I’m sorry, I’ve given it to 47% but I just can’t finish this book. Whilst the concept has so much potential, I find myself detached from it all & not engaged in it. I’m sad to say this book just isn’t for me.

This dystopian tale sits just enough on the side of fantasy to give you Black Mirror vibes but just close enough in reality to be seriously uncomfortable.

In an unspecified but not too distant future, Frida Liu has a bad day. A very bad day.
She’s stressed, behind on work, hot, sleep deprived, trying to do it all alone. So against her better judgment she leaves her baby daughter at home for a couple of hours.
But she gets found out. Baby Harriet gets taken away.
Frida is a Bad Mother.

The book was kind of slow to get going for me, it was already about a quarter of the way through when the idea of the School came in, but after that point the pace picked up and I started racing through it.

The “bad” mothers like Frida who’ve committed various offences are sent to a school, (part university campus, part prison), where they are to spend a year facing a series of units of study, such as Care and Nurture, Dangers Inside and Outside the Home, and the Moral Universe. They face assessments and evaluations, as well as undergoing regular brain scans and living under surveillance.
Pass the assessment, they might get a ten minute video call home. Fail, their privileges are revoked and hope of seeing their child again becomes more distant.
Since they cannot be trusted with real children, they’re given robot babies and children to bond with, which add a whole new creepy but compelling aspect to the book.

With echoes of ‘1984’, the robot children’s eyes film the mothers’ every move and can detect any hint of falseness, fear, and distraction.

The double standards mothers and fathers face are really amplified in this book. Later on, we meet a few fathers completing a similar process although they seem to be under far more relaxed rules than the mothers. Fathers are praised for small achievements, mothers are criticised more harshly for mistakes.
Racial bias and cultural differences are also highlighted. Mothers of boys and mothers of girls are trained separately due to the need to parent differently, which hints at a regressive rather than progressive society in the world of the novel, and steps backwards in feminism.

Although I agree that the mothers needed to be reprimanded for their mistakes, some more than others, for me the book highlights the impossible job parents have, trying not to repeat the ways they feel their parents failed them in their own childhoods. It also reminded me of how pointless it is to strive for perfection, as it does not exist and is therefore unachievable,
as well as the dangers of over-simplifying situations (in the way that humanity is removed from the thought processes), and the failings of “one size fits all” attitudes to assessment.
I cannot relate to this from a mother’s point of view as I’m not a parent but as a teacher these aspects resonated with me.

I enjoyed the read but I honestly didn’t love the book… there’s something depressing hanging over the whole thing. (Maybe that’s obvious, and probably intentional!)
I had the feeling that the mothers were always fighting a losing battle and there was not much hope.
I have to say though - I really liked the ending. Without giving any spoilers away, I thought it was the perfect place to leave the characters.

Dystopian and disturbing, this gripping novel takes a look at a society not so very far from our own, and the impossibilities of perfect parenthood.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

I just…but….hang on….surely not…what the…they can’t…how…why would…but…I can’t even….

Nope, gonna take me a while to process this one 😵‍💫🤔😂

For now I’ll have to do a 3 word review:

Futuristic, dystopian, clever, heartbreaking, scary, surreal, deep, thought provoking, crazy, unbelievable, original - ok I went off on a bit of a tangent then but think you’ll have to read this yourselves guys!

🌟🌟🌟💫/🌟🌟🌟🌟
(I think?! 😂).

Thank you @netgalley for sending.

Frida Liu is a struggling single mother to an 18-month-old daughter. Frieda is exhausted, sick of her dull job and feeling isolated since her husband left for his younger mistress. After a lapse in judgement, the government has decided that Frida is not fit to care for her daughter. Frieda is forced to join a reform programme with other bad mothers to be re-trained. Faced with the possibility of losing Harriet, Frida must prove that she can live up to the standards set for mothers — that she can learn to be good.

An intense thought-provoking debut. It is completely chilling and disturbing but very insightful. It was enraging to read (in a good way) and seemed all too possible within our society – frightening! I felt for these women stuck in an intolerable system that was impossible to win.

This isn’t a thriller, so I wouldn’t go into expecting that. I especially loved the beginning but did find that the chapters in the government programme a little repetitive after a while.
Overall contemporary and unique. I highly recommend!

I wasn't able to finish this book as whilst it is well written and an interesting take on a situation and I'm sure would prove to be an interesting book to finish, having a young child I found it jarring and uncomfortable to read and just couldn't relate to the situation or characters.

