Review by Booklist Review
Sigrid works a small job at the Dollar Pal in a small town called Drysdale as she plans her death by suicide. Austin's (Interesting Facts about Space, 2024) third novel features sisters trying to find truth and connection. Twenty-one chapters are called "attempts," both a reference to suicidality and to the challenge of figuring out what to say. The second section is Sigrid's sister's "truth." And the final section provides revelations about Sigrid's identity and her whys. The sisters grew up in a house of violent arguments. Sigrid tries to explain her childhood and the importance of her best friend, whom she lost in adulthood, to her sister by lying, then confessing, then lying and confessing again and again. Easily readable in clear sentences that try to recapture youthful imagination, toy worlds in a basement, and a Barbie doll abandoned in the woods, this novel is a compelling experience in reaching and reclaiming.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Austin (Interesting Facts About Space) chronicles the complicated relationship between two sisters in her nuanced latest. The novel's first half takes the form of multiple drafts of a suicide note, written by 20-year-old Sigrid and mostly addressed to her older sister, Margrit. Over the course of the letters, which also address their parents and Sigrid's late friend Greta, Austin shapes the story of the sisters' upbringing and divergent paths. The high-achieving Margrit earns approval from their parents, who often bicker in front of the girls. While Margrit is in college, Sigrid, a lesbian who feels out of place in their small town, drops out of high school, experiments with drugs, and often hallucinates while working as a cashier at the local dollar store, a condition that causes her to believe she has early-onset dementia. Her despair is also fueled by her estrangement from Greta, with whom she took OxyContin and who became addicted. The book's second half, which begins with a twist, is narrated by Margrit, who reflects on Sigrid's troubled life and the guilt she feels over leaving her sister behind. Though the story meanders, Austin successfully untangles the sisters' complex relationship. It's a distinctive character portrait. Agent: Heather Carr, Friedrich Agency. (Jan.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Two small-town sisters have very different experiences of post--high school life. Growing up in a conservative, remote small town named Drysdale, Margit and Sigrid could not have been more different and never called themselves friends. While Margit graduated from high school, Sigrid did not. Margit went on to college, majoring in literature, while Sigrid worked at Dollar Pal. Margit is straight and Sigrid is gay. Margit grew up trying to be perfect and control every outcome because of her parents' vicious fights--both verbal and physical--whereas Sigrid lived in a dream world where her parents were swamp monsters that she had to hide from and she spent much of her time playing with toys in the basement or with her best friend, Greta. The sisters come together, though, when Sigrid tries to die by suicide. The book is divided into three sections: The first is made up of Sigrid's 21 attempts at a suicide note; the second, labeled "The Truth," is told from Margit's point of view after she finds Sigrid; the third is Sigrid's journal after she wakes up from a coma. The book covers uncomfortable topics in depth and often in an overly breezy manner. Margit and Sigrid are both far from reliable narrators, and with the many iterations of Sigrid's suicide note and the dueling point-of-view sections, there's a lot of repetition and different versioning of events, so it's hard to track plot developments, characterization, and motivations. A dark story of unhappiness, mental health struggles, and growing up with volatile parents. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
