Blodeuedd's Monday Review: My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Hardcover, 240 pages

Expected publication: January 3rd 2019 by Atlantic Books (first published November 20th 2018)

Fiction

Thank you Atlantic for this copy!

My Thoughts:

This one was disturbingly normal. There is no danger, no suspense, just realisation that this is how it will go down. This woman is crazy. You can not know who might be a serial killer, Ayoola never shows signs of it, except when with her sister. 

Korede is the best sister in the world. She loves Ayoola, she wants her best, but sometimes family is not worth saving. But to Korede there is maybe not hope, just realisation and acceptance. And as a nurse she knows how to clean up after dead bodies. Not to mention her upbringing made her a clean freak. And she does see that her sister is not ok. How calm she is, how it is never her fault that she killed her boyfriends. She knows that there is a monster there.

As for Ayoola, we are never in her mind. This is Korede's book. But Ayoola is beautiful, shallow, spoiled, and do not care for anyone. Except her sister then. Something is not right and she does not even seem to like killing. She just gets bored and does it.

Then Ayoola comes after a doctor that Korede fancies...

I had no idea how this would turn out and the ending, yes it fits. So disturbingly normal. Life goes on. This is messed up family dynamics.

Conclusion:

Great storytelling. I like how the author lets the novel speak for itself. You really have to read it to see it. Like any other normal book, about normal people, and cleaning up after murders. And in that way it feels really light and you will read it in a heartbeat.

Synopsis

"Femi makes three, you know. Three and they label you a serial killer."

Korede is bitter. How could she not be? Her sister, Ayoola, is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola's third boyfriend in a row is dead. Korede's practicality is the sisters' saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood, the trunk of her car is big enough for a body, and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures of her dinner to Instagram when she should be mourning her "missing" boyfriend. Not that she gets any credit.

A kind, handsome doctor at the hospital where Korede works, is the bright spot in her life. She dreams of the day when he will realize they're perfect for each other. But one day Ayoola shows up to the hospital uninvited and he takes notice. When he asks Korede for Ayoola's phone number, she must reckon with what her sister has become and what she will do about it.

Sharp as nails and full of deadpan wit, Oyinkan Braithwaite has written a deliciously deadly debut that's as fun as it is frightening.