#why do i always fall madly in love with the ones doomed by the narrative
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rybreadable Ā· 2 months ago
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/HSR 2.5 spoilers
getting a message from Jiaoqiu after what went down made me think Moze must be texting for him i doubt the man wouldve left Jiaoqiu's side
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wetalkinboutbooks Ā· 5 years ago
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My Sister, the Serial Killer byĀ Oyinkan Braithwaite
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Summary: When Koredeā€™s dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows whatā€™s expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. Thisā€™ll be the third boyfriend Ayoolaā€™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. Koredeā€™s long been in love with him, and isnā€™t prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other. (Taken from Goodreads)
Our Ratings:Ā Ā 
Ā ā†’ Geena: Ā ā­ļø ā­ļø ā­ļøšŸŒ—Ā 
Ā ā†’ Kae: ā­ļø ā­ļø ā­ļøšŸŒ—Ā 
Overall:Ā 
My Sister, the Serial Killer is a thriller that delivers šŸ˜¤ Oyinkan Braithwaite does an amazing job delving into the psyche of our main character even though thereā€™s only a few hundred pages to this book. In addition, we also get a sense of every other characterā€™s personalities (with some bias since it is first person). Thereā€™s wild plot twists and an ending that leaves your brain reeling! We highly recommend this book, itā€™s a quick read and pretty entertaining.Ā 
~ Spoiler-full discussion below ~
The Good:Ā 
ā†’ The story
Kae: So, we start off with Korede receiving a call from her sister, Ayoola. She has killed another man and has class her big sister to help clean up her mess. Korede, as tired of her sisters shit as she is, drives to her sisters now DEAD boyfriends house to help dispose of the body. Her sister is always claiming self-defense, but Korede isnā€™t so sure. Sheā€™s a bit of an obsessive cleaner, so she scrubs his house clean, they throw his body in the river and continue on about their lives. Korede, not as easily as her sister. Korede is a nurse who has a crush on one of the doctors, Tade, who is just GODā€™S FINEST MAN, according to Korede. Not in those words, but you get what Iā€™m sayinā€™.Ā Ā 
Geena: SHE DESCRIBED HIM LIKE THE MAN OF EVERY GIRLā€™S DREAM
Kae: Boom! This is true. Sheā€™s madly in love with him. He can sing, is tall dark and handsome, and has a smile that outshines the sun. BUT, Korede is not conveniently attractive and is often overlooked by her beautiful sister, Ayoola. Though Korede doesnā€™t mind, it still irked me that everyone assumed she was jealous of Ayoola. They also treated Korede like the ugly duckling and I DID NOT like that shit AT ALL.Ā 
Geena: Kae really hit all the main points, and I agreeā€¦ I HATED how Korede was treated and looked at. Everyone around her seemed to look down on her (even her own mother???). Regardless of how sheā€™s been treated due to her comparison to Ayoola, Korede loves her sister (like why else would she help hide 3 of her murders lmao) and would do ANYTHING (obviously) for her. Though that takes a hit when Ayoola waltzes into her hospital and the doctor she had a crush on falls head over heels for her. Itā€™s just a wild ride from there as the doctor Korede thought was so perfectā€¦ justā€¦. Rots??? LIKE HOW DO WE DESCRIBE THATā€¦ His perfect man faƧade just fades as the story progresses. I really liked how the story progressed and we got to see how Koredeā€™s opinions and thoughts change over the course of the novel like yaaas girl men ainā€™t shit!
