Hard to get through

Started out great, with the mother’s “very bad day” but it was all downhill from there.
I feel like the author has potential but this book just had too many flaws to enjoy.
I get the idea of dystopia here but how does it work that the mother is doomed for life for making one(grave) mistake but the father can leave the mother with the newborn with no consequences, put the child’s development in danger by not feeding them carbohydrates and refusing vaccination and get zero punishment.
The protagonist is making terrible decisions and has not much else but self-pity. She has very low self-esteem and refuses to accept that anyone truly cares for them. She almost craves to be treated like garbage.
The toddlers in the book(the dolls and the real child) are supposed to be taught about merit and moral and social responsibility. A 2 year-old child?! At the same time these children can barely put together 2-word sentences..
Good idea, bad execution.

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Gut wrenching.

This was a gut wrenching, frustrating read, leaving me feeling depressed. Was interesting and moving albeit a tad drawn out in the middle and a little open ended at the end for me.

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A bit doomsday, but interesting

As a mother, reading this book was very triggering, in many ways; there is quite a depressed sense throughout the book that sometimes makes it tough to push on… but I finally made it through to the end.

I admire the way this story serves almost as an allegory for modern motherhood, and the unspoken pressures many mothers must navigate - pressure from society to raise good, respectable, responsible kids, but also the pressure that can come from other women/mothers via our natural bent toward comparison and competition.

To me, this story highlights the idea that there simply is no ‘training’ for motherhood… you become a mother overnight, flaws and all— no matter your motives or the circumstances surrounding how you got pregnant in the first place (which, as the book highlights, are many and varied). But, once that child arrives, you are irrevocably connected in a way that supersedes anything else in your life.
For me, the ‘school’ is a clever invention in the story that gets you thinking about what it would truly be like if there was such a ‘motherhood training’ program to attend before having a child. I think most women would choose not to have kids after going through what Frieda experiences; but that’s just it. That’s the deep complexity (and challenge) of parenthood, that maybe this story is hinting at? We don’t have the luxury of a training program, we have only what we’ve witnessed in our own families, and the families of those we are connected to.

So in a way, we are all “bad mothers, learning to be good”.

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Amazing book

What an intense and haunting book! Best I’ve read in years. Gripping. Unforgettable. Timely. Profound. Highly recommended.

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Dystopian novel that felt very real!

This was an incredibly compelling story. The narration was excellent and added to the visions swirling around in my head. I’m still processing the main character’s experience and trying to leave the school behind, but I suspect Frieda’s story will stay with me for a long time.

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A weird, sad, frustrating story.

A great story for some, just not for me. it really only kept my interest towards the end. Personally, I'm not really one for descriptive sex in novels, perhaps this is why I was turned off a bit.

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I can’t do it anymore

I read reviews about this book and was so intrigued. I’m about 80% through and just can’t give it anymore time. There are some interesting points around cultural ignorance and a lack of racial and class understanding within the system which is interesting, but the protagonist is tiring with no development and the narrators voice is irritating. I can’t do it anymore and wish I spent my time with another audiobook.

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Seriously lacking any character development

Although this book has an interesting storyline, the protagonist never evolves or changes at all. The episode that landed her in this school was consistently claimed as "one bad day", however I would have expected some growth around the issue. The events that happen around the progragonist have potential, but the more interesting storylines are never pursued. It was also hard for me to understand why the State would have such an interest and invest so much money in children when that's never been the case in the modern world. The author did not provide information about whether or not there was a problem with getting pregnant or if (this being in the future) birth rates had declined to such a degree that there had been a change in the approach to parenting. This lack of explanation led to flat, two dimensional antagonists, leaving the reader wondering why they were doing things in the way that they were. What was the bigger goal? Why did they treat the Mothers so badly, and try to hamper their progress. Why? These questions were never even addressed. As well, the children at the center left me with a multitude of questions and a seeminly hanging storyline. Why this was never pursued further, I have no idea. I listened to around three hours left and then googled the synapsis. No point in investing anymore time in something that is flat the whole way through.

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Depressing, dull, only finished it as it was a book club read

This book never got interesting. Never captured my attention and had me wanting to drop it by the 6th chapter when it still hadn’t grabbed my attention. But I pushed on only because it was a book club read and I wanted to finish it, for that reason alone.

The school for mothers was a ridiculous concept, the fathers also held to a different standard was insulting and while I’m a mother that has had plenty of bad mothering days, I could not relate to the main character at all. I never felt connected to her or sold on any of the character development. There just wasn’t much of that anyways.

Without blowing the ending, it was disappointing and left me further upset with the time I wasted on this book. The only emotion I got was with the ending and that was less on the outcome but more so because I had wasted hours on a book that left me emotionless until the last chapter. But by then, it was too late. While I felt I should feel emotion for the main character in the end, I was more ticked off at the author for finally giving me something to connect to the main character, 19 chapters in. The emotion the author was trying to give me at that point fell short and I was so over the book by then.

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Never went anywhere

I should have returned this book at chapter 5 or 6 when I realized that nothing was going to happen. This book was both depressing & boring, and exactly what you’d expect in this day and age regarding race & the patriarchy. Bleh. Save your money or credits - this wasn’t it!!!!

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