my sister, the serial killer (oyinkan braithwaite): a review

 My Sister, the Serial Killer (a review)

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

My Sister, the Serial Killer is an exceedingly fun book about crime sisters who do crime together. The crime is serial murder. It's not quite as fun of a relationship as one would think, but the girlboss energy is immense, and at least one sister is living her best life.

Korede's sister Ayoola has an interesting habit of killing her boyfriends, possibly in self defense, but maybe not. It's sketchy, to say the least. Korede acts as Ayoola's accomplice, helping her dispose of the bodies and whatnot, until Ayoola becomes romantically involved with Korede's love interest, Tade (a doctor and her colleague). Korede becomes both jealous and concerned for Tade's safety because, you know, love interest, and is unsure how much she will do to protect her sister. 

My Sister, the Serial Killer, is satire, although I didn't get it. Then I looked it up on the internet, and the joke is that men are bad listeners and do not take women seriously. Or something. It's making fun of men. In retrospect, that probably should have been obvious. Fortunately, I am so good at ignoring satire that I really enjoyed the book anyway. In any case, I support making fun of men and gender roles, so I am on board with this satire.

Every major character was complicated. I loved Ayoola and I hated Ayoola. I loved Tade and I hated Tade. I loved Muhtar and I hated Muhtar, although mostly I loved him. I didn't hate Korede. Korede was cool pretty much all the time. 

(spoilers)

Speaking of Muhtar, I loved his friendship with Korede. Muhtar is a coma patient in the hospital where Korede works, and she talks to him about her personal problems while he is in a coma because she assumes he can't hear or understand her. Then, he wakes up, and Korede realizes that he has actually heard much of what she has said, and he knows she is enabling her sister the serial killer. But he doesn't tell anyone, he's an adequate human being, and he and Korede have a nice friendship. I am always here for nice people being nice to each other, but I am also here for morally grey people being nice to each other!

(end spoilers)

My Sister, the Serial Killer, is, to summarize it in a short phrase, a fun book about murder. If you enjoy fun, murder, hospitals, knives, complicated sibling dynamics, and/or smashing the patriarchy, you may well enjoy this book.