Book Review: My Sister, The Serial Killer By Oyinkan Braithwaite

I have spent close to three hours cleaning up. The hardest part was getting to the blood that had seeped between the shower and the caulking.

“What is your favorite genre of book?” I get stuck when someone asks this question. My head goes blank, my eyes remain still and my heart skips two beats. So many questions dance in my heart. “What really is my favorite genre; romance? Science fiction? Fantasy? Mystery? Thriller? Adventure, the list goes on and on. The truth is that I find it difficult to have a favorite… “anything” especially when it comes to books. So, whenever someone asks me what my favorite genre of novel is, I just mention the first thing that pops up in my head. Of course, I have read all these aforementioned genres, but my reading habits are unpredictable. I stay on a particular genre for a long time then get bored and switch to another. For instance, in 2020- during the lockdown, I was bent on reading Greek Myths. I explored every nook and cranny of online libraries, reading Greek Myths. One would think that I would never stop reading Greek myths. At least, not for another year. Yet, surprisingly, after about 2 months, I got bored and jumped on another genre- African fiction.

Enough about my weird taste in books. Last week, I had a discussion, more like an argument with an online friend about African books. She claimed that African books are formulaic and rarely explore crime fiction. Immediately, my mind turned to My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithewaithe- one of the best crime fiction I read last year. I recommended it to her, and I also re-read it. In this post, I’ll be doing a book review of this crime fiction.

ABOUT THE BOOK

My Sister, The Serial Killer was written by Oyinkan Braithwaite, a Nigerian writer, and published in 2019. Oyinkan Braithwaite studied Creative Writing at the university, winning awards in poetry competitions, so it is not surprising that this book is a masterpiece. The book explores the themes of family bonds, sibling dynamics, and toxic relationships. My Sister, The Serial Killer was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It won the 2028 Amazon Readers Award, the 2019 Women’s Prize For Fiction, and many other awards.

PLOT SUMMARY

The book revolves around Ayoola, a young woman who kills men who worship her, and her sister Korede, who cleans up her messes. The novel opens with Ayoola’s Third victim, Femi. In this book, I discovered that you become a serial killer when you “unalive” a total of 3 people. Ayoola kills Femi in her apartment. As usual, her sister, Korede, helps her get rid of the body in one of the many lagoons in Lagos. You might wonder “Why is Korede a serial killer? Why does she kill men who worship her? What’s with Korede? Why does she clean up her messes instead of reporting her to the police?

Well, it all started during their childhood. Korede and her sister, Ayoola, grew up with an abusive father who’d always take out his tantrums on them and their mother. Once, a man visited Ayoola and because of this, he dealt, he made her strip and gave her the beating of her life with a cane. Not only was he abusive, he was also a womanizer. He often brings young girls to the house even when his wife and kids are around. More importantly, he had a knife. He kept it sheathed and locked in a drawer. Sometimes, when he had visitors, he’d often tell them stories of how he got the knife. Sometimes, it was a gift from a university colleague, given to him for saving his life during a boating accident, other times, he had forcefully collected the knife from a soldier who tried to kill him. Whenever his guests were gone, he’d polish the knife and keep it back in its usual spot. Once, when their dad was out, Ayoola snuck into his room, took the knife out, and smeared it with chocolate. He came in early and caught her. He grabbed her by the hair and flung her through the hallway. It is not surprising that when their father died, Ayoola took the knife which she used to kill her victims.

On the other hand, Korede is an average woman. Ayoola easily gets men drooling over her because she is beautiful and loaded. Unlike Ayoola, Korede struggles to get this type of attention from men. Korede’s character is the perfect definition of “blood is thicker than water.” Every time her sister unalive a person, she is always there to clean up. At one point, she finds herself in a conflicted dilemma about whether she should report her sister to the police or accept who she is and continue helping her. The climax of the novel ignites when Ayoola tries to kill Dr Tade, one of her sister’s co-workers whom she is in love with.

Do you think this would be the last straw that broke the camel's back? Do you think Korede will bring her sister’s sociopathic lifestyle to an end? Find out!

MY NOTES AND RATING

The traumatic aftermath of abusive childhood experiences. Korede and Ayoola grew up with an abusive father who treated them like animals. Even when they were older and already experienced puberty, he made them stop right in front and dealt with them. Their mother was not left out in these bearings. Although the writer didn’t clearly mention that Ayoola killed their father, it is safe to assume that she did. Korede’s reflective commentary about the death of their father suggests that Ayoola was responsible. Like many other crime fiction, the novel leaves some details to the reader’s interpretation.

Mask

The concept of a mask is another significant thing I coined out of this novel. Ayoola hides her sociopathicness under her beauty and charm. In simple words, she uses her beauty and charm to mask her darker nature. Chapter 4 elucidates this theme. In this chapter titled POEM, we find that Femi, one of her victims once wrote a poem, complimenting her beauty. The poem reads: I dare to find a flaw in her beauty; or bring forth a woman who can stand beside her without wilting. Shortly after this, on their one-month anniversary, she stabbed him with a knife.

MY RATING

My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite is a masterpiece. It is not surprising that this book won the 2019 Booker Prize, 2019 Women’s Prize For Fiction, and 2020 Edgar Award For Best First Novel, among many others. This book gets a 4.5 out of 5 stars.