My Sister, the Serial Killer
Book description
Sunday Times bestseller and The Times #1 bestseller
Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2019
Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2019
Winner of the 2019 LA Times Award for Best Crime Thriller
Capital Crime Debut Author of the Year 2019
__________
'A literary sensation'
Guardian
'A bombshell of aâŚ
Why read it?
13 authors picked My Sister, the Serial Killer as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Why people lie is often as interesting as the lie itself for me. This book lays this out as Korede finds herself being a protective big sister to the beautiful Ayoola, a woman with an unfortunate hobby of bumping off men she dates. Despite the darkness of the subject matter, itâs a story full of humor as Korede finds herself telling lie after lie and getting in way over her head to cover up her sisterâs murders.
Iâve got two sisters (none of us serial killers!), and itâs funny how much of this tale is relatable! Itâs fresh and sharp,âŚ
From Barbara's list on books told by liars.
Itâs always refreshing to read portrayals of unconventional female relationships, something Iâm particularly interested in when writing my own novels. Because our relationships are rarely straightforward or predictable, are they?
As the title suggests, the relationship between Korede and her serial killer sister, Ayoola, is far from conventionalâŚand while the story delves into some dark and gruesome places, it is a thriller that had me laughing as much as covering my eyes in horror. This accomplished debut goes firmly on my âcouldnât put it downâ list â itâs warm, funny, and page-turningly good!
From Isabel's list on sinister sisters and strange sisterhoods.
Not a situation Iâd find myself in. Neither, I hope, will you. Koredeâs problem in this quirky book is dark and unusual: having to protect a sister who kills her suitors.
The plot goes from unpredictable to weird. The older sister, a nurse committed to saving lives, has to choose between her code of ethics and her love for her pretty, precocious sister, who keeps killing her boyfriends.
A story this morbid, narrated with straight-faced, deadpan humour, has made this book one of my picks.
From Jane's list on books to make you laugh when youâre trying to look serious.
If you love My Sister, the Serial Killer...
Thereâs so much I love about this book: the setting of Lagos, Nigeria, the vignette-style chapters that toggle between poetic insights of the titular sisters, a crime novel unlike any that Iâve read, and the questions it asks about how far youâll go to protect the people you love.
This book had me riveted, turning pages as fast as I could. Despite being dark, it also made me laughâwhich is a really tough combination to pull off! I gulped it down in about two sittingsâthe story had me that hooked.
From Halley's list on female-driven noir novels.
This novel follows Ayoola, a beautiful murderer, and her put-upon sister, Korede, who helps clean up her crime scenes. Korede is loyal to a fault, willing to help cover up her sisterâs crimes, but what makes the relationship feel authentic and lived-in is the way petty resentment boils around minor slights and the perpetual issue of the sistersâ disparate beauty. 7
The book is a slender, efficient, and funny look at the psychology of sisterhood that happens to take the form of a thriller.
From Kate's list on books that capture the love/hate relationship of sisters.
The title and all the glowing reviews made me pick this book up, but the sisters Korene and Ayoola kept me reading. This book actually made me wonder exactly how far Iâd go for one of my sisters. It also made me think about how much many women give up to be the caretakers (as Korene the nurse is), especially of the men in our lives. Korene not only figuratively has to clean up after her little sister, she has to literally don plastic gloves and grab the bleach. Is it horrible to think a little Ayoola-style âself-defenseâ would makeâŚ
From Kelly's list on celebrating sisterhood through time.
If you love Oyinkan Braithwaite...
This book is stunning because itâs so original. The narrator is the sister of a woman who regularly falls for the wrong man and then kills him when she finds out. Not only that, but she expects her sister to help her clean up the murder scene. Itâs superficially unbelievable, but Braithwaiteâs brilliance makes it entirely believable because of the familyâs background and the suffocatingly close bond between the two sisters. True, the Nigerian police miss a few points that a US police detective would pick up, but thatâs how they operate. Some great thrillers are coming out of NigeriaâŚ
From Michael's list on African noir thrillers.
How far would you go to protect a family member? Who will take the blame for repeated murders? Do we have a psychological Siamese twin in our lives? My Sister, the Serial Killer blends murder with the diverse and fascinating Nigerian culture. A layered story of need, family loyalty, and abuse.
From Felicia's list on thrillers with a Gothic theme.
Of all family relationships, I am particularly intrigued by the bond between sistersâthink: Little Women, Sense and Sensibility, The Vanishing Half. In Braithwaiteâs debut novel, older and more practical sister Korede is hopelessly devoted to younger and more impetuous sister Ayoola. This familiar family dynamic is given a fresh and fabulous take when it turns out Ayoolaâs boyfriends keep ending up dead, leaving Korede to clean up the mess. Sister melodrama and serial murderâwhat could be more fun, right?
From A.H.'s list on putting the fun into dysfunctional families.
If you love My Sister, the Serial Killer...
I read Nigerian writer Braithwaiteâs slim, fast-paced debut in a single day. This is the story of two women, here, sisters. One beautiful, charming, sensual, self-absorbed, and sociopathicâthe one actually doing the stabbingâand the other, mousey, responsible, loyal to a faultâthe one cleaning everything up. As moral grounds become murkier we are left to wonder, which is worse?
From Madeline's list on in protest of womenâs âlikabilityâ.
If you love My Sister, the Serial Killer...
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