I wanted to like this book, the premise was very inquiring and it seemed like a well thought out idea. But, I just could not get into it. The main character, Frida, was not very likable. Her :one bad day" as she called her error in leaving her toddler home alone for several hours was a living nightmare. I know the author goes to great lengths to make excuses, she was exhausted, her husband had left her for no good reason, she had money problems, she had to finish an assignment for work, she thought she was just going down the street (still wrong) and would be right back, etc. etc. But, I could not justify this behavior.
Then, we get to the reform school for mothers, the social workers were all too far out there, too judgmental, too far to the right. Again, I understand that this is a fantasy or imagination of what could happen in the future, but even given this premise, who would buy into this? Is there ever going to be a place where a mother would go away for a year on the off chance she would be able to get her child back? And the offenses of the mothers were so wildly disparate.
For some, it was being too clingy to their teens, and for others it was physical abuse that could never be justified.
Even though I did not like Frida, I had sympathy for her and wanted things to go better for her than they did.

Thank you to Jessamine Chan, 37 Ink, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. All reviews are my own unbiased opinion.

Oh. My. Gosh. I couldn’t stop thinking about this book when I wasn’t reading it. I NEEDED to know what happened next. Frida was such a good character, and I really struggled as to whether I should root for her or not. On one hand, she did a terrible thing and really put her daughter in danger, but on the other hand, it was the first and only time anything like this had happened to her. I was extremely frustrated with her anger and resentment towards Gust and Susanna, however I don’t have an ex husband (or his new girlfriend) who are co-parenting my child (which I also don’t have), so it might be a little harder for me to understand. I was SHOCKED at the, for a lack of a better term, school supplies that were handed out once Frida got to the school and their lessons started. I didn’t realize this novel had a more dystopian undertone, but I loved it. I thought this book was fantastic and I cannot wait until it is released!

I was really excited to read this when I read the summary but after finishing I cannot tell if I like it.
I definitely compared how I parent vs how Frida and Gust/Susanna parent.
There were parts that seem fictional but at the same time not far off from reality. There were many times while reading the book where I got angry. Angry at Frida and at Gust and of course with the system.
The whole aspect of the school seemed outrageous and the discrepancies between the women’s facility and men’s was unfair along with how unfair the women are treated/tested versus the men.
Growing up in a Chinese family, I can attest to the cultural differences and how we were raised and how that could affect subsequent generations.
Overall I recommend reading the book but expect an emotional roller coaster.
3.8 stars

Frida had one bad day. One horrible day. One day that has forever labeled her as a neglectful, narcissistic mother. She loses temporary custody of her daughter and is sent, along with a group of other “bad parents”, to a government reform program that teaches them to be good parents. The ultimate goal is to pass the program and regain their parental rights, but nothing is as easy as it seems. What is a parent to do when one mistake costs them the life they know and love? Chan offers an insightful look into the struggles of motherhood and the dangers that can happen in one’s weakest moments.

The first third of the book is almost unbearable to read... and I'm not a mother! It's also not too far off the reality of the situation (particularly for BIPOC parents, which is touched on throughout the novel). As things got a bit further from a believable reality, my interest waned somewhat, but this was very effective writing-- it did not make me feel good!!

I absolutely devoured this novel. Set in a dystopian America in the near future, it got me thinking deeply about the expectations placed on modern motherhood and what constitutes a good mother. I wish some of the character had been a bit more developed and nuanced, but I still highly recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a digital advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love dystopian novels, and after reading the description, I was really excited to read this book. Overall, I thought the scenario was totally believable. All you have to do is extrapolate from the so-called "pro-life" supporters - their concern is never for the mother. I didn't find it at all hard to believe the things that happened at the school. I don't want to spoil it too much, so I won't go into details.

In the end, the only reasons I can't rate this higher is that I just did not find Frida to be a compelling character and, because of that, the beginning was very slow for me. I didn't really get invested until about 30% of the way in when the true dystopian/sci-fi part of this novel came around. It had nothing to do with Frida's behavior that led to her 're-education;' I just didn't like her as a person. She was a somewhat sympathetic character about halfway through, and while I was not surprised by the outcome, I did feel sorry for her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC!

This novel focuses on Frida, who left her baby Harriet alone for several hours and now faces the consequences for her poor judgment. Her life turns into one she doesn't recognize as her daughter is taken from her, and she spends a year in a camp to learn to be a 'good mother' in hopes of regaining custody. In the camp, she is handed an AI doll as a stand-in for her real child, and her reactions to the doll are monitored continuously: "The mothers’ heart rates will be monitored to judge anger. Their blinking patterns and expressions will be monitored to detect stress, fear, ingratitude, deception, boredom, ambivalence, and a host of other feelings.’

