My Sister, the Serial Killer

by Oyinkan Braithwaite

[clementine]

Interesting concept, somewhat lacklustre execution. I think it's fun and exciting to see a novel in this genre set in Nigeria, because thriller-ish (and I do use that term loosely) novels are so US-centric and genre novels in general are rarely set outside of the Western world. The characters were a little flat for my liking: Ayoola, the titular serial killer, is extremely beautiful and severely unpleasant, whereas her plain sister Korede is a wet blanket whose main personality trait appears to be that she cleans a lot. Korede was an interesting character because she's so self-righteous but ultimately enables Ayoola's behaviour. However, Ayoola is underdeveloped, and the auxiliary characters were very one-dimensional. The sisters' backstory was interesting and though I wish we'd seen more of it, the implication about their father's fate was exciting. I was expecting a classic thriller twist ending with a lot of action, but I was surprised in a positive way.

There's more going on here than the title implies: there's actually not very much violence shown. This novel is more about interpersonal relationships, particularly the tricky bond between two sisters raised in an abusive household. I thought there could have been a little more emotional depth here, particularly given the backstory and the tone of the ending.

The fast pace makes this a breezy read and ultimately supports the plot, but it does feel a bit disjointed at times - it could be more fully fleshed out, with better flow between short chapters.

If the subject matter of this novel interests you I think it's worth a read, but it's by no means particularly deep.