Ollie was that girl. First in, last out. What no one yet understood was that Ollie had no brakes.

The novel begins with a quote, ‘No one will love you more or hurt you more than a sister’. In this story, Amy grows up in fear and awe of her big sister Ollie, that girl with no brakes. Beautiful, brazen, beguiling and always creating chaos, Ollie tortures her little sister by being too much, tormenting her. Nothing is fair between them and their parents seem to let Ollie get away with everything short of murder, usually because it’s easier to ignore Ollie’s troubling behavior than fight constant battles. Amy is always on the sidelines, angered that her big sis is never punished, not comprehending how their parents allow her to do as she pleases, starting fights by ruining her things, stealing her joy, worse jumping through a window while playing stupid games in the house, so out of control she injures herself. High expectations for her, and seemingly none for Ollie, as if being tall and beautiful is good enough for their first born.

Still, Amy spies on her, studies her. Older, cooler, of course there is excitement in snooping around. Ollie is constant to nothing, but good at everything she tries. She doesn’t care about a shining future and college. Amy is studious and unpopular, she doesn’t have the fearlessness that her big sister oozes but Ollie’s antics, over time, shakes the foundation of her family, even her parent’s marriage. Their mother wants Ollie to be held responsible and is resentful that their father makes excuses for her. Ollie becomes more willful, refusing college, taking off with a boyfriend and not coming home more and more often, behaving irrationally. For the first time, even their father cannot deny that her actions after a party with friends require professional help. Ollie, at eighteen, is hospitalized in a psychiatric ward leaving Amy at a loss to understand Ollie’s unraveling. Too, her own troubles always seem diminished, unimportant by comparison, her parents worn out by Ollie. She is elated when her parents finally agree to help her go to private school, escaping her sister’s shadow and notoriety.

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While Amy begins a new life at Carlson, her sister spends two years in the facility before being discharged, but it’s not a cure. “Over the next few years, Ollie would surface from time to time.” The Shred sisters walk different paths, but their struggles are not so different. As Ollie comes and goes, blowing opportunities and loans from her parents, Amy realizes she doesn’t have it all figured out. In a family where she has been expected to be the steady one, what does that really even mean? Does she just hide her own pain and difficulties because she is less brash? No one in a family is blameless, dynamics shift. But no one challenges her more than Ollie, nor haunts her as much. Maybe Ollie isn’t really a villain at all.

Gorgeous read. This novel reminds us it’s dangerous to measure your worth against your sister’s (or brother’s) best and worst qualities. In a family, we do that, thinking what one person needs or thinks or how they live is either right or wrong, as if one size fits all. Why do we do that? Mental health struggles absolutely are a family affliction. There isn’t a handbook that suits all to help navigate what obstacles and challenges each person will face. I love that Ollie and Amy both have emotional problems, that is reality. Amy falls through the cracks at times, taking a back seat to the bigger act of Ollie’s emotional outbursts but Amy isn’t necessarily steady. The parents aren’t without fault either, struggling with how to approach helping Ollie, sometimes blind to Amy’s suffering. Well written. Yes, add it to your reading list!

Published October 1, 2024

Grove Atlantic

shred sisters was an excellent read. I loved the writing and it was propulsive. Great character study. I would read more from this author.

Shockingly heartbreaking, Shred Sisters does a phenomenal job of exploring how taxing familial ties can be. This one guy close to home more then I'd like to admit.

Oh, this was excellent. I love family drama and secrets and troubles - messed up families are honestly one of my favorite little tropes in books of all genres, so I was very excited to pick this one up. The complexities of a complicated family dynamic can be difficult to fully flesh out in writing, but Lerner NAILED IT -- the connection (and sometimes lack of connection) between family members, especially the sisters, really got to me. The perspective of being overshadowed and having to watch everyone flock to someone who you know needs the attention - while still needing it desperately yourself - is such a fine line to walk, and to portray that so vulnerably and perfectly here is a true feat of writing. Loved this, will definitely pick up more from Lerner in the future. Stunning debut!

I loved the complexity of this and the exploration of sisterhood while covering themes such as mental health.

“Shred Sisters” by Betsy Lerner is a compelling debut novel that delves into the intricate dynamics of sisterhood within a middle-class Jewish family. The narrative centers on Amy Shred, who grows up overshadowed by her older sister, Olivia, whose struggles with mental illness and erratic behavior profoundly impact their family life. Lerner’s portrayal of the complexities of familial relationships and mental health challenges is both wry and incisive, offering readers a nuanced exploration of love, resentment, and resilience. The novel has been praised for its authentic character development and emotional depth, making it a noteworthy addition to contemporary family dramas. 

As an only child, books focusing on sisterhood and the complexities within their relationship are always some of my favourite to dive into and learn about.

I absolutely loved this booked and the dynamics it discussed (family, sisterhood, mental health).

At times the flashbacks had me confused but overall I would recommend this to any reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC!
I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. 3.5/5 for me. The narrator/MC, Amy, was not the most likable or enjoyable. I found her to be kind of grating and boring, like girl go off give us nothing. I wanted to better understand the impact her relationship with Ollie truly had on her life—it didn’t get deep enough for me. Her vibe was just a little bit too hopeless.

What I loved about this book was the writing—it was beautifully done. The storyline was entertaining and felt fairly realistic. The Shred family’s privilege is completely undeniable. Not necessarily a bad thing just very first world problem-y as other reviewers have noted.

Overall I did enjoy the book and finished it quickly. I would definitely read more from Lerner!

