocking, intelligent, and a definite page-turner.

The blurb of this book reads as a dream. Comic, tense, about serial killer sisters and lets face it serial killers are so hot right now.I dont remember it being particularly funny, certainly not laugh out loud. The tension was minimal and there are basically no murders in the pages.The near lack of action leads you building up to the last pages thinking its all happening now, its all coming to a head and the action is about to happen when it just ends. It just bloody ends. Its not a cliffhanger its not a twist, theres no resolution it just stops. I wouldnt accept such a mild ending at the end of an episode of Coronation Street.It’s built to be a corker and was in all just disappointing

I enjoyed this book, most of which I read in an afternoon. There's no "who done it" here--the sister is indeed a serial killer, so no spoiler alert required. The surprise is more that this is a family story with fully drawn characters who have some issues, shall we say. The author ensures that you care about them.The topics are pretty serious but overall, this is an entertaining story, well written. I definitely recommend it!