Saturday, May 4, 2019

Book Brief: My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite


My Sister, the Serial Killer
by Oyinkan Braithwaite
narrated by Adepero Oduye
Random House Audio, 2018
4 hours and 19 minutes

Source: library download

Publisher's summary:
When Korede's dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what's expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This'll be the third boyfriend Ayoola's dispatched in, quote, self-defence and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor where Korede works as a nurse. Korede's long been in love with him, and isn't prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other...

Opening lines:
Ayoola summons me with these words - Korede, I killed him.
I had hoped I would never hear those words again.
My thoughts:

I was going to skip this book, but circumstances aligned to alter my plans. First, My Sister, the Serial Killer  won the Morning News Tournament of Books, then several trusted bloggers rated it highly, and finally, the audio version was immediately available from my library. The fact that it's so short helped, too!

My Sister, the Serial Killer  is unusual, engaging, and slightly disturbing. It's billed as darkly comic, but I found it more satirical than humorous. The writing is economical and sharp. I enjoyed the exploration of Ayoola and Korede's sibling relationship, loyalty gone awry, and family dysfunction, as well as the commentary on social media.

The audio edition is very well done, with Adepero Oduye's Nigerian accent enriching the overall experience. Listening was definitely the right choice for me.

If you're at all curious, I urge you to give this short novel a try.

My rating:



16 comments:

  1. I agree on the book being more satirical than humorous because underlying all the shenanigans was some serious misogyny.

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    Replies
    1. Judy - Absolutely! This was actually a very dark book.

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  2. I am curious, but I'm not big on satire. Still on the fence with this one, so I will probably pass.

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    1. Les - I know there are many other books calling to you right now. We all need to spend our precious reading time wisely.

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  3. Yeah I thought the novel was clever in ways ... and also had some underlying emotion to it too. The sisters had an interesting alliance for sure. I enjoyed the audio version too.

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    Replies
    1. Susan - Interesting alliance is a good way to put it, lol. This was a sharp, clever book.

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  4. I would like to try this one. I just checked to see if our library has the audio version but it doesn't. :/

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    1. Kathy - I'm sure it's good in print, too, but listening to the accent was definitely part of the fun for me.

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  5. I have heard a lot about this book. Based on your commentary it sounds different and creatively written. I might give it a try myself.

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    1. Brian - It's certainly different and very creative. Definitely worth a read, and since it's so short, there's not much to lose!

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  6. I’m glad you mostly liked it because I’m on a waitlist for it. I love the cover and the title.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. AJ - The cover and title are definitely both draws... I think you're going to like this one!

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  7. I hadn't thought about trying the audio but I do love to hear accents so maybe I should try it that way. I'm looking forward to this one!

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    1. Iliana - If the audio is available, that's definitely the way to go. I love listening to accents!

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  8. I almost picked this for my club to read but they are kind of picky. I plan to read it on my own though.

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    Replies
    1. Ti- I'm not sure my book club would go for this either, but I'm glad to have listened to it.

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