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan is a dystopian novel set in contemporary America. The state police parenting very closely and remove children from their parents for any breach of the rules. Frida, mother to Harriet and ex-wife to Gust, leaves her daughter alone for several hours after suffering from complete overwhelm. She is reported by neighbours, tried and subsequently sent to the School for Good Mothers. The story develops around her rehabilitation as a mother.
As a mother myself, I found this a difficult book to get into. The early chapters were profoundly difficult for me to read but I found the later the storyline compelling. I particularly loved Frida's relationship with her parents, and the book's exploration of their loss as well as Frida's when Harriet was removed, but also the development of Frida's relationship with her doll, Emmanuelle. The ending was perfect too - enough to give you hope but keep you wondering.
With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I hate giving negative reviews but I am so sorry this book was not for me at all
I just couldn’t get into the book or the characters apart from the poor mother who I felt so sorry for and was almost having anxiety over which isn’t why I read a book sorry

Although an amazing read and amazingly written there was something I personally just did not click with with this read but do not let that put you off it’s definitely worth a read !! Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers!

Daymn this book is dark. It is fantastically written, and haunting. For me, the first 33% of the book preyed on fears that already exist about the childcare system. That’s basically my only bugbear with the whole thing – that the childcare system is used to make the author’s point about society in a space where pre-existing thoughts on social workers/ care etc are just being replicated. I was a bit moody with the book on that basis, until the mothers actually got to the school. I wondered what the book was doing that was new/ showing me / teaching me up until that point.
For me, upon arrival at the school is where the story really started and I literally couldn’t put it down. The double standards here (and throughout, to be fair) were palpable and entirely reflective of society. The character of Gust was so well written, and he’s so sickly sweet. I felt like I understood Frida and felt for her throughout. The relationships were real and the picture built up of each individual character was believable. Reading this was an experience. The cruelty, the relationship between Frida and Emmanuelle, the impossible jigsaw and framework of what it takes to be deemed a good mother. How hard it is for society as a whole to view anyone as that. So much commentary on motherhood, womanhood, girlhood, plus those things set against fatherhood and boyhood in some respects; yet, at the same time a completely engaging read. I’m really glad I read this but it is not a light read! And maybe not the BEST book to pick up immediately after you’ve had a child, like I did!

As a recently new mother and a female, this book was an interesting read. There were some uncomfortable parts and some relatable parts. I was slightly disappointed with the ending. I do feel like I might have missed the point slightly as I was expecting it to end very differently. However as a whole I really enjoyed it and would recommend.

this book is different and you have to read to the end because it keeps you thinking is this likely to happen today and it also makes you shed a tear at the slightess lapse in your memory your world can be turned upside dowh as it was for frida and harriet

Quite a scary read. I’ve not read this author before and would now like to read other books. Keeps you on the edge of your seat

Speculative fiction isn’t my usual genre but I was intrigued by the premise of this novel and hoped it might include some pertinent commentary on both the unrealistic expectations that mothers are judged by, and the almost competitive drive for perfection. And whilst the story itself does contain a great deal of social commentary I found it difficult to engage with and felt rather detached throughout.

Thirty-nine-year-old Chinese American, Frida Liu, is a well-educated and hardworking single mother to eighteen month old daughter, Harriet, and on a ‘bad day’ makes the mistake of leaving her home alone in a baby walker for over two hours until she is discovered by the police. Harriet is removed from Frida’s joint custody for neglect and given over to the care of her father and his younger second wife. Frida finds herself at the mercy of a state system that keeps her under constant surveillance at home and only allows her occasional supervised visits under the watch of a social worker. When a family court judge sentences Frida to a year long live-in rehabilitation program at a draconian correction facility for bad mothers with surrogate artificial intelligence dolls to practise with, my interest fell off a cliff. Between the fact that the scenario felt a little too inane and the prose was too perfunctory and lifeless, the novel never reeled me back in.

Whilst Frida is obviously intended by the author to be a relatable character who in a frazzled, sleep-deprived and possibly depressive state makes a mistake, it’s hard to argue her case and while most of her cohort have committed far worse parenting misdemeanours I was surprised that I felt so uninvested in her fate. The second half also uses Frida’s time at the rehab school to highlight racial stereotypes, the differences in immigrant parenting styles and the more lenient standards that fathers are judged by. I did feel that the communism style school, in what appears an otherwise modern day America, was a concept that quickly ran out of steam. A very long year of Frida and co being held up to data-driven ideals in a controlled environment with constantly moving goalposts really didn’t add much in the way of further insight for me and quickly became repetitive.

