A haunting, magnetic coming of age novel about a pair of sisters, vastly different in every way. Older sister Olly is alluring and charming. She is also deeply troubled, struggling with mental health as she comes and goes from the family. Younger sister Amy is quieter, likes to study, and finds some peace in facts because they never let her down. Feels like an exploration of mental illness, sisterhood- and the unbreakable bonds sister share. I adore books that don't hesitate to show the messier side of familial relationships, and this hit the mark.

Thank you to NG and the publisher for the arc.

I love a story about sisters, so I knew this was a must-read. This story follows the tumultuous life of the Shred family, often at the mercy of one of the daughter's (Ollie) struggle with authority, mental health, and addiction. Told from the perspective of her sister (Amy), it highlights the ways in which this family was shaped by Ollie's actions. It's also a coming of age story, following Amy closely as she tries to build a life of her own, but ends up in her own tumultuous situations with partners and friends.

Beautifully written, heartbreaking, and heartwarming. This isn't necessarily a book that will make you sob, but it has a lot of tension and family drama. I enjoyed my time reading this, even when at times my heart was heavy with pain for this cast of characters.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic for providing a review copy through NetGalley. It took me a bit longer than I wanted to read it, but I am so glad I did.

A story with two captivating sisters as the main characters. Almost entirely narrated by the younger sister, the plot brings out conflicting emotions, struggles, and chaotic themes that surprisingly manage to resonate with the reader. I found the choice to use a classic storyline but essentially focus on the experiences of two sisters, who, despite loving each other, are also distant, to be interesting and likely what made this story such an enjoyable read.

I think the ending felt a bit rushed compared to the rest of the story, but not so much as to make it terrible. All in all, I consider it a good read, featuring characters who make questionable choices, strong themes that emerge through the narrative, and a unique style

Shred Sisters is a gem of a book. It dives into the complex and raw bond of sisterhood, complete with highs, lows, and everything in between. The authentic portrayal of mental health challenges (bipolar disorder, depression) and personal struggles added a serious layer of depth and realism to the story.

The Shred family's story is complex and winding, spanning over two decades. This long arc allows for rich character development and an in-depth exploration of the intricate dynamics within the family. Most of all, I found the sisters' journey to self-discovery incredibly human and relatable. Watching them struggle, get lost and eventually find themselves and each other felt genuine and satisfying. Lerner does a fantastic job of capturing the imperfect in the day-to-day.

Overall, if you’re into heartfelt stories with a strong focus on sisterhood, mental health struggles and personal growth, Shred Sisters is a must-read.

✨ Disclaimer ✨ I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.

This book is about two sisters who couldn’t be more different if they tried. Told from the perspective of the calm nerd, and looking at her life from childhood to adulthood.

The book immediately starts really aggressive and angry towards the wilder sister (Ollie), and speaks of her with a lot of resentment. This could be intended as a teenage voice but it just didn’t inspire me to continue. There is also one chapter where Nazi Germany or even specific Nazis are mentioned at a weird number of times and it really took me out of the writing and the story. That amount in just one chapter just came across as weird to me.

As children the mother is made out to be almost cartoonishly evil in the way she handles her wild daughter, and the main character uses up the sympathy I have for her really quickly with the “no one sees me cause I’m so skinny and smart” thing. I’m sure you feel that way but I don’t need to be reminded that often.

As they get older we keep focusing on the boring sister and it is just that. Boring. Her life just kind of happens to her and she goes along with it without much emotion. I ended up going on here to see if I was accidentally reading a YA novel. There are elements of missed potential for both sisters that could be really interesting to explore but it doesn’t. We are introduced to the family and then life just happens. Our main character more like a passive bystander to her own story. Even when shit hits the fan it doesn’t get explored at all or mentioned beyond the chapter.

This. This is a fiction path you have to take, also knowing it reads like a memoir. A path involving two very different sisters that you love to hate or hate to love at any given time. A raw glimpse into the lives of a dysfunctional family dynamic that could really be anyone’s family. This is a staccato masterpiece with the ability to let you savor real moments and intricately build up the characters of each sister. Choppy bits and pieces of glimpses into life events both large and small. A reminder of our individual uniqueness, experiences in life, battles with mental health, and doing the best we all can with what we’ve got. The fine details of this - a chef’s kiss! I cannot recommend this more!

