Book: My Sister, The Serial Killer, Author: Oyinkan Braithwaithe
I’m not great with reading, it’s either I’m drawn in pretty quickly, revel and enjoy it or I struggle to get into and end up hating the book (ahem… Swing Time. My sister the serial killer was the latter. My sister the serial killer is an excellent read. I finished it in a day, in four hours to be exact. Tumbling through sentences, devouring each morsel. Words paced beautifully dotted with unexpected humour.
“The most loving parents and relatives commit murder with smiles on their faces.
They force us to destroy the person we really are: a subtle kind of murder.”
I had to get on my train and tried to rush through some pages before I had to interrupt myself to get on the train. And it hit me, the book is good. Korede is the perfect anti-hero, and Ayoola… well I felt a sense of empathy with her character although my better judgement knew she was a psychopathic. Her character was refreshing (not sure if that’s the right word) about her character, her cold callousness and laissez faire attitude kind of reminiscent of Gone Girl.
I bought it in WHSmith off hand, the title and cover is striking. As I got on the train to finish the last few pages, a lady walked by “I’ve just bought that, is it good?” “It’s great I answer I started today and look I’m almost done.” I’m happy it is popular and receiving such a good reception. The only critique I would make here is to a broader conversation in the Nigerian context where beautiful women are often portrayed as evil or mami wata. So it plays nicely into the trope of the manipulative nature of feminine wiles.
There are many topics touched on deftly in this book, such as power/powerlessness, abuse, envy. It’s a great book that I’m sure to lose as I happily pass it around friends and family.
