Brother/Sister by Sean Olin

Will and Asheley are siblings and best friends. They’ve grown up being the odd ones out, with no one to rely on except each other, since their dad left when they were young and their mom is the town drunk. Now, with summer approaching, things are starting to look up. Their mother has been sober for a few months for a change, Asheley has started to make friends with the other girls on her softball team, and Will is starting to relax. But of course, in Will’s and Asheley’s lives, things don’t stay good for long. First their mom gets carted off to rehab—again—and then things progress steadily downhill. How did their lives get so out of control? And what can they do to fix things—or can they?

Brother/Sister is one of those “read to find out!” books. Readers pick up books like these because their teased with a synopsis so tantalizing and juicy that it’s impossible to not want to know more. I’m not ashamed to say that this was initially the only reason I wanted to read Brother/Sister. I just wanted to know what happened. Once I found out midway through the book, I thought that I had seen it all and mentally prepared myself for a slow and boring descent into the consequences. Instead, the plot becomes steadily creepier and more twisted than I ever would have thought. What’s really fascinating about this book is that the reader gets two somewhat contrasting perspectives on the worsening situation and can see every detail that’s misread and blown out of proportion, leading to disastrous results. Brother/Sister is a book that is definitely very hard to put down, but I’m still not sure whether the story is completely satisfying or not. There’s one thing I can say, and that is that the ending will leave you still wondering what’s really going on.

Brother/Sister appeals to readers who liked Liar by Justine Larbalestier, The School for Dangerous Girls by Eliot Schrefer, and Wish You Were Dead by Todd Strasser.

Rating: 3.25

Review copy from publisher Penguin through LibraryThing Early Reviewers