A moving and emotional story dealing with many family issues. Maggie’s is the youngest of three sisters. Her older sister, Bets, moved away from home and never looked back. The middle sister is Ginny, a woman who is intellectually disabled but was able to be independent until a diabetic coma put her in the hospital. Maggie decides to bring her sister closer, where she can take care of her after she leaves rehab. There is much to unpack here, as Maggie is dealing with a separation from her husband, her sons leaving home, and the stress of caring for Ginny. The book also serves as an ode to caretakers, as the work of Ginny’s two caretakers enables her to live in her own home. Its an interesting book but not easy to read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really really wanted to like this one, especially since it's a debut, AND a story about sisters. Unfortunately it fell very flat and I gave up about 100 pages in. It might have ended up being a 3-star read, but I couldn't push through it to find out. I'm not against revisiting this at another time, but I'm shelving it for now.

Heartwarming and cheerful. A good antidote to reading the news.
Thank you to netgalley for the e-review copy of this book.

When I started this book, I was skeptical and wondering what I had gotten myself into. But oh man, it quickly stole my heart! This was unique and emotional. I found the writing style to be quirky but fitting for the sisters and their shenanigans. There were some sections that skipped ahead in the timeline, and I feel the reader missed out on certain events when we just got a recap. But overall, this was an incredible story and I’m glad I stuck with it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book started out strong but then there was so much going on in it that it felt a little overwhelming. I guess the same can be true with life. It was really good and I liked the sister dynamics. Especially, when one sister is caring for another with special needs. This book showed how messy life is and the complications of trying to be there for everyone. I like that it showed the struggles of family obligation and expectations.

Overall, a great story that will make you laugh and cry and I would recommend this book to anyone.

The summary of this book says it all and I found it to be spot on accurate. It truly was funny yet moving, and I love the focus on family dynamics and relationships. I adore Ginny. I love how she is straightforward and frank, and combined with her quirky likes and addictions, she is just so compelling to read about. She made me chuckle and I got such a kick out of her. The novel was not all humor, the frustrations that Maggie experienced was also a key focus, and it was easy to feel her emotions while reading about her new demands on top of everything else she had going on. I can see how being a caretaker for Ginny was frustrating at times, but the true bond between the sisters was evident, especially as the book progressed. I really enjoyed reading this one. It had a little bit of everything in it and was a very easy and quick read for me.

There are so many delightful layers to this story. Maggie is going through a separation, trying to parent her two sons, manage her freelance business and starting to date. Then she gets a call that her older sister is in the ER from a sugar overdose. Her sister is a little slow, diabetic, addicted to sugar and porn ( a girl needs some fun, I about fell off my chair laughing!!!) Their oldest sister lives on the West Coast and is not much help. Maggie moves Ginny closer to her and thus begins the tale. There were so many things I could relate to and the biggest is I think many of us women feel like we need to save our little corner of our world. When most of our families would probably like us to lighten up and have some fun. Take some time and have fun with this one!

This started off strong for me but kind of fell off about a third of the way through. I wanted to love, but my interest just wasn’t piqued enough to continue. DNF for me!

I have not done any research into Jeannie Zusy's persona life, but this book tells me that she has sisters. And within the dynamics of the Frederick Sisters, she has very capably described the unique dynamic that can only exist between sisters, the squabbling, the unconditional love and frustration, and the knowledge that you will always have someone in your corner who simply understands. Her depiction of the added gifts of having a sibling with intellectual disabilities is handled deftly and with compassion and left me feeling gratified and comforted. A well-written story that will hold many truths for those who proceed with an open heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a marvelously written ode to sisterhood. It also showed remarkable empathy and perception of persons with special needs. I highly recommend!!

This was a fun novel about the bond between sisters Maggie and Ginny. I think it did a good job of showing the chaos of middle age: caring for grown children, an ex-husband and an intellectually challenged sister. While I didn’t love all the choices that Maggie made I appreciated the care and compassion that was behind it all.