4.5 ⭐️
“No one will love you or hate you more than a sister.”

I’m always a fan of reading books that explore the complexities of sisterhood and mental health.

This book is about two sisters, Amy and Ollie, who are very different from each other. They are both flawed, which makes them more real. Amy, though the youngest, is portrayed as someone who has been neglected and always has to be understanding and take care of her sister. Ollie’s character gives insight into someone who has bipolar disorder.

The narrative is from Amy's point of view, but it shows the great impact Ollie has on her life, whether they are far apart or close. This often saddened me, as Ollie’s influence on Amy’s life is frequently negative.

While this book strongly addresses the struggles of a person suffering from mental health issues, it also shows how a family is affected when one member is battling mental health problems and the associated stigma.

The author skillfully uses flashbacks to provide context to the present, although I found this approach confusing at times.

Overall, this book highlights the importance of kindness, understanding, and empathy. It also emphasizes that healing and growth are possible, no matter what path you have come from.

Sisters, family, mental illness -- all things that come together for a potentially strong novel. SHRED SISTERS was one of the best books I was able to read in 2024. Betsy Lerner does such a great job of creating the right type of atmosphere for sisters to clash without it being over-the-top or gimmicky. I'm reminded of stories we hear about the 'golden child' and scapegoat in families, two things that maybe don't apply to Olivia and Amy exactly, but create an interested basis for the overall understanding of the central conflict:

Who really is the blame for the lopsided family dynamic? Olivia's mental health can't be the only thing that created the dynamic. The reader follows Amy, who is not quite the 'scapegoat' of the family, but who always comes after Ollie (Olivia). We see her through different stages of young life while she grapples wqith the realization that something is deeply wrong within the family dynamic itself.

I get the feeling that the author wrote with a heavy outline and wanted to make sure she hit specific points in a pre-determined narrative before she sat down to really write. I think this held the book back from being truly outstanding, because at times it seems like we're not reading a story unfolding, but a summary of events that have already transpired.

Regardless, this was an absolute hit for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a review! I love a story about complex family dynamics, so I really loved the parts of this book that were strictly about the relationship between the two sisters or between out main character and her parents. However it lost me for a bit in the second act as was all about Amy's relationships with men in her 20s and 30s, and less about Olivia at all.

A look at the lives of two very different sisters growing up in the same household. This book was engaging and a character study with very distinct voices.

[4.25 stars]

Shred Sisters is a story about what happens when there’s one person in the family who sucks all the air out of the room. One incredibly complicated, damaging, toxic person who permeates everyone and everything around them. The Shred family is rocked when Olivia, their daughter who suffers from mental illness and has always gotten the limelight, starts to behave erratically. Her younger sister, Amy, who is super smart and quieter, butts up against Olivia for much of her life. Shred Sisters opens with a literal bang, but not a gunshot-type bang. You’re pulled right into the story and I read it in a couple days. Shred Sisters will be deeply relatable to anyone who has lived in close proximity to and/or been responsible for an extremely chaotic person, whether a family member or not.

Shred Sisters is a heartbreaking and bingeable tale about two sisters and their tumultuous relationship from childhood into adulthood. I love stories that are centered around the protagonist’s relationship with one other person and how those two people evolve while coming and going in each other’s lives. If you like messy stories about messy family relationships and sisters, this one's for you!

Sibling relationships bring their baggage, now add mental illness to the mix and things get complex quickly. Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner tells the story of Amy and Olivia (Ollie) and how their family and their relationship with themself, with one another, and with the extended family are impacted by Olivia's manic depression. Having a sibling with mental illness this story definitely resonated with me and was quite thought-provoking.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of Shred Sisters in exchange for an honest review. Shred Sisters is available now.

Shred Sisters is a moving if uneven tale of two sisters, one with mental illness. It’s about family and sibling relationships, it also about how mental illness can affect more than just the person with the diagnosis. It was a quick and worthwhile if not easy read.

Thank you Betsy Lerner, Grove Press, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

I love Betsy Lerner’s newsletter so I was very excited to read 𝗦𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, her first novel. Lern­er is also a memoir writer and seasoned literary agent and editor. It's a captivating coming of age story about sisterhood, mental illness and family relationships. And also, this cover is perfection!

The main character Amy Shred has tried all her life to be the smart, “good” daughter in part to make up for her older sister’s Olivia’s tumultuous life. Olivia spends much of her adolescence in an institution that the family refers to as “The Place”. Beautiful, wild and always the center of attention, Olivia is later given a diagnosis of manic depression.

As the story unfolds, the seemingly perfect Shred family from Connecticut starts to fall apart. Olivia drifts in and out of the their lives over the years and Amy eventually realizes that her family’s drama is not solely the fault of her sister.

Lern­er's writing style is sharp and engaging. This poignant coming of age story is a heartfelt exploration of how our closest relationships shape and change us.

Thanks to the publisher for the #gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

2.75/5: I really wanted to like this book but as an eldest sister I cannot get myself to like the characters of this story. I never liked any of the decisions any of the characters made. A self-destruction/self-sabotage plot is very cringe to me. Overall, it was pretty slow-paced and took me a couple months to get through.

Thank you again netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Any story about sisterhood, found family, and coming of age, does in fact captivate me. The story is poignant, yet sometimes slow in parts, but overall a compelling read.

Wow, what a great book...it resonated as someone who has a complicated relationship with her sister because of her choices. It is poignant, funny, honest, and well-written. Highly recommend.