Darkly funny, this books finds the nexus between doing what’s right and protecting your family. I love the way the author allies us with the heroine, with glimpses of the violent childhood she shared with her sister and the ways they internalized it. Though dealing with grave subjects it never feels heavy and you feel a need to race through.

Ayoola has always been the beautiful sister, her mother’s favorite. She seems perfect from the outside but she does have one flaw. Her boyfriends keep dying in her company. Each time, she claims self-defense. Luckily, her protective older sister Korede is willing to literally clean up her mess time and time again. Korede, a nurse, is secretly in love with one of the doctors she works with but he has no idea. When Ayoola visits the hospital one day, he is immediately taken with her and her beauty like every other man she’s ever met. Now Korede has to decide where her loyalties lie because chances are that Ayoola’s relationship with the doctor will end like all her others.

This book was very suspenseful! I honestly couldn’t figure out what Korede was going to do about the situation with her sister and the doctor. And oh my gosh – the sister was so vapid and selfish! I wanted to yell at Korede to quit protecting her. I guess that’s what big sisters are for.

This book is a short read that’s fast paced and fun. There’s some dark humor in it that makes it not as morbid as it sounds. Take a close look at the cover – creepy! Recommended.

A delicious, darkly comic, pulp-tinged treat of a first novel. It's several steps above a typical page-turner, a sui generis sibling rivalry/star-crossed lover/serial killer/social commentary. During a period in which I'm staying away from non-fiction, this was perfect.

Not a word is wasted in this short novel about a secret between sisters. I’ll happily recommend to fans of mysteries and thrillers.

A'ight. Not gonna lie, I wanted to punch the protagonist in the face...with a chair. Sorry, that escalated quickly, didn't it? :hesitant laughter:

In a nutshell (a really small nutshel), this short book follows Korede, the rather plain sister, as she cleans up the crime scenes of her murdering sister, Ayoola - the super hot, popular sister. Korede feels responsible for her sister. It isn't until Ayoola becomes interested in the same man Korede is interested in that she (Korede) begins to question her own motivations, and wonders if she should stop protecting Ayoola. 

I didn't not enjoy this book, neither did I really enjoy it. The concept is unique and interesting, and asks the reader how far they would go to protect someone they love. Korede's relationship with the doctor she works for, and with the coma patient showed us a woman desperate for love, and even more desperate for an ally. Someone she can share all her secrets with, without fear of that person going to the police. But when her sister, Ayoola, attracts the romantic interest of Korede's doctor, and the coma patient wakes up with a full memory of what Korede shared with him, she starts to question things. 

The ending is what did it for me. I would've been okay with this book if it had ended differently. There are several ways it could've ended that would've made me like it more. But, well. 

So it gets a "Meh" out of 5.

Stefanie Rae

This book a quick and enjoyable read, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I think the description of the book conveys the wrong vibe and left me with the wrong expectations - I didn't find any bit of this book to be full of wit or fun.

I haven't read a lot of books from Africa, but I've really enjoyed everything I've read and My Sister the Serial Killer was no exception! Braithwaite does an amazing job of fleshing out her characters and making them believable, three dimensional people. Even when characters don't behave the way you wish they would (the ending killed me a little) their action always make sense. I feel like I got an interesting view of Nigerian culture and it made me want to learn more about it. Overall a great read for fans of international fiction, serial killers, and unique scenarios!

I really liked it! The writing was great, the plot was just fast moving enough while not getting ahead of itself, and it was engaging enough that I read it in one sitting. It’s a short book but it does a lot in around 200 pages and I found its brevity refreshing!

“No. My sister is the sweetest person you’ll ever meet. Have you met her?”

You will do in this tale, there are two sisters, kin in a crime of killing men, this Lagos noir brings a new voice, writing flows through fluidly with an entertaining read with satire in the narrative.

I really enjoyed this book! It's a quick, captivating read. The dark humor and social commentary was excellent. A super solid debut - I'll definitely be on the lookout for the author's next book whenever it comes out!

I'd heard so much about this book, I was ready to dismiss the hype. To my surprise, I totally loved it.
I love how deeply angry this story is. It's fueled by female frustration and disappointment; it's urgent and potent, pushing through the story at a break-neck pace.

I absolutely loved this book. With the short chapters and frank prose, the story straddled humor and darkness perfectly.. The way that the Nigerian context was painted was rich and textured through setting and dialogue. The relationships in the book are almost always frustrated and constantly reaching toward an end to no avail. Hilariously ludicrous at times, it is a careful blend of tension and story that is not overly emotional, nor too cold.

This is a quick read, Nigerian noir. It's about family loyalty, in the end.

