Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful book by Betsy Lerner – 4.5 stars rounded up!
Spanning two decades, this is the Shred family. Mom, dad, and sisters Olivia (Ollie) and Amy. The two sisters couldn’t be more different, with Ollie suffering from an as yet undiagnosed mental illness, resulting in erratic and sometimes criminal behavior, bullying, and generally disrupting the entire household. Amy finds her solace in education, believing in facts and science. We watch as Ollie’s illness takes its toll on their relationship as well as on the family as a whole. No one will love you or hurt you more than a sister.
This was a fabulous character-study book on what mental illness can do to relationships and how differently people handle the upset. We follow along as the casualties pile up in the family and how they alternately try to help Ollie and not get sucked into all the resultant drama. The characters feel real – you can see how the parents try to help, but don’t know how best to help; how the sisters want to have a relationship yet can’t have a relationship. I couldn’t put this one down and was totally invested!
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