“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.

This book does an excellent job discussing about familial problems. Despite not having a sister myself, I feel like I understand Amy and sometimes even Ollie. I, too, understand the parents. At the end of the day, no matter how much a family has hurt us, they are still a family member and the love will always be there. Finished this one so quick so this is definitely a page-turner for me.

Shred Sisters is a beautifully written, emotionally rich novel that explores the nuances of mental illness, familial love, and the struggles of self-acceptance. Through the lens of Amy’s journey, the book delves into the heart of what it means to be a sister—someone who will always love you and hurt you in ways that no one else can. It is a heartfelt and deeply moving story that will resonate with anyone who has experienced the complexities of family relationships.

Two sisters coming of age when one experiences mental health issues, and the rippling effects of illness on the family. Shred Sisters follows Amy and Ollie through preteen years to adulthood as Ollie deals with complex mental health symptoms, various attempts at diagnosis and treatments, and substance abuse and codependence. As Amy tries to make sense of what is happening to her beloved sister, her parents seem to diverge on point and purpose of helping Ollie, and Amy is lost in the shuffle.

Codependent relationships at it's heart. I thought this was very well written and showed the depths of psychiatric illness has on the full family. The sister bond is unbreakable, but not always strong. Amy seems to accept her place in the family of living in Ollie's large shadow, and this detached and enabling role follows her into her young adult life and impacts other relationships she tries to form in her small world. Books about sisters are a top pick for me, and Shred Sisters did not disappoint. Highly recommend!

“Olivia and I fought as if the world existed to fuel our rivalry.”

Shred Sisters is a beautifully devastating exploration of sisterhood, mental illness, love, loss, and the complexity of family dynamics. Although the Shred sisters were polar opposites, neither felt exaggerated or reduced to a trope. They were both messy, imperfect, raw, and very, very real.

I’ll admit it: in the first few chapters, I related to Amy to a painful degree. I highlighted whole passages, feeling seen as the quiet, studious, “good” one compared to the hurricane that is my older sister. Luckily, as the sisters grew, their stories evolved into something less relatable but equally captivating. I can’t remember the last time I devoured 200 pages in a single sitting. All in all, a great read!

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

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The publisher’s blurb for 𝗦𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 by Betsy Lerner ends with a line I love: “𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳.” I think that resonates for a lot of us. The love between sisters is so special, but that also comes with a lot of vulnerability. Sometimes even an innocent, passing remark can cut to the core. For Amy Shred, the younger of the two Shred sisters, that line is even more apt.⁣
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Amy grew up in the glow of her charismatic, confident older sister, Olivia. Bookish and outcast at school, Amy longed for a little of what her big sister had. That is until Ollie began to go off the rails with increasing frequency. Then, Amy only wanted a return to normalcy for her family.⁣
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While 𝘚𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 is a story of family, siblings, and mental illness, it’s really Amy’s story, told by Amy. We follow her as she comes-of-age, progresses through different jobs and relationships. Through her, we also meet Olivia over and over as she moves in and out of Amy’s life. In this complex relationship I hurt for both sisters. One who’s healthy and often overlooked, and the other bipolar, unable to self-regulate, but still charismatic and the sister who both needs and gets so much more.⁣
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I thought this was a really solid debut. Knowing families with a bipolar child, I also know Lerner got both Amy and Olivia exactly right. I’ve watched families go through very similar times as the Shred family did in this novel. The author’s notes don’t mention any personal connection to a bipolar family member, but throughout the reading experience, I felt as if there had to be one. Whether or not that’s true, this book seemed exceptionally real. In that and more it was excellent! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨⁣
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*𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @groveatlantic 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬.