My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

 

I can't remember where I first heard about Oyinkan Braithwaite's My Sister, the Serial Killer. but I do remember that I was instantly intrigued by the striking title and concept. I bought it ages ago and it's been sitting on my shelf ever since. Accordingly, I added it to my 20 in 2022 list so I could finally get it read this year.

The plot of the novel follows a nurse in Nigeria named Korede. As the novel begins, she receives a panicked call in the night from her younger sister Ayoola. Ayoola has just murdered her boyfriend and needs help covering it up. She claims that it was self defense. Korede, however, has her doubts. This is the third time her sister has called her for help after killing a boyfriend. Still, she and her sister have been through a lot together and love each other, so she helps her get rid of the body and clean up the crime scene.

In the days that follow, Korede feels a lot of guilt and fear over what has happened. She's beginning to face the idea that her sister isn't a victim of repeated domestic violence as she claims, but is actually a serial killer. Things take an even more disturbing turn when Ayoola latches onto a cute doctor that Korede works with. Korede's had an unrequited crush on this man for years, but has never worked up the courage to confess her feelings. She tries desperately to prevent her sister from forming a relationship with him, but she is unable to come between them. Fearing for her coworker's safety, she must decide if she will do anything to warn him and figure out how much longer she will continue to help Ayoola cover up her crimes.

This was a fast-paced, entertaining read. Braithwaite does a pretty good job of building suspense throughout the text and keeping the action moving. There were no points where I was bored; I was always engaged in what was going on and eager to see what would happen next. The story was as interesting as the premise sounds, but I did think at times that it was a little shallow, like I was hopping from event to event too quickly and not learning enough details about what was going on. There were many points where I wished I was learning more about the characters and their motivations--they were grappling with some pretty weighty issues, and I would have liked to dive deeper into their thoughts. That wasn't the style Braithwaite was going for here though; the chapters were all very short and events moved quickly. 

One particular aspect of the text that I thought was cool was the setting of Lagos, Nigeria. Braithwaite is actually from there and this is a translated work. I enjoyed seeing all the different cultural aspects of the country, like the clothing, food, and slang. This is a part of the world I know nothing about, so it was interesting to see how these characters lived there. I thought Lagos definitely came alive in the story. Sometimes you read novels set in different places and they feel interchangeable. This was not the case here, so I enjoyed that.

One thing I didn't enjoy so much were the characters. None of them were particularly likable. Korede is a fairly bland main character, and she was often mean and short with people. I sympathized with her confusion and anxiety over her sister, but I never felt particularly invested in her struggles. Ayoola was deliberately written to be unbearable, and she was. Her character was a serial killer, so you would expect her to be selfish and cold hearted, but I found myself wishing that there was more ambiguity to her character to make Korede's attachment to her make more sense. She does very little to engender the love or friendliness of anyone around her. The only reason Korede really has to stick by her is the fact that she's family and they went through a lot together as children. I feel like the story would have been richer if she had been written with a few more shades of gray to her character.

On the whole though, I was entertained by My Sister, the Serial Killer. This was a quick, scandalous, darkly funny read with not much under the surface. That's okay though--it was good for the kind of book it was. It would make a great TV movie or limited series. It would be great to read in the bath or in an airplane. It's one of those guilty pleasure kind of books. I'm glad to have finally given it a shot this year! 

Challenge Tally

22 in 2022: 1/22

Total Books Read in 2022: 3