Overall I think this would have worked better in a shorter and sharper novella format and with a protagonist who had committed a more forgivable parenting misdemeanour.

Okay, so before I start my review for The School of Bad Mothers, I have to admit it’s not going to be well written. I have no idea how to put my thoughts into words so I’m just going to write it as if I’m saying it 😂

I genuinely don’t know how I feel about this book. It took me 10 days to read it and for me that’s quite a long time, especially as it was on my kindle and I normally read faster on my kindle. I was only ever reading like 2% at a time, I just didn’t really want to pick it up or keep reading. But…at the same time I didn’t want to DNF it. I don’t really know why! I loved the idea of the dark dystopian story, I thought it was a really interesting idea, and one I think would work well on screen too. But I think I just couldn’t warm to the main character, and at points it felt quite repetitive. But then on the other hand I loved how this book showed the gender bias in parenthood, how it built on expectations of mothers. I don’t know.

But then, even though I felt like a little meh about it for most of the book, l then felt all the emotions and BAWLED LIKE A BABY towards the end. Like my husband was watching YouTube next to me and took his headphones out to check I was okay, kinda bawling. So I obviously felt something for this book!

Disturbing and frighteningly believable dystopian read about a big brother state reigning control over careless parents. Frida had one awful day. She left her daughter home alone and consequently loses her in family court and is sent to a school for good mothers that intends to scrutinise every move and emotion in order to train her into being the perfect model of a mother. A moving and intense glance into the pressured of being a good parent in modern society that judges every decision. #theschoolforgoodmothers #jessaminechan #netgalley

This book felt chilling. Chan Sets up the story in a way which almost feels reasonable; a protagonist who is sleep deprived, alone, isolated and carrying emotional stress makes one mistake. A hostile/concerned neighbour reports her. A new authoritarian system of child protection services gets involved, one that’s focused on state led reform working on a foundation of the old disorganised and fractured system which seems to judge people based on how they preform in artificial & stressful situations with children who are developmentally to young to comprehend. In this situation everyone gets punished and it feels like the real injustice & abandonment is being metered out by the very body which is supposed to protect against it. It feels so unfair. It couldn’t happen I’m real life. But this book being published in this current time there’s a sense of doubt. Could it?

A must read.

such an originally refreshing premise. I had such empathy for Frida our main character - her struggles with motherhood and even her family and her cultural identity. the latter definitely pulling at my own struggles. I really enjoyed this debut and can not wait to read whatever this author might produce.

A very good read. Hard to say its enjoyable because its not that type of story. It challenges, it makes you judge and it makes you think, it gets close to the bone and makes you question your own parenting style.

In this world, one lapse of judgement can have irretrievable repercussions. Frida is your typical Type A, white collar worker, The breakdown of her marriage (he cheated) coupled with a young child (18m) have thrown her for a loop. She is juggling childcare and a full time job and, in one moment of weakness, she abandons her child for a few hours. Who hasn't dreamed this, but who has actually followed through and then gotten caught? In this world., getting caught has severe consequences. She may lose any rights to her child unless she can prove to be a good mother. The state will spend a year re-educating her, but under the judgement and bureaucracy of others, her chances are ambiguous at best. And how can she pretend a robot is her daughter, projecting all motherly instincts onto something that isn't even real. And yet she has to try if she wants her daughter back.

Cleverly written and very imaginative. I loved the amount of the thought and detail given to the creation of this new world and the Robot dolls. Frida is real and that what makes it so chilling. In this world, anyone could be judged by similar misdemeanors. Its topical and reflective of the impossibly high standards expected of caregivers in an increasingly judgemental world, where "good enough mothering" is no longer good enough. The core themes will stay with me, making this one of more memorable recent reads.

A dystopian novel that felt strangely believable due to the very matter of fact reporting style of the writing. Not an easy read, particularly as the bar for ideal parenting had been set very high, making it very relatable for the average mother. Interesting rather than compelling.

A thought-provoking read, intense and somewhat disturbing. Although I did like this book, I can't say it's one I would recommend as I can see how some people would love it but also how some would not enjoy it at all.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.