This was meant to be dystopian but it was just wooden and depressing. I tried to get through it but I could never get into it. The entire program is based on nothing. At least not that they tell us. Sure, children’s services in many cities have made terrible mistakes. However, the motives for the way they approach pretty much everything are unclear and ridiculous. It may have been better if we could feel for Frida, but I couldn’t do it. And I am SO sick of men cheating on their wives and everyone in the entire book thinking the father and his mistress are in the right. And do they have to always be so new age-y? So many tropes thrown into one book.

Engaging, emotional, and chilling. The School for Good Mothers is an incredibly interesting dystopian read. There were some parts that were uncomfortable to read and I assume would be more uncomfortable if I were a mother myself. It’s novels like these that scare me the most because women keep getting judged and have so much pressure out upon them, especially mothers. This is now one of my favorite reads up there with The Push and The Handmaid’s Tale.

It's release day for Jessamine Chan's "The School for Good Mothers," and this book is howling a primal scream as it makes it way into the world.

A single mother named Frida who makes the terrible decision to leave her young child, Harriet, at home alone one morning while she steals away to grab a cup of coffee and a quiet moment. When Frida stops at her office on the way home, her quiet moment turns into a couple of hours. When she finally snaps out of her funk, it's to answer a phone call informing her that Harriet has been taken into custody by CPS after a neighbor reported her crying.

The government has ramped up its CPS branch and is passing stricter laws around parenting. Big Brother vibes begin...cameras are set up in Frida's house to monitor her everyday life while the courts decide what to do with Harriet. It is decided that Frida will be sent away for one year to a government-run "school" where she and scores of other women will be meticulously trained and tested on how to be a good mother. If Frida can make it through the year without quitting, her progress will be reviewed and custody of Harriet can become possible again.

The "school" is an old university campus, complete with dorms and a cafeteria. It feels a whole lot like a prison, which gives this book an "Orange is the New Black" edge that I found wildly entertaining. As the program commences, so do nods to Atwood, Huxley and Orwell. Fans of robot-lit will be frightened and delighted by some alarming scenes with A.I. children that are used by the institution for training. It's all very, very creepy.

The dystopian setting is chilling, but this book has a huge emotional center that provokes big feelings and deep questions about parenthood, the bonds between mother and child, and redemption for people who make mistakes. It's the first great book I've read this year, and we're only four days in. "The School for Good Mothers" is a knockout. Congratulations, @jessamine.chan !

4 stars, and a fateful cup of coffee for good measure.
⭐⭐⭐⭐☕

Happy Pub Day!!!
The School For Good Mothers
Jessamine Chan
Simon and Schuster
Available Today!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

From the publisher
"In this taut and explosive debut novel, one lapse in judgement lands a young mother in a government reform program where custody of her child hangs in the balance. This propulsive, witty page-turner explores the perils of “perfect” upper-middle-class parenting, the violence enacted upon women by the state and each other, and the boundless love a mother has for her daughter."

Wow when the first book of the year is a book this good all other books are in trouble. And it's a debut novel for Chan!

I can't say enough good things about this book. Let me be clear from the start that this is not a fun or easy book to read. But I've said it before and I'll say it again, the best books never are.
I can see this book being a classic staple of literature in 10, 20, 50 years. A book to be studied and shelved with A Handmaid's Tale or The Scarlet Letter. Good Mothers is a dark, taught, and searing look at how the government continues to belittle and control women, especially as mothers and most especially mothers on the fringes, poor, Black, Asian. I've seen other reviews that label Chan's novel as dystopian or satire which is more accurate, but unfortunately it's not even that far from reality. We may not have schools for good mothers yet but we certainly are quick to judge and be judged for our mothering by the government, by strangers, and even by each other.

Frida is every mother, and every mother will see herself in some way through these mothers. But everyone should read this book Mother or not. Five stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Congratulations @jessamine.chan this is an outstanding debut. Happy Pub Day!

I love when I come across a book that I truly enjoyed reading, but what makes it even better is when I go into it not expecting to love it. I read the summary and was intrigued, but yet it was not at all what I was expecting it to be. I knew as soon as I read the author’s note at the beginning of the book that I was hooked, I was going into this book yearning to discover what lay ahead. She spoke about so many topics that pierced my interest and I knew this book was for me. Since COVID hit almost two years ago, I have been binge watching series and movies with my teen son who is immensely interested in AI and futuristic technology and idealisms, and this novel reminded me of either one or a combination of a few that we watched. I appreciated and embraced the concepts, examination, and, of course, execution, of this fascinating novel. I loved the brutally honest thoughts, actions, and feelings of Frida and the other mothers. How many new mothers have faced their share of anxiety, fear, and terror of being a new mom and can maybe relate to some of those moms? Though these mothers come from troubled backgrounds and lives already, they are faced with a new world that is unlike no other they ever could imagine. I was captivated throughout this entire novel and was blown away by the end. Fantastic read, I highly recommend it.

