{"id":6284,"date":"2026-10-09T21:21:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T21:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/?post_type=book&p=6284"},"modified":"2026-10-09T21:21:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T21:21:47","slug":"my-sister-the-serial-killer","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/book\/my-sister-the-serial-killer\/","title":{"rendered":"My Sister, the Serial Killer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Oyinkan Braithwaite\u2019s fiendishly wicked comic novel about how blood is thicker – and more difficult to get out of the carpet – than water<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Korede\u2019s dinner is interrupted by a distress call from Ayoola, she knows what\u2019s expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This\u2019ll be the third boyfriend her lethal little sister has dispatched in \u2018self-defence\u2019 – and the third mess she\u2019s left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police before Nigeria runs of men but, as they say, family comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating a doctor in the hospital where Korede works.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I tend to jump into books with a large cultural divide and let the culture roll over me like I’m just dough under a fuckin’ rolling pin, so I sit there and take it as I’m slammed with Nigerian cultural references point after point after point. I kind of absorb it. Like spongy<\/em> dough. I don’t really look up what something means, I just sort of look at context clues and use my imagination or pick up the general… je ne sais quoi of a phrase or something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do know that I should be making more forays into Afrolit, as my reading is dominated by East Asian and Western influences. Anything outside of that and I’m like an alien peeking into a place where I feel uninvited, although a book invites anyone who picks it up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case… I think this one will be sitting heavy on me. I don’t rally behind family-first\/loyalty to the family sort of stories. It’s a difficulty for me, because it makes no sense to me. Where is the loyalty to the self? But I suppose Korede’s loyalty to herself is being loyal to her sister first and foremost, despite the trouble that she gives her. Every chance she is given to shed the cycle, every step she takes in what the audience feels is the “right” direction, is another twist in Korede’s internal journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ayoola’s violence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The blood in Ayoola and Korede is born from violence, of a man who saw them as little more than objects to further his agenda and to beat into submission. The intrinsic violence from men toward the sisters is what feeds the violence and the nature of Ayoola, I believe. She uses her body like a bargaining chip, just as her father was going to do, and when she gets what she wants, she kills, just as Korede said as a child when Ayoola was being pushed and forced against her will to bend to a man’s whims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He will kill us,” she sobbed.
“Not if we kill him first.”<\/p>-page 216, My sister, the serial killer<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The story weaves this underpinned notion in first through the violence of the father, and then with Korede’s young actions to defend Ayoola. Korede used an instrument that was used to beat the sisters into submission as a tool to fight for their freedom. Ayoola does the same with her father’s knife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My theory is that Ayoola resents men and uses them as her father used women. She uses them for personal gain only, like walking ATM machines, like status markers, like disposable stepping stones along the way in her life. When a man expects to have the relationship consummated, I imagine that is when she pulls out the knife, the one thing she kept from her father and the symbol of both her chastity and her sexuality at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayoola knows that she is always safe, always protected, by Korede. And Korede was born to protect her sister and will always assume that role, no matter what harm may come her way. It’s demonstrated time and again: no matter what, Korede comes and Ayoola will reach out to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

korede’s journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The book is about Korede coming to terms with her lot in life. She knows she protects her sister. She has settled into that role, somewhat resentfully, and the true heart of the matter is when the target of Ayoola’s next kill is the target of Korede’s affection, Tade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayoola, I think, feels she is protecting her sister in her own way by demonstrating that men are just exactly what she is showing to Korede what they are. Beasts hungry for a pretty face and nothing more. She hooks Tade easily, does not relent when Korede displays resentment (though Korede does not outright state that she is interested in Tade, keeping her affection secret) and jealousy, holding Ayoola’s desires above her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/em> Her inner inferiority to her sister and her lack of pride keep her from taking what she wants. Her pride is not in her beauty or her ability to work with men. Her pride is in her work, her cleanliness, her ability to protect her sister despite her sister not quite functioning in the way that Korede believes humans should. Korede functions as Ayoola’s conscience, in a way, and when Korede wavers, so does Ayoola’s ability to give a shit. And Korede wavers a lot in this novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Korede’s main conflict is picking between her love and her sister, the love of her heart and the love of her family. She tries to put it to rights, confessing her sins and finding relief in a single comatose patient (who ends up regaining consciousness and becomes, shortly, a foil to Korede’s struggles and a demonstration of her ability to give strength simply by being present, the way she supports people without question and with a cool head, the way that inspires the end of the book) and being followed by the guilt of death and covering up a death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then it all fades away. Cleaned over time, forgotten. And Korede finds that the path for her is the one she has been following her whole life. It’s acceptance. The man Tade was was truly what her sister proclaimed. Someone who just wanted a pretty face, an easy person to manipulate with nothing but Ayoola’s usual nonsense. He could not love her in the way that Korede thought love should be, could not name a specific thing about her to love. It was about that in the end. And I think that that was what did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, she tried to delay it. She tried to fix things up. She tried to drive a wedge in. She tried to save him by telling the truth to his face, but the lies and manipulation of Ayoola ran too deep. And Korede made her choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the knife<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The knife played a significant role in the book. Not just as the murder weapon, but as a character in its own right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before their father died, it was something to be shown off. A million stories made it exactly what it needed to be to make it the most impressive thing in the room, and when the knife was out, it made an impression. Despite being an instrument of violence, it was also a beautiful piece of art treasured by the father. He treated it with the tenderness he didn’t treat his family with, to the point where letting it get smudged warranted a beating. It was untouchable, a symbol of the fatherly love that the women never got.