Kae: Basically, yes men ain't shit and I love how his character just deteriorates in front of our eyes. Thatā€™s good writing because at first, I too was like ā€œyaaaas, a perfect man!ā€ then I was like ā€œEw, it stinks in here. Smell like funky ass Tade.ā€ with that funky ass personality.Ā 
ā†’ Muhtar and Femi
Geena: DESPITE MY EARLIER POINT ABOUT MEN AINā€™T SHIT, two men in this story were okay. Given that one was in a coma for half the book, and the other dead. Femi is the man that Ayoola murders at the start of the book, we learn about him as Korede keeps track of his family and how they react to his ā€œdisappearance.ā€ Femi was a Soft Boyā„¢ that wrote poetry and was lowkey jacked (according to Korede as she helped wrap his corpse). Femi essentially haunts Koredeā€™s conscious, like the first man that Ayoola has murdered that wasnā€™t an absolute bag of shit (once againā€¦ according to Korede). I also liked how Femiā€™s voice in Koredeā€™s head was the loudest when she was the most anxious about Ayoola murdering Tadeā€¦ but as the novel progresses we hear less from ā€˜Femiā€™. AND LIKEā€¦. OYINKAN IS SUCH A GOOD AUTHORā€¦ all these subtleties that I didnā€™t even notice till now..Ā 
Kae: GEENA, YOUR MIND. I didnā€™t even peep that until you said it. But yes, to all of it! And now, we have Muhtar. Muhtar is a patient thatā€™s been a coma for a few months that Korede has been caring for. She also talks to him about the murders her sister commits and how she helps clean the mess. Youā€™d think this is alright because Muhtar has been in a coma for months, so he wonā€™t tell anyone. WELL DING DONG, YOU ARE WRONGā€¦. Kind of. Because my boy wakes up and he remembers damn there everything. Korede is shook (but I saw it coming hehehehe) so she then begins to avoid him. But, he requests her. He thinks her voice is what saved him and kept him alive while he was in a deep, comatose sleep. She begins to learn that he is a professor and that his wife was MAYBE TOTALLY POSSIBLY (absolutely) having an affair with his brother while he was knocked tf out. Korede is nervous because Muhtar remembers everything, but he assures her that he will not tell her secret. But he DOES tell her that continuing to aid her sister is going to destroy her little by little. Heā€™s kind of right. But he, along with Femi, is a voice of reason for her. Muhtar is also one of the few people that treats Korede like a decent human being. He never mentions her appearance or if he thinks of her as a bad person. In his eyes, she is his angel that saved him from completely drowning in the sea of darkness that was his coma. We stan Muhtar! He even wanted to stay in touch with Korede after he recovered, but Korede reluctantly, burned his number. She wanted to leave him in the past, like all the murders she helped clean up.Ā 
Geena: Ugh yes, I was thinking that maybe Korede saw Muhtar as an uncle/father figure, because their own father was absolutely garbage likeā€¦. TW for reading this book because their father is honest to god the WORST. I feel like if she had kept his number and talked to him she wouldā€™ve been able to break out of the toxic cycle of helping her sister get away with murder but I guess it wasnā€™t in her fate :(
The Bad :Ā Ā 
ā†’ KoredeĀ 
Geena: Our heroine is UNFORTUNATELY the bad of the book. We sympathized with her a lot, she was the eldest sibling that always got the short end of the stick both at home and work, but she was expected to be perfect nonetheless. Yet, as the story progresses and the solutions to her problems become glaringly obvious (pls turn in ur sisterā€¦ even though at this point your complicit) Korede turns a blind eye and continues to fall under the influence of Ayoola. We had hoped that by the end of the series Korede would have realized that blood isnā€™t thicker than waterā€¦. But :// I MEAN I understand why narrative wise but IT STILL WAS FRUSTRATING likeā€¦.Ā 
Fate: *presents the perfect chance for Korede to be free of Ayoola*
Korede: *slips on sunglasses* suddenlyā€¦ I canā€™t readĀ 
