Korede is the smart daughter with a stable job and a good head on her shoulders, yet her beautiful, flighty, younger sister Ayoola, who simply walks into a room and men fall for her, is perfection in her mother’s mind. If only her mother knew that Ayoola just killed her third boyfriend.

That’s how My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite begins, with jealous Korede helping Ayoola clean up blood and ditch a body. Korede wonders if this will be the fate of any man Ayoola dates, and the stakes are raised when Korede’s boss, who she’s madly in love with, falls under Ayoola’s spell.

Told by Korede, this sounds like a dark novel, but if anything it’s a dark comedy, because Korede has such a sarcastic, caustic wit that cracked me up. With the story going back and forth in time, there’s also some good commentary on gender and power, making this a much more nuanced read than I thought it would be. Many dark things have followed these sisters for years and they’ll stick together through anything…or will they?

All the way through the novel I kept seesawing on whether or not I thought their bond would break, and while the end felt a bit abrupt, it didn’t end like I thought it would and I kind of like that. It’s an intriguing read about power, tragedy, sisterly bond, and, yes, some murder, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.