I can see how this would be anxiety inducing for mothers and an uncomfortable read for some but as someone who’s not planning to ever be a mother - I really enjoyed it! I’ll be recommending t0 my my non new mother friends :)

The School for Good Mothers is a futuristic, dystopian novel about a School which teaches ‘bad’ mothers how to be ‘good’. It is a propelling novel which explores the perils of upper-middle-class parenting.

I have mixed feelings about this book as my judgement overrode my sympathy for the protagonist, Frida. The book started strong but unfortunately it didn’t live up to the synopsis. I thoroughly enjoyed the intensity of the first half which was a page-turner and was eager to read more about the School. The premise seemed lost in the second half, repetitive and surprisingly emotionally detached. I wish it delved more into the lives of the School teachers.

The School for Good Mothers has a lot to unpack and would make a great selection for Book Club! It is a dark, witty dystopian novel which will appeal to fans of The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984.

As she reminds herself throughout the book, Frida had "one bad day"—a bad day that consisted of leaving her infant daughter at home, alone, for over two hours. A neighbor's call to the police leads to the child being removed from Frida's custody, which leads to surveillance cameras being installed in Frida's home, which leads to Frida being enrolled in a "school" that will teach her to be and, ultimately, evaluate whether she is, a fit mother.

This novel had a particularly strong first half. Whether you like the latter half depends, I think, on how invested you are in the relationships Frida makes at the school. Frida is Chinese American and I liked the small asides, though I wish there were more, about how her culture and experience as the daughter of immigrants affected her upbringing, values, and relationship to "mothering." Frida is a flawed, though ultimately likable, protagonist and I found myself rooting for her even though some of her decisions were...questionable. Overall, I found Frida's journey—not so much her "transformation" as a mother, but rather her discovery of her own capacity to love and be loved—moving.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a copy of this novel.

Frida feels like an island in the sea - Alone, adrift, and inadequate. Her ex-husband Gust has his new wife and Frida feels like she isn’t living up to the sacrifices her immigrant parents made. Maybe if her baby would just give her a moment to breathe, she could be a better employee. A better coparent. A better mother. When a quick trip to the coffee shop turns into leaving her baby home alone for over an hour, Frida is sentenced to a year the School for Good Mothers. She and other mothers with lapses in judgement - large, small, or singular - must prove that they can meet the standard of motherhood, that they can learn to be good, or risk losing everything.

It hurts me to say this, but guys… I did not enjoy this book. I powered through it because it was extremely generous of the publisher to provide an ARC to us for review, but I think I would have DNF’d otherwise.

To me, The School for Good Mothers reads as a discount rack Handmaids Tale, albeit much less violent and horrifying in most ways. It’s slow-paced, repetitive, and frankly… not that interesting of a premise. I understand the social commentaries at work (classism, racism, sexism), but I think the author aimed too high.

I think, perhaps, I would have enjoyed this more if I sympathized with Frida, but I simply couldn’t get past the initial problem: She left her baby home alone. She had other options, and she chose selfishness and irresponsibility. Within the context of a dystopian novel or not, you’re going to lose custody of your child for that decision, and in that single moment, the author lost me.

Unfortunately, The School for Good Mothers missed the mark quite significantly for me. I’m rooting for Jessamine Chen to dust off this debut and deliver a sophomore novel that her writing evidences she’s capable of, and look forward to keeping an eye out for her next attempt.

Thank you so much to Simon and Schuster/NetGalley for providing an ARC of The School of Good Mothers in exchange for our honest review!

This was a really interesting, frustrating story. I enjoyed the writing and the characters. It was a testament to how good the book was that it put me in a bad mood whenever I read it—everything being done to Frida and the other mothers was so enraging it made my blood boil. I’m looking forward to Chan’s next book!

This novel may be far-fetched by including robotic children to help teach parenting skills, but it rings true on so many levels that one must wonder how dystopian it really is.

Frieda is sent to a parenting school after leaving her 18-month-old daughter home alone for 2 ½ hours. It reveals how the child welfare system is so focused on ideals that it forces parents to fail. For example, forcing a child to play rather than cuddle with a parent so a recording and evaluation can be made is absurd. If the child misses the parent and is seeking comfort, the parent fails. The book highlights the failure of the institution to provide guidance on how to parent by someone who has experienced the trials and tribulations of parenting.