Kae: Yeah, I sympathized with Korede a lot. Like, she was always overlooked, talked down to, and treated like she was less than. But sheā€™s honestly the true definition of ā€œride or dieā€ *ba doom tiinnngg*. I do wish that even if she didnā€™t turn in her sister, she wouldā€™ve at least moved out of her toxic home away from her murderous and toxic ass sister. Like Geena said, she had the perfect opportunity to solve her probbies, but she just kept up with the shits. THOUGHHHHH. Her sister DID attempted to kill Tade and failed and that kind of backfired. Ayoola claims Tade was beginning to think Korede killed Femi and Ayoola was like ā€œoh shitā€¦ā€ then stabby stabby, missed him, BOOM. He stabs her instead. Itā€™s a whole thing but they get out of it. Blame it on Tade. Self defense and all that jazz. But YES, Iā€™ve gone off topic. Korede got stuck like chuck.Ā 
Geena: LMAO YES KAE WORDED IT PERFECTLY! And now that you mention itā€¦ Iā€™m likeā€¦. What did Ayoola say that led Tade to believe that Korede killed Femi šŸ‘€ Ayoola was fr gaslighting our poor girl the whole time likeā€¦ OKAY I KINDA WANNA TALK ABOUT AYOOLA BC HOLY SHIT THAT GIRLā€¦. HOW U GONNA CASUALLY LICK ICE CREAM WHILE LOOKING THE SISTER OF THE MAN U KILLED IN HER FACE AND BE LIKE ā€œOMG IS THERE ANY NEWS?ā€ LIKEā€¦ā€¦. WHERE IS HER OSCAR? AND HER JAIL SENTENCEā€¦ My mind was REELINGā€¦ Also, I GUESS Koredeā€™s choice makes sense, she chose to protect Ayoola since they were kids (from their shitty ass dad) and I guess that trauma just forced her to follow the same path.Ā 
The Ugly:Ā 
ā†’ TadeĀ 
Kae: Geena was so right about everything she said about Ayoola. HONESTLY. TRULY. Now, Tadeā€¦ Tade, Tade, Tade. Not gonna lie, I was swooning right along with all the other ladies at the beginning of the book. He was described as the perfect gentleman. He is basically what every girl (or boy or anything in between or not) would want. Then, as the story progresses, we see Tade as wellā€¦ a fuck boy. Like, backtracking a bit, Ayoola mentioned that Tade was just like the rest. He saw a pretty face and nothing else. And well, Ayoola was right. He didnā€™t know shit about Ayoola, her little quirks, or even what she liked. He just thought she was pretty and was ready to put a ring on it. He began to ignore Korede, only talk to her if it was about Ayoola, and eventually came to speculate that Korede was the one to kill Femi. He thought like this because he grouped pretty faces with lovely things, and wellā€¦ ugly faces with ugly thingsā€¦ Like murder and jealousy. We slowly began to see that Tade was just like the rest of them and that was ANNOYING AS SHIT. ESPECIALLY when he starts getting up Koredeā€™s ass, saying sheā€™s a bad sister and jealous and bitter. Korede was nothing but nice to his STANK ASSSSSS and in the end, he couldnā€™t even be nice in return. MIND YOU. Heā€™d only known Ayoola for like a month or two, but had known Korede for like a year or so. Annoying.Ā 
Geena:Ā  HARD AGREE ON EVERYTHING KAE SAID, because holy shit Tade deteriorated faster than Femiā€™s corpse. He really saw Ayoola once and forgot about Korede. Our girl out here used to COOK for his dumbassā€¦ She used to listen to him talk about everything, and Korede was ready to give him the world. The funniest part in the whole book was when Tade is going batshit crazy because he finds out that Ayoola cheated on him and Korede sees his condition and was like pathetic.jpegā€¦ But they share a moment there??? And Korede tries to tell him that Ayoola is a serial killer and Tade is like ā€œI KNEW YOU WERE A BACKSTABBING BITCH!!ā€Ā  while Korede was likeā€¦ the only stabbing bitch here is Ayoola but alright. Not to mention when he brings out the ring for Ayoola and heā€™s talking like a crackhead about how much he loves Ayoola and Korede asks ā€œOh, so what do you like about her.ā€ *CUE SILENCE* Tade is like ā€œOH you know sheā€™s super pretty and I wanna be with her.ā€......... likeā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ if that ainā€™t the most fuckboi shitā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ I guess that was the point Korede was like ā€œmen ainā€™t shit!!!!ā€ making it easier for her to just turn him over to the cops when he stabs Ayoola. GOD he was fucking annoying, kinda disappointed that Ayoola didnā€™t kill him :/// hoo boy thinkin bout that man gives me a headacheā€¦ the absolute stupidityā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦. Korede was wearing them heavy rose-coloured glasses at the start of the book and we got to read them shatter so that was a good touch!