Amy Shred is the little sister. Her big sister Olly is magnetic, beautiful and talented. She's also erratic, manic, unpredictable, and mentally ill. Amy grows up in Olly's shadow as Olly appears and disappears from her family's life. Even in adulthood as Amy builds her own life, Olly continues to haunt her as she yearns to be close with her big sister. Both sisters are frustrating in ways but the story of their sisterhood is moving. This book really explores how much our siblings impact us and how we engage with the world.

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!

Betsy Lerner’s Shred Sisters is a deeply poignant novel that follows a family who is fractured by one sister’s mental illness. From the beginning pages I was so intrigued by the relationship of Amy and Ollie. Amy’s journey of self-discovery over two decades is so well-crafted and felt incredibly intimate. Lerner’s writing is so eloquently done it makes the characters and chaos come to life. The plot was fast paced and messy. One of my favs reads of the year. I love books about sisterhood especially the messy ones. This is a 4.5 star read for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for an advanced copy.

Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner follows Amy, the younger sister to the wild and oftentimes unreliable Olivia. This beautiful story traces Amy’s journey from a hard upbringing to an introspective, oftentimes confused adulthood, all of which is deeply influenced by the chaotic orbit of her elder sister. This book perfectly captures the complexities of sisterhood and family dynamics, and this story was rich with emotional depth and realism.

The writing in Shred Sisters flows so easily, making the transition from Amy’s childhood to her adult years feel natural and well-paced. Lerner’s skill in writing is shown as she delicately balances themes of loss, love, and growth. Despite the heaviness of the book I couldn’t put it down. The prose is accessible yet profound, and I felt so seen by Amy and the well known “confused in my 20s” narrative.

What stands out most about this book for me is its honest depiction of family tensions and the unyielding bond of sisterhood (even when you wish it would yield 🥲). The story doesn’t shy away from the pain and complexities these relationships bring, yet it also highlights the growth that happens with such challenges. This book is a deeply moving experience that mirrors the ups and downs of real life.
Not only is there depth in the family relationships, but also in the relationships Amy has in her adulthood with men and the people she attracts into her life. This also brought another entire level of depth and oftentimes sadness to this book.

I can definitely see this book becoming very popular in the literary fiction world. Shred Sisters is more than just a story about two siblings; it’s a reflection on how the people closest to us shape our lives in innumerable ways.

I loved this book no matter how sad it made me 🥲

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 all the parents attention. Amy Shred is four years younger, gets bullied at school. She doesn’t have friends, but instead she is the perfect student who 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 book is narrated by Amy through her youth then young adult days going to 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.

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.

An emotional story of two sisters, one who strives for perfection in the shadow of her older sister's erratic behavior. A great debut story of a family struggling to maintain normality amidst the drama and the heartbreak of a child struggling.
I highly recommend this book

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC! 4.5⭐️
I absolutely love lit fic novels about misfit sisters, and I ate this up. I finished it in one sitting! I can relate to Amy, and would love to read anything this author puts out.

"No one will love you more or hurt you more than a sister."

I don't know what it is about stories of sisterhood that have had me in a chokehold lately, but this was exquisite. Lerner weaves a beautifully raw tale of mental illness, complicated family dynamics and love. Amy and Olivia are both so unique in their own right and I enjoyed their backstory and manifestations of and conversations surrounding their shared trauma. I could even get past the slow beginning because of how masterfully Lerner wrote the characters. Even in the dull moments, I was invested. These characters are not perfect by any means and were even unlikeable at times, but that made them so much more raw and real. I cried, I gasped, I wanted to call my own sister and tell her how much I love her. I need Lerner's next novel ASAP.

Shred Sisters provides an intimate look into the lives of Amy and Olivia Shred, through the words of Amy as she watches her family grapple with Olivia's struggle with mental illness. It portrays mental illness and the impact it has on a family dynamic bluntly and honestly.

