My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: November 21, 2018
Length: 240 pages
Amazon

{A Bit of Backstory}

Single Sentence Summary

What’s a woman to do when her sister calls and needs help cleaning up after “accidentally” killing her boyfriend…again?

From the Publisher

”Korede is bitter. How could she not be? Her sister, Ayoola, is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead. 
Korede’s practicality is the sisters’ saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood, the trunk of her car is big enough for a body, and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures of her dinner to Instagram when she should be mourning her “missing” boyfriend. Not that she gets any credit.”

The Draw

• With a title like that you have to be intrigued.
• One sister cleaning up the other’s “messes.”
• A debut that looks to be smart, funny and completely original.

{My Thoughts}

What Worked For Me

A Classic Clash – Though My Sister, the Serial Killer is about two Nigerian sisters who grew up in a wealthy but very troubled household, the relationship Braithwaite built between the two rings true for so many siblings. Korede was the classic first-born: responsible, hard-working, driven. She was smart, but plain looking. Her younger sister Ayoola filled the role of the entitled, favored, flighty younger sibling perfectly. Clearly her mother’s favorite, beautiful Ayoola seemed to breeze through life.

“Her movements are in no way rhythmical; they are the movements of someone who has no audience and no self-consciousness to shackle them. Days ago, we gave a man to the sea, but here she is, dancing.”

From the time Ayoola was born, Korede felt both love and resentment for her sister. She wanted to protect Ayoola, but who was protecting her?

A Budding Mystery – Debut author Oyinkan Braithwaite masterfully drew you into her story with hints about a bigger cause for Ayoola’s strange proclivity toward men. There’s a dead father, around whom many questions swirl, a dazzling 9-inch knife with more than one story behind it, and a past that had to be let go. As her story unfolds each new clue leads the reader to understand this family just a little more.

Full of Humor – I’ll admit it. I feel a little weird saying a story about a serial killer and a family willing to cover up for her is funny, but it is! Plenty of parts of My Sister, the Serial Killer are quite serious, but Korede’s fears about her sister’s little habit and her own penchant for making everything right are often handled in a sort of tongue-in-cheek way that had me laughing out loud. Braitwaite deftly balanced the serious with some fun.

What Didn’t

A Little Too Understanding – At times I grew frustrated by Korede’s willingness to let her sister shine. She had so much going for her, but was willing to be the family’s martyr and though this was explained, I grew tired of her long-suffering silences. Korede’s fate seemed to be set on the day her sister was born.

{The Final Assessment}

Overall, I liked My Sister, the Serial Killer very much. I especially appreciated the classic family relationships taken to an extreme. Just how far are we willing to go for our family? It was a fun, sad, twisted little novel from an author I will happily read again. Grade: B+

If you liked this book you might also enjoy:

• The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel – A story of very, very twisted family relationships. (my review)
• Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett – The funny story of a father and his two daughters trying to get by after his wife suddenly passes away. (my review)

Note: I received a copy of this book from Doubleday (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Associate links included within this post.