ā†’ Ayoola
Kae: AYOOLA. The perfect, pretty little sociopath. This girl is honestly something else. Sometimes I would have to scoff at the gall of this girls ability to not give a single fuck. Ayoola really murdered Femi, called Korede, then was just chillin on her phone or whatever while Korede cleaned up the mess. She has to have this like, impulse feeling where she hears Kill Bill sirens and sees red, then just straight up STABS OLā€™ DUDE and then sheā€™s back to normal like ā€œoops, I did it again.ā€ and this bitch just be like WELP GOTTA CALL BIG SISSY TO HELP ME la dee daaa. She even participated in Femiā€™s hashtag on Insta. Home girl was DANCING IN HER ROOM after killing him. This would honestly make a great movie, ngl.Ā 
Geena: YOUā€™RE SO RIGHT IT WOULD MAKE A GREAT MOVIE, Iā€™d pay to see this made. God.. Ayoola was actually psycho just after a week she murders her bf she decides to go on to the next one? Like girl wasted NO time moving on, even though the whole time she was with Tade she was, like Kae said, participating in Femiā€™s Insta hashtag like ā€œomg where is my man :(((ā€œ. ALSO the way she expects Korede to not question her after she kills a man? Korede will simply insinuate that Ayoola murdered someone and this girl would be like ā€œYOU SEE ME AS A MONSTER????? IS THAT HOW IT IS?ā€ Making Korede feel bad and backtrack. ALSO, like Kae mentionedā€¦. AYOOLA WAS NEVER STRESSED??? Even when the cops rolled through to question her and Korede, Ayoola was like ~sips drink~ ā€œIā€™m sure Korede has this figured out.ā€ Going to project for a second and be like.. Thatā€™s such a younger sibling thing to do? Like never stressing about anything because theyā€™re sure their older sibling will make up for them.
Kae: And we do. We totally make up for them. Because if theyā€™re not going to do it, it falls on you ANYWAY and I honestly donā€™t like seeing my little sister get in trouble so, I get it. She only deserves to get in trouble if I think she deserves it. Mostly because we totally raise our younger sibs. We lowkey ā€œmomma bearā€ them.Ā 
ConclusionĀ 
Geena: This book was pretty short, only a few hundred pages, but it was fucking JAM PACKED!! It was a thriller, every chapter you were like ā€œOk this is where Ayoola snaps!!ā€ or ā€œThis is where the cops catch them!ā€Ā  but NAH! I really enjoyed the writing even though the ending made me wanna SCREAM, Oyinkan Braithwaite does a really good job at foreshadowing and so on. For example, foreshadowing Muhtar waking up (which I shouldā€™ve seen but I was drinking that dumb bitch juice). Rated it 3.5/5 because I think there was room for Korede to grow past what she has known but sometimes we just fall back into what weā€™ve always done :/Ā 
Kae: I agree. It was a short book but it was jam packed with entertainment and I never knew what was going to happen next. I really enjoyed reading it and I loved how modern it was with itā€™s mentions of Insta and Snapchat. I liked that Korede dealt with all of her trauma by excessive cleaning. I liked that it showed a real coping mechanism, even if it was under horrible circumstances. I liked all of the characters and the way Oyinkan wrote them. I loved going deeper into these characters personalities. The ending did piss me off, but ITā€™S A THRILLER BOOK. So I shouldā€™ve seen incoming *small violin*. I too, give it a 3.5/5.Ā 
Geena: BUT YA Iā€™D SAY THIS IS A GOOD BOOK REGARDLESS OF THE ENDING RIGHT? I really liked everything UP to the end skfjnsā€¦ PLEASE READ IT!!
Kae: YES. READ IT. ITā€™S SOOO WORTH IT. ITā€™S A WILD RIDE BAYBEEEE.Ā 
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