This book is so good! I could go on for pages singing its praises and pointing out all the issues of a flawed system. Even though it occurs in a form that is not presently available, it foreshadows what could become a reality. As a prior government worker who dealt with the child protective community on a regular basis, I recommend this book for entertainment, but the reader should take note of a likely future we could be facing sometime soon.


I received an ARC from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

I am still trying to bring my emotions down after reading The School for Good Mothers.. It is a maddening, frustrating, anger-inducing book that I couldn't stop reading.

Frida Liu has had a very bad day. She leaves her daughter, Harriet, home alone for a couple of hours and is reported to the police. Because of her "neglect," Frida is sentenced to attend a school for bad parents, a coed facility for both mothers and fathers. What Frida has to go through is indicative of the Hell mothers are subject to in the real world.

I am a mother and I can tell you with all honesty that had a judge sentenced me to attend that school, I would have grabbed my kid and left the country. The hoops these mothers had to jump through, the judgments, feelings of shame and inadequacy and plain abuse is believable. Mothers, in the real world, are scrutinized for absolutely everything they do. From their breast-feeding schedules to the amount of time it takes for them to "snap back" to their pre-baby weight is catalogued and quantified by family and strangers alike. Social media has only made things worse, which is why so many women these days are saying no to having babies. Many don't want the financial, physical or emotional burden of taking care of a child, while others do not want to bring a baby into a world that is literally on fire.

I think the author did a great job of writing this book from an Asian woman's perspective, one readers are starting to see more of in fiction. The mothers in the program come from different backgrounds and are sent to the school for pretty much anything. Some mothers did truly terrible things but others are at the school for "offenses" that were due to lack of child care, or being poor. I'm glad the author included the differences in the school's programming for the fathers, which is nowhere near as intense or strict as it is for the mothers (shocker).

This book is going to open up a lot of discussions about parenting in general, discussions that need to be had, especially after seeing how that dynamic has been pushed to the forefront during this ongoing pandemic. I, for one, cannot wait.

I really struggled to get into this book. As a mother of three children, I found it difficult to grasp the idea of this book. I also struggled to understand the main character, her struggles and her experiences.

Frida had a really bad day, had a lapse in judgement and now finds herself in a government reform program learning how to become a good mother. Her ex-husband has a younger wife, her parents are disappointed in her career choice and her young daughter is leaving her exhausted. When she puts her daughter at risk, she finds herself faced with the possibility of losing her. Can she live up to the standards of the government to be a good mother and get her daughter back?

Thank you Netgalley for our advanced reader copies!

I think the premise of this book is really clever. We meet Frida when she is having what she calls her "bad day" -- she's divorced and home alone, trying to parent her toddler who has a raging ear infection. Neither she nor the baby has slept, and the baby won't stop crying. In her delirium, she decides to leave the baby alone in her bouncy chair - just for an hour, she thinks - to get a coffee and clear her head. One hour turns into two, and when she returns, she finds that the neighbors have called CPS on her. CPS orders that the child is to live with Frida's ex-husband until, by way of outfitting her home with security cameras, they have decided Frida is fit to be a parent. Aside from short, far-apart, and supervised visits, Frida isn't allowed to see her baby for 3 months.

Once the 3 months is up, it is determined that Frida is not fit to be a parent. According to CPS, she doesn't have enough friends, her grief is too performative, she appears to be selfish and has no hobbies. To rehabilitate her, she is sent to a school with other bad mothers, where she is put through a series of extremely dystopian classes and has to pass tests by completely arbitrary standards like being able to hug a child in the appropriate way and with the appropriate amount of feeling to console them.

I think the commentary on how impossible it is to be a good mother was really strong -- especially when considering all the noise the modern mother gets from her peers, social media, her family, and the media at large. The rulebook is myopic, but if you don't follow it, you're a bad mother.

However, alongside this, the author tries to tackle so many other things: race, class, socioeconomic status, gender roles, abuse... the list goes on. On the one hand, this contributed to the feeling of all the "noise" mothers need to cut through to find their parenting style; on the other hand, it really weakened the book. It made the plot feel clouded and difficult to grab onto. Also, all the time spent at the school felt extremely repetitive and claustrophobic. There were several points where I really had to persuade myself to keep plodding through.

School for good mothers had me thinking about many many aspects of motherhood but the one I kept coming back to is the narrative that moms are super heroes and that drives me fucking crazy. we're not special or magical or super human. we're just people trying to keep other tiny people alive in a world that honestly seems to hate us most of the time.