The start of the novel is a little slow to get going, but picks up considerably around the halfway point. If you like dystopian fiction, particularly the Handmaid's Tale, this is well worth your time.

This book is intriguing, haunting and disturbing. Frida, mother of Harriet, has a very bad day. She gets distracted by a tired child, a demanding job and leaves Harriet alone for 2+ hours. Her neighbors call the police and Harriet is sent to The School to train mothers how to be good mothers. Was she wrong to leave Harriet alone? Did the punishment match the offense? Not in the least.

The simulated “training” uses computerized dolls as “child” replacements. Frida becomes the “mother” of Emmanuel and the training begins. The dolls record data and the mothers-in-training must learn to match the criteria established by the school. Needless to say this is not easy and somewhat arbitrary.

The simulations border on emotional cruelty and the dolls are too real. I was haunted by the way this book vacillated between making me angry at Frida, angry at the institution that sent her to this “school,” and saddened by the many losses that occur. This story will make you recognize your shortcomings as a mother and hope that this kind of parental training never happens. The next time you, as a mother or father, grandparent or other caretaker, have a bad day—you will flash back to this story.

This is a must read. It reminded me of Big brother type reality tv. At times, it was a little preachy. Overall, the book was great.

As an OwnVoices story about mothering as an Asian-American and as an introspective piece on the psychological struggles of parenting, I appreciated "The School for Good Mothers." The writing itself was good and the pace kept me engaged. However, I struggled to sympathize with the main character/narrator. While I realize that I am not a mother myself and perhaps not in the best position to judge, Frida was difficult to connect with. Her initial "crime," (which she refers to as her "one bad day") is serious enough that the removal of her child from her care didn't strike me as the shocking twist that it was meant to be. The dystopian "retraining" facility that Frida is sent to has shades of "The Handmaid's Tale" without the appropriate level of worldbuilding to explain (or at least allude to) how and why the American social work system Frida is attempting to navigate has become as totalitarian as it has. As a reflection of the double-standards of parenthood, this novel is an effective allegory. However, I can't see implementing it in my own classroom as the subject material would not be relevant enough to my teenagers' lives to hold their attention effectively.

When I was reading the description of this book, I anticipated that the "Very Bad Day" the mother had which resulted in her being sent to the school would be a minor infraction blown out of proportion. Instead it was literally a mother who left her two-year-old alone for HOURS. That isn't a minor infraction - she should have had to face serious consequences. Period. I had a really hard time stepping back from my judgment of her actions from the very beginning, particularly as the set up seemed designed to generate sympathy for her. I couldn't get there at all. I have a daughter who is now 8. I've been there, where you feel like you literally cannot spend one more minute listening to your child cry without losing your mind - but you don't just get up and walk away. Ever.

I couldn't finish this one. It's possible that at some point explanations were given that made this a more palatable decision in some way, but I simply couldn't get there. I had a visceral reaction to this story and it meant that I couldn't keep reading it... Perhaps others with more distance or a different perspective will have a better time with it, but I could not.

This story pulls at your heartstrings. A single mother, under pressure, makes a decision that will change her entire life. The book feels a bit like The Handmaiden and The Hunger Games as it puts the reader into a future that is
harsh but entirely possible .
She makes point after point about mothers ( and fathers ) decisions that could be interpreted to be child abuse or worse.
Should parents be sent away for "training" if they don't follow certain "rules" about child rearing ? How much
government oversight is too much ?
A very thought provoking book.

I've had a book hangover a week after finishing this book.  To say this book has impacted me in ways I never thought possible is enough to award it six stars. Three years ago I was one of those people giving dirty looks to mothers while their children screamed in the grocery store line.  Three toddlers later, I can totally relate to Frida. I love my kids, but some days, I just wanna run to the hills or at least to go get some coffee.

The consequences of Fridas "very bad day" turn downright terrifying.  The school is very extreme and honestly degrading to the mothers, but that's the whole point of the book. Parenting today is scrutinized everywhere we look. Social media judges our decisions. Magazines and books tell us what we should and shouldn't be doing. Mothers shame other mothers all the time. We pretend that everything is fine when in reality we are screaming for a day off just for some self care. 

I love and hate this book for keeping me up at night and making me feel guilty.  For reading during the day while my kids watch cartoons and eat donuts for breakfast.  I'm a bad selfish mother but I'm trying to be better. 😁

I had an unexpected and very personal reaction to this novel. I didn't buy it, Like Officer Brunner in the first pages, I kept wondering: "Why would you leave your kid alone in the first place?" and judging the mother because she did that. Since my core sympathy as a reader is meant to be for the mother, the novel didn't work for me.

