If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood by Gregg Olsen (2024)

“I loved my mother because I didn’t know I had a choice. I had to love her.”

It's strange to rate a book like this and even harder to review it but I'll give it my best shot. It's a true crime story which I think once you read the horrific things that take place for a minute you struggle to wrap your mind around the fact that this actually happened. It's also hard to believe it happened for as long as it did. I spent a lot of this book just wondering how everyone could be so oblivious to what was taking place, but I guess that speaks a lot to human nature to stay out of other people's business. The book is very much focused on the terrible things Shelly did to her children and "friends" and it describes these things in graphic details.
I think I appreciated that it didn't focus a whole lot on the police procedural stuff or the court stuff because really this was a story about three young girls who escaped a monster. It was them finally talking about the terrible things they endured. At it's heart the story shows what they were able to overcome and the various ways in which they coped with their situations growing up. I honestly struggle still with this book it left a huge impact on me and I don't know how to truly talk about it. I know that I experienced a roller coaster of emotions while I was reading the book and even once I finished it. This is one of those stories that I think sticks with you for a long time. It's also one that requires lots of breaks and self care I believe. ( )

BookReviewsbyTaylor | Jun 6, 2024 |

Completely Captivating. Will definitely be checking out more works by this author. ( )

cdeboard | May 29, 2024 |

Brutal, shocking, gripping. I listened to the audio version all through the night. It was so disturbing that I couldn’t sleep for the remainder of the night. ( )

nitrolpost | Mar 19, 2024 |

I am so torn about my feelings for this book. On the one hand, I normally really like true crime. On the other, apparently, I don’t like the crime so much as the crime investigation. “If You Tell” is packed solid with depravity and suffering. It’s quite literally a tour through not one but two deaths by neglect and abuse ala Sylvia Likens.

The subtitled “unbreakable sisterhood bond” doesn’t resonate, which is why I’m dropping my review of the book to four stars. From my vantage, there was nothing but secrecy. The sisters appear to have looked on while their parents heaped abuses on family and strangers-in-need to the exclusion of all else. No judgement, but if there was any hope or comradery in this situation, the author didn’t demonstrate it other than between Nikki and Shane (their cousin).

I can’t imagine what living in this household must have been like, and my heart goes out to the survivors. That they appear to have cobbled together a semblance of normalcy after what they endured is a testament to the strength of the human spirit, though I really think the book would’ve benefited from a shift in focus every now and again.

The author’s note indicates that one of the reasons he wrote the book is because the case got so little focus in the media, and for some reason the sisters wanted their story told. I can’t imagine wanting to make these details public given that they didn’t even speak to each other about what happened, according to the book, until the youngest of the three was fourteen and the other two were already out of the house, but it isn’t for me to guess at their reasons. As the story goes—what the author chose to include and exclude—the focus is abuse. Cruelty. It isn’t a book I walked away from understanding anyone’s motivations, and I miss a redemptive quality. After all the tragedy, the book ends on an even lower note. I wouldn’t have guessed that was possible.

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bfrisch | Mar 3, 2024 |

Murder

BooksInMirror | Feb 19, 2024 |