Review 517: Shred Sisters

Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner
My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars

This is a family novel about trying to live with a family member with mental health issues. It’s also about the younger sister trying to cope with having an older sister Olivia, or Ollie, take the parents attention. Amy Shred is four years younger, and gets bullied at school. She doesn’t have friends, but instead she is the perfect student. Amy does better after she convinced her parents to send her to a private school for high school. By now, Ollie is spending her first stint in a mental hospital, avoiding jail for stealing a fur coat and silver spoon worth $60,000.

The story is told through Amy, first in their youth, then young adult days going into her thirties. Days before she leaves for college her parent announce their divorce. By this time Ollie was running around somewhere in the country. The all make a pact to call one or another if she turns up. The dad has money and makes more excuses for Ollie’s behavior, so that is who she turns to the most. He doesn't tell the others, usually.

The book plainly shows how difficult it is for the family members to cope with someone with a mental illness, particularly if there isn’t a medication that helps. Or maybe there is a medication, but they don’t like taking it. And each person is affected in a different way.