A solid, easy read about a mother / ex-wife/ lonely single lady / caregiver to a mentally disabled sister / working artist who is juggling a number of important roles. Her juggling at times is raw, awkward, and rewarding. The book goes through her ups and downs over the course of several years as she adapts to her changing family needs. The plot is simple and at times slow coming to a gentle ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for this ARC.

You know when you need a little cheerful book to balance out thrillers or serious drama books? This little story is just the ticket. The sisters are fun and it's the kinda of heartwarming story that you need to read every once and awhile!

Zusy's Frederick sisters navigate a complicated, stressful situation and drastic changes with plenty of mistakes, forgiveness, and persistent love that sees them through.

When Maggie gets a call that her older sister Ginny--diabetic but a sugar lover, with intellectual disabilities--needs more help than she's getting living on her own, she brings Ginny and her occasionally vicious dog to live nearby in upstate New York.

But Maggie already has a maxed-out life: she's separated from her husband, she has two boys, she's getting by on a freelancer's pay, and she's just starting to date again. Meanwhile, Ginny is bull-headed, hooked on sugar and porn, and not inclined to cooperate with Maggie's requests--or those of her caregivers.

Zusy notes that the character of Ginny was inspired by Zusy's own brother, and the fictional interactions of Maggie and Ginny feel informed by Zusy's real-life exchanges with her sibling, who also had intellectual disabilities.

I had a tough time pinning down the tone in this roller-coaster story--I wasn't always sure whether Zusy was aiming for what felt like moment-to-moment shifts from playful to alarming to quirky, but it left me a little disoriented.

The difficult dynamic of Maggie's feeling responsible for--yet not parenting--a special-needs, grown sibling is conveyed with all of the awkward, upsetting, challenging elements one might expect.

Maggie is navigating a fraught, tough situation. She provides a safe framework for Ginny with caregivers and an accessible home for her wheelchair, but Ginny has her own money and credit card, and she is obsessed with Hawaiian Punch and Jell-O, and refuses to test her blood sugar. The push and pull of Ginny's strong preferences and opinions and how she is unswayed by consequences was stressful to live through along with Maggie on the page.

Ginny is a fully realized character; Maggie is navigating a messy, complicated life with grace; and their relationship was absolutely the highlight of the book for me.

In The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream, Jeannie Zusy offers a messy, heartwarming family story with dark humor--and a sense that the matter of who's taking care of who is not as cut-and-dried as it may first seem.

The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream is Jeannie Zusy's first novel.

I received an electronic prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Atria Books and NetGalley.

I will start by saying, I am an only child. I have no concept of a sibling. This book helped me to better understand the dynamic of siblings, especially female siblings, and the care of a sister with special needs.

I think the development of the characters was very good. By seeing the personality of each of the sisters, the readers are able to understand each of their parts in their relationship as siblings. The relationship between the two youngest sisters, Ginny (middle sister with special needs) and Maggie the youngest sister and caregiver to Ginny. You not only learn of the love Maggie has for Ginny, but you also see her frustration as she knows she is the one responsible for her care.

The oldest sister, Betsy, has a much lesser role in the story. She is the one who has taken off to the other side of the country in order to be away from the drama of their home life. The dynamic of Betsy is more of one who does not feel any responsibility for her younger siblings, even in adulthood.

I enjoyed reading about the sisters and their relationship. It is a lovely story and would be a great beach read.

The topics covered in this book? I’ve lived them. The conversations? I’ve had them. Every frustration? I’ve experienced them. And that, I think, hampered my enjoyment of this book.

I like that Jeannie Zusy used personal experience as a caregiver to her brother Davie to give life to such a complex topic, because she does a phenomenal job of illustrating the highs and the lows (and everything in between) of caring for a family member. It’s often a hard topic to talk about, but Zusy infuses this book with the love and anger I think is true to so many of these situations (mine included).