While Frida may not be the ideal person the go to bat for, we all make mistakes and do crappy things and that's okay. the amount of hate moms get online and in real life is absolutely bananas, and it's for the most benign stuff, wrong stroller, not organic food, too much screen time, not breastfeeding long enough. I have never been offered so much unsolicited advice about anytime else in my life and the fact that what it means to be a "good mother" changes with the years it is impossible to keep up.

anyways this is a roundabout way to say, I liked this book, I think it has interesting points to make and it's weird but also close enough to reality to make me shake head in disgust. Read this book.

This one creeped on my skin and bones. It wasn’t because of anything thriller like, but solely because the ache of this mothers journey was not unlike what many experience today. This tale is as frightening as it is engaging.

This story tells of Frida,s bad day, one terrible decision that she made, and the consequences of her actions. What makes this tale equally frightening as well as cautionary, is that even though it is set in a dystopian world, its not too far from what could potentially become of our culture and society one day.

I took on two point of views as I read the story. The first one is one of a mother who’s been tired and exhausted before. Knowing that I have not always been perfect, and could see myself in Frida and her emotional exhaustion in the first chapter.

A second point of view was as I stand back often and are dumbfounded that anybody can I have a baby, and the hospital just send you home with a tiny little human being. Very little support and accountability to those who are tired exhausted and afraid.
But then in society we punish those who don’t have the social emotional, economic, or mental stability and wellbeing to be trusted with the care of their own child. It’s a broken system that we have set up purposely to fail others.

This book again is haunting as Frida journeyed through trying to prove that she can be a good mother. The school is disgusting in it’s ways and views. It’s strict code and expectations are also psychologically damaging and emotionally scathing.

Overall Facebook was 4 1/2 stars and worth reading. There’s many times I had to put it down and walk away because I felt it erking underneath my skin.
A well done thought provoking read

Hello All: I currently worked on a review and posted it yesterday on a new website I am developing. It is an old website, actually...but, I am making it into something new. Please stop by and read...but realize it is a work in progress.

Here is the link:
greatbutunknownperformances.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/book-review-for-the-school-for-good-mothers-by-jessamine-chan/

Let me know your thoughts.

Best,
DOUG MACLEOD

What a thrilling, hard-to-stomach debut from a promising author -- THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS shows us a world in which CPS has evolved into an even more robust arm of the surveillance state with a new mission to 'reeducate' unfit parents. We follow Frida Liu, a new mom who had a very bad day that irrevocably throws her life into disarray; one poor choice leads to a suspension of parental rights, closely-monitored probation and limited interactions with her beloved toddler Harriet, and eventually enrollment in a year-long "school" (read: detention center) wherein she must past a series of near-impossible tests to prove her worthiness as a mother. At times, the novel feels as though it's biting off a bit much -- the social commentary is complex, encompassing modern motherhood as well as the surveillance state, the prison industrial complex, the broken social safety net, racial injustice, foster care, and more; I sometimes wished for a slightly clearer critique, but ultimately, the complete overwhelm of so many imbricated failing systems and intersecting injustices seemed an apt representation not only of the real world but also of Frida's experience. THE HANDMAID'S TALE meets THE GOLDEN STATE meets KLARA AND THE SUN meets SUCH A FUN AGE in a gripping, devastating novel!

How does one measure whether someone is a good mother or not? The CPS thinks they have a way to determine this, through a new school for mothers. Mothers are sent to this school for various reasons, some major, but mostly minor infractions. The mothers must give up their children and go to this school that will teach them all the things they are doing wrong, while never focusing on anything they can do right. The system is almost set up for the mothers to fail and never see their children again.

The School for Good Mothers is dystopian novel with a powerful message. If you are a fan or The Handmaids Tale, you will love this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review of this book.

This book was really good but so hard to read in so many ways. Frida has a very bad day- she leaves her toddler daughter Harriet unattended for 3 hours and ends up having very severe repercussions for this. She is sent to a sort of mother reform school where she is "taught" to be a "good mother" This book was disturbing on so many levels. It was horrifying to think about having your child taken away for a lapse in judgment. However, I did feel that Frida's transgression was more than just taking your eye off your child for a second. It was referred to as a bad day, mistake and that did bother me a lot. It was definitely more than that. However, I felt that the book was so spot on in its descriptions of sheer exhaustion and monotony in caring for young children -especially as single mother. I really really disliked her ex-husband Gust. The methods of educating women to be a good mother were horrifying. I think the author had some real insight into the plights of single mothers and the difficulties with ethnic minorities. I also remembered the isolation and self doubt you experience as a new parent without a village of friends or family to support you. The book really creeped me out at times and I had to put it down because it upset me so much. That being said it is a solid book - kept me engaged and motivated to keep going with the story. It got a bit slow and repetitive in the middle but I wanted to know how everything was going to turn out. Would give this 3.75 stars. A really good debut.