The writing was engaging. I found myself rooting for Amy throughout and felt a connection to her. The other characters were also well written, especially the main family, whose impacts on each other were evident through the writing. A point I especially enjoyed was watching Amy's image of Olivia grow and change as she matured and went through different stages of life. I think its a testament to true sisterhood, that there was always an element of care and love between them no matter what was happening.

Also, if this book has convinced me of anything, it is that there is no one way to take care of yourself mentally. Medication and Therapy are not the be-all and end-all. However, with the correct support and care for oneself, it is possible to heal and for things to get better.

A really compelling read overall.

Betsy Lerner's Shred Sisters is a poignant exploration of family dynamics, the lasting impact of childhood trauma, and the complexities of sisterhood. Lerner's writing is both raw and evocative, capturing the intensity of the sisters' experiences with sensitivity and depth. The novel delves into themes of grief, guilt, and forgiveness, exploring how these emotions can shape our relationships and our sense of self.

A beautifully written book about mental illness, families, relationships, drug addiction, therapy, death and love. This author knows how to tell a story. I was completely engrossed in a subject and timeframe that normally would not interest me. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

From the opening page, where Amy has to wake up her father because sister Ollie is covered in blood, we are hooked. Shred Sisters is told from Amy's perspective, spanning decades as she narrates her family story. In the 70s, she's the nerdy, bullied, younger sister. Ollie is the beautiful one, the gifted one, the athlete. The wild one. While Amy relays the story, the plot and the family revolve around Ollie, struggling with untreated mental health issues. The family dynamic was to clean up after Ollie, deny anything was amiss, or to go overboard trying to fix her.

I never knew what was coming next in this novel. The plot was messy like a family, each character authentic. It was equal parts absurd and heartbreaking. Amy's matter-of-fact delivery was full of dry humor and detached observations. It was her survival mechanism. She loved her sister, she was jealous of her sister, she was mad at her sister. The portraits of each of the Shred parents rang true. The secondary characters introduced throughout the story felt real. And Ollie danced in and out on whatever whim carried her, leaving crisis after crisis.

"No one will love you more or hurt you more than a sister".

I loved this complicated, smart, funny depiction of siblings, of life, of family, and didn't want it to end. This book had me feeling all the emotions, it was a gift to read.

My thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the digital ARC. Shred Sisters was published 10/1/2024.

Such a thought provoking and a compelling read it was. I was honestly hooked from the start and till the end! Will be reading more by this author<3
Thank you soo much netgalley for the e-arc!!

Shred Sisters is a book that may captivate some readers while leaving others struggling to stay engaged. For me, it took a while to connect with the story, and I found myself losing interest about a third of the way through. The narrative follows a family, specifically two sisters, over the span of about twenty years, with Amy as the central voice. Amy is the “good” little sister, longing for more out of life, while her older sister, Olivia (Ollie), is unpredictable and requires much more attention. The parents, seemingly detached, assume money can solve Olivia’s mental health struggles, while Amy’s needs are largely overlooked.

The characters in Shred Sisters aren't particularly likable, which I didn’t mind, as it lent the story an intentional and authentic feel. This isn’t a book for those seeking happy endings. It feels almost like reading Amy’s diary—raw, honest, and emotionally charged. While the emotional delivery of the narrative is strong, I found the book ultimately wasn’t for me. The character-driven plot can be upsetting and frustrating at times, and Amy’s boring moments seem to reflect her own feelings of being overlooked and wanting more from her sister. The choice to keep the narrative solely from Amy’s perspective, without much from Ollie’s, also felt intentional, but it left me wanting more insight.

The story becomes somewhat repetitive as the characters remain stuck in their cycles, with little development. While this may mirror the reality of mental illness and family dynamics for some, I think there was a missed opportunity to explore these points more deeply and convey the repetitive nature with more purpose. The narrative’s tendency to jump around was a detriment for me, and while I appreciated the raw depiction of family relationships, I would’ve liked to see more growth in the characters—especially Amy. A dual perspective with Ollie could have added another layer of depth.

In the end, Shred Sisters offers a complex, emotional exploration of family dynamics, addiction, and mental illness, but it felt plotless at times and too predictable for my taste. Still, I can see how this book might resonate with readers who appreciate raw, character-driven stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Press for providing me with an ARC.