My issue was really related to the writing style of the book. Two pages in, I already knew I wasn’t going to vibe with the tone of the book, and I wasn’t wrong. I found it too chatty and conversational — in an almost forced way — and the stream-of-consciousness style really presented me from connecting with our main character, Maggie. Plus, some of the phrasing just didn’t feel natural (a character described memory as “a meany,” which, just… no.) Other reviewers have called this book “funny,” but I don’t think I laughed — or even smiled — once while reading it. The stream-of-consciousness writing also meant the timeline felt chaotic as we were bouncing from event to event in the space of a few pages. I get that doing so was intended to break up the flow storyline, but the past never added the emotional depth it needed to.

The characters are interesting, especially because of their flaws, but none of them were particularly likable. I don’t think characters need to be likable (especially female characters), but I think there needs to be a reason you’re rooting for them. Maggie is a cheater who maybe drinks too much (and drives drunk) and is super judgmental and harried. None of her positive traits — her kindness, her understanding, her mothering abilities, her skill at her job, etc. — feel evenly balanced with her negative traits. The sister Maggie is taking care of (Ginny) is also never really given much understanding — instead, so much space is dedicated to her slovenliness, her bad grooming, her refusal to stop eating sugar even though it will kill her. And the oldest sister, Betsy, has just peaced out of this whole situation with a mentality of “let someone else take care of her” and “if she keeps doing this and dies, she dies,” and there isn’t a reason for Bets’ cold heart until deep into the book.

Heaven knows caregiving takes an epic toll on families. And I like the fact that Zusy didn’t try to gloss over the situation and make everyone involved into saints who have never done anything wrong in their entire lives. But there was so much frustration in this book that it outweighed the heartwarming moments.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream is a quirky story that follows sisters Maggie and Ginny. Maggie gets the call that her older sister Ginny, who suffers from diabetes and being mentally challenged, is in the hospital. She needs full time care so Maggie takes her back home to upstate NY, along with her ornery dog. What follows is a story of caretakers, love, family, and the chaos of all of those.

This was a delightful read, highly recommend! Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the ARC. This book is out now!

This was a heartfelt and darkly humorous book about the bonds of sisterhood and the ways mistakes from the past can haunt us.

Youngest sister Maggie gets called when her middle sister Ginny, who has diabetes and intellectual disabilities overdoses on sugar and needs assistance. Forced into a caretaker role, Maggie has to try to make her sister give up sugar and not scare off her aides.

I really liked the look at how hard life as a caretaker can be while also showing that people with disabilities have needs and desires in their own right. Ginny fights for her independence, secretly ordering sweets on Amazon and hiding a porn addiction.

The disability rep was well done here and I enjoyed this complex family story a lot. Recommended for fans One two three by Laurie Frankel or Consent by Annabel Lyon. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

As soon as I read the description and it was for fans 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘐𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦 meets 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘥 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘎𝘰, 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 I knew that I had to read this one. I'm so glad I took a chance on it because I really did enjoy it! It's so different and quirky and I really liked the writing and characters. I cannot wait to read what the author comes out with next!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Atria Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful novel by Jeannie Zusy - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Maggie is living in Upstate NY, separated from her husband, one son in college and the other about to graduate high school. She gets a call that her sister, Ginnie, who has intellectual disabilities, is in the hospital with severe diabetes issues. Ginnie isn't able to return home yet so, against the wishes of their older sister, Bets, who lives in CA, Maggie brings her to NY. There begins Maggie's new role as caretaker.

Since we moved my elderly mother into our small home last year, I could totally relate to this book and Maggie's struggles. It's full of truth, dark humor, and so much heart. I found myself laughing and crying and feeling like someone understood some of the complicated feelings involved in caretaking! There's also things to ponder such as the rights of others in their daily decision making, even when it could be harmful. Although I felt like I didn't really get Bets' character, I could also relate because in most families, there's a division in how these issues are handled and who ends up doing the hard work. I loved these characters and can't wait to read more from this author!