“My Sister, the Serial Killer” Book Review

(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD)

Many months ago, while scrolling on TikTok, I came across a post of book recommendations based on your favorite toxic artist. It caught my eye for a couple of reasons.

For one, I wanted to get back into reading. As a woman living in a country where books are getting banned and anti-intellectualism is on the rise, I longed to get lost in a good book. I even made a Goodreads account to track books that I’ve finished reading, I’m currently reading, or books I want to read.

A second reason why that TikTok post caught my eye is that it correlated book recommendations with one’s favorite toxic artist. I thought about myself from the ages of 19 to 21, when I used to claim to be an “emotionally unavailable toxic girl” (I know, very cringe) who listened to Brent Faiyaz, Kehlani, and SZA.

I swiped to the first slide of the TikTok post, and the first artist listed was SZA. Three books were recommended: “Luster” by Raven Lelani, “My Sister, the Serial Killer” by Oyinkan Braithwaite, and “I’m a Fan” by Sheena Patel.

“My Sister, the Serial Killer” caught my eye because of the book cover. It’s a Black woman wearing sunglasses and a headwrap, with the book title in bright green letters. I also thought about the SZA song, “Kill Bill,” too. I scrolled through the rest of the TikTok post and added other book recommendations based on my other favorite toxic artists to my “Want to Read” list on Goodreads.

I read the details on what “My Sister, the Serial Killer” is about, and a few snippets of the book, feeling invested and wanting to know what will happen. It was enough for me to order the book in paperback.

“My Sister, the Serial Killer” takes place in Nigeria and follows Korede, a woman who works at a hospital as a nurse. After her younger sister, Ayoola, calls her for help after she murders yet another one of her boyfriends in self-defense (according to Ayoola), Korede meets up with her to dispose of the body and clean up the crime scene. It seems very routine for Korede to help cover up Ayoola’s murders, but she does it in the name of “family comes first.”

However, it gets intense for Korede as Ayoola starts dating Tade, a doctor who works at the same hospital as Korede. Korede has been in love with Tade for a long time, doing things to impress him, but she is too shy to make a move. Korede doesn’t want him to get hurt, but it puts her in a position where she has to choose to look out for Tade or protect Ayoola if she strikes again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a thriller in every sense of the word, and I was hooked on each page. However, I was disappointed at the book’s ending, in which Korede helps Ayoola, this time involving a fight between Ayoola and Tade, which resulted in Ayoola getting stabbed. The cycle starts again when Ayoola brings home a new boyfriend whom Korede and their mother meet.

As I read “My Sister, the Serial Killer,” my dislike of Ayoola grew. Not only do I not like her because she is a serial killer, but she also takes advantage of Korede by always calling her to clean up her messes and cover for her. I wanted Ayoola to get caught so badly, and Korede to give Ayoola up to the Nigerian police.

A particular part in the book where I thought to myself, “Oh, she needs her karma,” was when Korede asks Ayoola to stop talking to Tade. In response, Ayoola says, “Well, we don’t always get what we want.”

Ayoola knows that her beauty makes people (especially men) fall in love with her, and she can get away with so much. Even though I felt bad for Korede, as the book progressed, I started to see how much of an enabler she is to Ayoola’s habits. I even said to myself while reading, “If the roles were switched, and Korede was the serial killer, I doubt Ayoola would be a ride or die for her older sister.”

With the other characters in the book, I started to dislike Tade when he was dating Ayoola because he switched up on Korede. It’s comical how Tade defended Ayoola, despite her breaking his heart and vacationing in Dubai with another man. It’s jarring how they were able to get back together, and yet it didn’t work out as Tade got caught up in the end, and his medical license was revoked.

The only character I liked in this book was Muhtar, the coma patient Korede took care of and always spoke to when he was in a coma. Even though he was in a comatose state for most of the book, at least he was someone that Korede felt comfortable with. I do think it was crazy how, when Muhtar woke up from his coma, he remembered the dark secrets that Korede told him regarding Ayoola’s murderous ways.

I’m on the fence about whether or not he was a real one for not going to the police, because if it meant Ayoola would get arrested, I was all for it. However, that would also mean Korede would get arrested too, since she’s an accessory to Ayoola’s murders for cleaning up the murders and getting rid of evidence.

One thing that Braithwaite should’ve explored more in this book is how the sisters murdered their father. One can conclude as to why the sisters murdered their father, because he was an abusive man who cheated on their mother. However, to me, it felt like a plot hole. A lot of the chapters referenced back to what Korede and Ayoola’s father was like, but Braithwaite didn’t delve into his demise.

Overall, “My Sister, the Serial Killer” was a refreshing book for me, because it’s different from other books I’ve read previously. If you’re someone who likes mysteries and thrillers, definitely add this book to your reading list.

Rating: 3.5/5