Korede, the older sister, is practical, drab, efficient and bitter. She works as a nurse, and her skills in getting blood out of clothing comes in handy when her younger sister Ayoola calls to say she's killed a boyfriend for the third time. Ayoola is a social media influencer, an absolute gorgeous knockout, and as irresponsible as Korede is efficient. Korede has always helped Ayoola in the past when things have gotten complicated. According to Ayoola, her boyfriends were abusive. But Korede still wonders- Ayoola always seems to have a knife handy.

The sisters come from a broken family with an abusive father. Although they resent each other, they also have been each other's support when things have been truly bad. But now Korede is second-guessing how much she should be helping her little sister. For the first time, Korede is interested in a man herself, a doctor at her hospital. But when Ayoola visits her at work and casts her spell like the femme fatale she is, Korede is worried for the guy, jealous of her sister, and bitter about her own lonely and thankless life.

Something's got to give. Will it be family loyalty or love?

This book is a very quick read. It is set in a country that's not familiar to me, and I liked getting the glimpse into Nigerian life. It wraps up a bit quickly, but it's a great beach read.

A disturbing little novella about two sisters with a bond so intense they'll do anything to protect each other. An enjoyable, unique experience that I wish had lasted longer! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This fiercely clever debut novel will have you hooked (no pun intended) by the first sentence. It is a story about a young woman who cavalierly murders her boyfriends when the mood strikes her and the narrator, her older sister, who dutifully literally and figuratively cleans up her messes and constantly covers for her. A dark, witty satire about femme fatales, sibling dynamics, and relationships was a quick read and deserving of the pre-release buzz.

I was so excited to jump into this book. What's there to hate about the idea of trying to prevent your serial killer little sister from killing more guys? Fantastic premise.

To be completely honest, I could not get through this book. I just couldn't find any sympathy for the protagonist. If your sister is a serial killer it seems to me like you should be less talk and more action, but there was just not a lot of action to be found in this book. Perhaps there was a great climax in the end, but by halfway through I just didn't want to spend anymore time with these characters.

*I received this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review.*

Although this is a shorter book, it sure packs a big punch. Original, captivating, and an absolutely necessary read. Very well-done and one I won't be forgetting.

I had to think about this one for a while after finishing it. My Sister, The Serial Killer is a short book involving Korede, a woman who lives in Lagos, Nigeria. She is a nurse and the older sister of Ayoola. Ayoola has a bad habit of killing her boyfriends in "self-defense". Korede has a bad habit of helping her cover it up. The book has received rave reviews, so I know I am in the minority when I say I didn't really care for this book. From the synopsis, I was expecting a dark slasher/comedy. But I found nothing funny, satirical or remotely frightening about the book.

The story is told in very short chapters through Korede's eyes. Through some flashbacks, we get an idea of how Ayoola ended up the way she did. However, that still didn't excuse any of it. I didn't particularly like any of the characters. I know it's supposed to be a story about sisters and how far you would go to protect your younger siblings. But, I really didn't agree with anything Korede did. What Ayoola needed was intense therapy. I wanted to root for Korede, but I just couldn't get behind any of her choices. I'm not spoiling anything by saying any of this because there are no surprises in this book, The ending was less than satisfying because there was no closer. I guess in the end, it just wasn't the book for me.

My thoughts on My Sister, the Serial Killer are all over the place. On the one hand, I want to love it because I know it is getting a TON of press right now, popping up on best of lists already even though it was just published. On the other hand, I am not certain why it is being added to such lists. I read it. I enjoyed it. I get the satire, just as I get the enabling. I understand the idea of nature versus nurture. I don’t understand what others see in it though. It is entertaining, but it didn’t make me feel that giddiness I associate with a stellar novel. It won’t make me think beyond writing a review. As of right now, I feel it will be one of those books that I will remember reading but won’t be able to extract much more than that.

My one complaint is that it isn't long enough. Loved the writing and characters and marvelous Nigerian setting. But I wanted just a little more of everything. Especially the end! I want to say more but also don't want to give any spoilers... Let's say that the main 2 sister characters could have been developed just a little more, ie had visible changes to their behavior to show growth as individuals and as members of society. Like, seriously, what happens to them NEXT? I have many questions. Maybe there will be a sequel titled something like, "I'm With Her, but Also Vaguely Disapproving of How She Keeps Murdering Her Boyfriends and Also Kind of Jealous of Her Looks, You Know What, Maybe I'm a Bit of a Sociopath Too".

I can't decide if this is going to sound too Western-white privilege so please know in advance I am aware of that and don't mean it like that but one of the BEST things was what felt like, to me, the very realistic setting of Lagos in the story. Off hand remarks about the police being incompetent and how she has to bribe a traffic cop (unclear on actual terminology, not a real cop but can give tickets), to get out of a ticket for not wearing her seat belt. The culture of house servants and rampant sexism and modes of address and the relative ease of disposing of a body. It was a lot of little things but it was convincing. Mind you, I've never been to Nigeria or Africa at all, so what do I know, but I like that it made me feel present.