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And still, it is a knife. It hurt them by being<\/em> a knife. The violence in the family\u2014 where a cane was used, not the precious knife\u2014 was perpetrated to save the knife. The knife, I think, ends up being<\/em> Ayoola’s sexuality. It’s a symbol for<\/em> Ayoola. She is a dangerous person who tells whatever story she needs to in order to be whatever she needs to be in that moment to get whomever is looking to be most interested in her. She is flashy and beautiful, and she tends to treat herself most tenderly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Of course, there is care that Ayoola clearly has for Korede threaded throughout the story\u2014 Ayoola prioritizes herself, but Korede is still there, like the oil that shines the blade of the knife.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The knife is kept in a secret place only Ayoola knows about, only pulled out in those moments when she kills. Those moments are when men are at their most vulnerable. The first time, notably, is when her suitor has his pants around his ankles. Perhaps he truly was attacking her. We won’t know. We don’t know about the second one, either, but we knew that Korede did not like either of them. Found them… slimy, in a way. The third death, the one which the book opens on, is in the bathroom. The fourth death, where Korede begins to suspect that perhaps Ayoola does not only use the knife, happens in a hotel room with a married man “dying of food poisoning”. I do honestly believe there is a point where the man Ayoola is with expects something sexual, and whether he believes it is out of love or not, she will wield the knife on him to preserve herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not if we kill him first,<\/em> after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the knife, I believe, is<\/em> Ayoola. Her fear, her chastity, her vulnerability, and it is only there during those moments when a killing happens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

misc thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • the irony of korede being a nurse, in a caregiving and life-saving profession while her sister is a literal serial killer, is not lost on me<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • ayoola somehow made it as a fashion designer living in her mommy’s house in one bedroom and that astounds me<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • the chapters are very short, making it easy to punch through a huge amount of them at a time. i ended up picking up the book and eating up three fourths of it within about 2 and a half hours of leisurely reading (i’m back on my meds and was under cat arrest)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • the poetry throughout the book is very good, imo<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • the house girl remains nameless throughout and i find it sad that so many people are given names but the house girl is just “the house girl”. she is beneath everyone to the point where she is just the lowly servant who will remain nameless. the maid, the butler, the house girl. she has a lot of speaking parts, too, but korede never says her name or gives her much consideration outside of her serving role despite how grateful she is for her. \n
      \n
    • another cultural thing, i suppose. it is a job. still…<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • i think remy would get a lot out of this book<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • hell, even though it is a murder book, i think karen would like it as well<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Oyinkan Braithwaite\u2019s fiendishly wicked comic novel about how blood is thicker – and more difficult to get out of the carpet – than water When Korede\u2019s dinner is interrupted by a distress call from Ayoola, she knows what\u2019s expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This\u2019ll be the third […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6285,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[5],"genre":[348,405,1089,901],"rating":[310],"series":[],"smut_stuff":[],"trigger_warning":[581,292,1007,623,608,593,523,293,458,993,294,364],"trope":[557,304,660,710,631,654,520,727,596,537,460,974,722,560,685,403,369,1167,935,637,437,526,521,908],"class_list":["post-6284","book","type-book","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","genre-adult","genre-drama","genre-remy-yes","genre-suspense","rating-310","trigger_warning-cheating","trigger_warning-child-abuse","trigger_warning-child-predators","trigger_warning-classism","trigger_warning-controlling-relationship","trigger_warning-depression","trigger_warning-discussions-of-suicide","trigger_warning-domestic-violence","trigger_warning-illness","trigger_warning-serial-killers","trigger_warning-sexual-harassment","trigger_warning-violence","trope-absolute-asshole-npc","trope-acab","trope-age-gap","trope-arranged-marriage","trope-bottomless-wallet","trope-cant-say-no","trope-chekovs-gun","trope-conveniently-cut-off","trope-curiosity-fucks-you-up","trope-damsel-in-distress-subverted","trope-faceless-character","trope-feminine-rage","trope-heroine-is-the-villain","trope-instant-attraction","trope-its-still-out-there","trope-mcs-skewed-metrics","trope-petty-revenge","trope-please-communicate","trope-rich-people-pay-for-stupid-shit","trope-sympathetic-evil","trope-the-beautiful-corpse","trope-tragic-backstory","trope-unstoppable-killer","trope-you-can-write-essays-on-this-one"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book\/6284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/book"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6284"},{"taxonomy":"genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/genre?post=6284"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=6284"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=6284"},{"taxonomy":"smut_stuff","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/smut_stuff?post=6284"},{"taxonomy":"trigger_warning","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trigger_warning?post=6284"},{"taxonomy":"trope","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clorinspats.com\/mediamenagerie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trope?post=6284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}