The inciting incident, of a protagonist being so tired and sick that she goes out and leaves her baby alone in the house for what might have been hours, might have felt reasonable in a memoir, but in fiction it's a little amorphous as a hook. I couldn't help but compare it with Sue Miller's A GOOD MOTHER where a mother leaves her child in the car seat for what's really just a few minutes, to step into a store--and how many of us have done just that?--and this incident, so vividly realized as a tragic misunderstanding where my sympathy remains entirely with the mother, cascades catastrophically into the mother losing custody of her child.


So that's a fairly technical and writerly criticism of the story setup, but it nagged at me throughout. The more realistic/less speculative scenes in the beginning were what I didn't buy--not the speculative scenes that followed, which were vividly imagined. I did like the way the story unfolded, both for its imaginative scope and for what it said about the ease with which mothers can be judged and found wanting.

3.5 stars = This is a good book with a strong concept. I enjoyed it, but probably won't read it again. This book may not be for everyone.

This speculative, dystopian novel pairs the astronomical pressure we put on mothers in our society with a healthy dose of government overreach for a chilling page-turner. Frida, a working single mom, leaves her two-year-old daughter Harriet home alone for two hours on her "very bad day," only to find that her neighbors have called CPS and her life will never be the same.

Overall, I felt this novel had a great concept. Chan went deep into ALL of my fears about motherhood, especially the feeling of being too selfish or incapable of being a good mother. While the school itself certainly took things to an extreme, it was clear how the "lessons" compared to real-life expectations for women. Chan also did not shy away from writing about her experiences as a Chinese/Taiwanese woman, highlighting the ways Frida's Asian heritage affected how she was perceived in society.

Personally, I felt this book was a bit longer than necessary, dragging a bit during Frida's year at the school itself. While I can appreciate that Frida's time at the school began to feel a bit repetitive, as a reader, I struggled with the slow pace. While Chan touches on a LOT of important topics that challenge the reader, I felt these issues could use further critique. I will note that I do not have children, so this book may feel more personal for women who do.

Thank you to Simon&Schuster & NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available January 2022.

Every mom has a very bad day. Some, though, get caught during their very bad day. In "The School For Good Mothers", Jessamine Chan paints a compelling and terrifying look at a near future. When Frida Liu gets contacted by CPS about leaving her infant daughter Harriet home for two and a half hours, she can hardly imagine the consequences. Soon, Frida is submerged into a world of motherese, artificial children and endless counseling. Chan takes our current ruthless CPS system to its logical conclusion, exploring the heartbreak the system causes on families and communities, especially in Brown & Black neighborhoods.

There was no point in this book where I was not clenching my teeth, tightening my fists and looking over to my own infant for reassurance. I loved how the author manages to capture the illogical approach of CPS, of trying to measure motherhood with austere rubrics, of trying to weigh out who is a "good mother" by society's standards. As a new mom myself, Frida was wholly relatable & watching her emotional turmoil definitely uncovered my own feelings towards motherhood in America. Most of all, I appreciated how the author subtly points out the lack of institutional, social and community support for newborn moms & the way systems that are supposed to help parents often do the opposite. A wonderful book!

Thank you to Net Galley for this arc. Frida has one very bad day. And for her very one bad day, she enters the program in order to improve her parenting skills. While there, Frida learns about love, compassion and heartache and heart break.
Was this story over the top? Hell yes, it was. Futuristic and brutal and barbaric. But it made me wonder....wouldn’t a good mother do whatever it takes to be good? Wouldn't you?

Frida Liu is a single mother who has one "very bad day". She makes a parenting mistake that results in her being sent to a reform school for bad mothers. During her year there, she meets and befriends other mothers and deals with all sorts of craziness.

This is one disturbing book. I started it thinking it would be some sort of family/domestic drama. It ended up being more of a dystopian/science fiction novel. The more I read, the angrier I got. My heart hurt for Frida and some of the other characters. The reasons for some of the parents being sent to the school were ridiculous. It was all just too weird. I will say, I am not a big fan of dystopian or science fiction, had I known that about this book I probably wouldn't have chosen to read it. Other than that, however, it was a decent story and I found the ending sad but satisfying.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

I wanted to like this book so much. But the truth is it fell flat for me. The plot had so much potential, overstepping government with their watchful eyes, brainwashing, experimental programs, robotic children, camaraderie and betrayal within their “prison,” but overall I was just not able to root for the whiny main character. The book dragged on and on, and felt repetitive. And I think what was most disappointing was the ending itself. That could have easily been in the middle of the book and the story developed more...or why didn’t she just choose to do that in the first place? It just could have been more.

I do appreciate the ARC copy I received from
NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.