Scan barcode
alohabooksandbujos's review
4.0
Separated, raising two teenage boys, and now faced with caring for her disabled sister, Maggie has a full plate. Navigating life is messy and maybe by trying to take on everyone else’s problems, she’s actually neglecting the relationships she holds.
This book was filled with deep family trauma. From an undiagnosed, handicapped sister who is fighting for her independence to the other older sister who is thought to be living the glamorous and free California life, to Maggie- the middle aged, separated, mother. The character develop of Maggie learning to let go of control and embrace her own life and individuality was heartwarming. The author does a beautiful job at showing things aren’t as they always appear and having those support networks is what keeps you going. Maggie is a lovable character and relatable in the sense of trying to put every one else’s needs first, trying to be the caretaker and peacemaker. She’s overbearing at times and neglects to open up to herself or anyone else but her growth throughout was beautiful. If you’re searching for some diverse family dynamics and hard life choices with a mix of letting go and personal growth- this one is for you.
This book was filled with deep family trauma. From an undiagnosed, handicapped sister who is fighting for her independence to the other older sister who is thought to be living the glamorous and free California life, to Maggie- the middle aged, separated, mother. The character develop of Maggie learning to let go of control and embrace her own life and individuality was heartwarming. The author does a beautiful job at showing things aren’t as they always appear and having those support networks is what keeps you going. Maggie is a lovable character and relatable in the sense of trying to put every one else’s needs first, trying to be the caretaker and peacemaker. She’s overbearing at times and neglects to open up to herself or anyone else but her growth throughout was beautiful. If you’re searching for some diverse family dynamics and hard life choices with a mix of letting go and personal growth- this one is for you.
serrasa's review
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
amysbrittain's review
4.0
3.5 stars for me.
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.
To see my full review on The Bossy Bookworm, or to find out about Bossy reviews and Greedy Reading Lists as soon as they're posted, please see The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream.
Find hundreds of reviews and lots of roundups of my favorite books on the blog: Bossy Bookworm
Follow me on Instagram! @bossybookwormblog
Or Facebook! The Bossy Bookworm
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.
To see my full review on The Bossy Bookworm, or to find out about Bossy reviews and Greedy Reading Lists as soon as they're posted, please see The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream.
Find hundreds of reviews and lots of roundups of my favorite books on the blog: Bossy Bookworm
Follow me on Instagram! @bossybookwormblog
Or Facebook! The Bossy Bookworm
danidsfavereads's review
3.0
I wanted this to be a fun quirky book about sisters and family. And while it was, it wasn’t super engaging. I am not sure why, but I didn’t feel connected with either Maggie or Ginny. I found myself skimming at times. Overall just ok.
jchristen's review
3.0
This book is told from the perspective of Maggie, the youngest of the three Frederick sisters. She becomes the involuntary or perhaps voluntary caretaker of her middle sister, Virginia, or Ginny/Gin-Gin after she is hospitalized for becoming septic. The story starts with Maggie driving her into New York from Maryland to stay at a nursing/assisted living home. I'm not sure if it was the authors intent or if it is the nature of a caretaker but this story felt like it jerked you around a lot more than I'd like. Maggie certainly felt like a realistic character but the whole book felt like it sidled up to issues and then they just disappeared. A few, like Maggie's alcoholism were certainly resolved/addressed by the end of the book. I just didn't have any appreciation for the way a sentence was snuck in about certain topics and then just randomly we're a week ahead in time or something else is going on. It felt jumpy in that sense.
I did enjoy the story as whole, now that I finished the book. One of the things I appreciated the most were the childhood flashbacks between Ginny and Maggie. I think that helped develop Maggie's growth arc of realizing that yes she does need to take care of her sister but it's not as black and white as Ginny is a (pretty) high functioning adult before this hospitalization. The story explores the need for autonomy within adult care rather well.
It gives a nuanced look at what life is like with a family member with disabilities, and how that might affect you as their sole decision maker/caretaker. I appreciated that none of the characters were unrealistically likeable. You can want to be helpful for your family member but still loathe certain parts of it and feel burdened. If the story could have moved along a bit smoothly instead of hurrying up and tying it in a bow at the end I probably would have enjoyed more. All in all, 3.5 stars from me.
I did enjoy the story as whole, now that I finished the book. One of the things I appreciated the most were the childhood flashbacks between Ginny and Maggie. I think that helped develop Maggie's growth arc of realizing that yes she does need to take care of her sister but it's not as black and white as Ginny is a (pretty) high functioning adult before this hospitalization. The story explores the need for autonomy within adult care rather well.
It gives a nuanced look at what life is like with a family member with disabilities, and how that might affect you as their sole decision maker/caretaker. I appreciated that none of the characters were unrealistically likeable. You can want to be helpful for your family member but still loathe certain parts of it and feel burdened. If the story could have moved along a bit smoothly instead of hurrying up and tying it in a bow at the end I probably would have enjoyed more. All in all, 3.5 stars from me.
onecrazykatie's review
4.0
This was the perfect reset book for me. I’ve been reading only romance and needed to change things up a bit. This was probably one of the most real books I’ve read in quite some time.
It was dark, it was funny, it was sad. It’s been a long time since I read a book that made me feel things and have to think about how I’d react in the main character’s shoes. This book made me feel all of those things and ask really hard questions. This was a very good read. Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
It was dark, it was funny, it was sad. It’s been a long time since I read a book that made me feel things and have to think about how I’d react in the main character’s shoes. This book made me feel all of those things and ask really hard questions. This was a very good read. Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
_basicbookworm's review
3.0
When Maggie gets a call that her special needs older sister, Ginny, is in the hospital, her life turns upside down. She becomes Ginny’s caretaker, and this book follows the ups and downs of that adventure over a series of years.
This book is emotional at moments, and hilarious at others. At its core, this book is a beautiful story of sisterhood and really shows the toll it can take on someone to be a caregiver. This book is definitely more character driven and because of that often has big jumps in timelines, which can be hard to follow. However, the characters were so well written and complex they keep you coming back for more.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the advance copy.
This book is emotional at moments, and hilarious at others. At its core, this book is a beautiful story of sisterhood and really shows the toll it can take on someone to be a caregiver. This book is definitely more character driven and because of that often has big jumps in timelines, which can be hard to follow. However, the characters were so well written and complex they keep you coming back for more.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the advance copy.
areaderintransit's review against another edition
2.0
I almost DNF, in retrospect I should have!!
This book almost put me into a reading slump!
A very underwhelming read, not at all what I expected. Lots of TMI moments that make all the characters less endearing with each passing minute.
All attempts to add some levity to the situation fell flat. The “jokes” were not funny, they had a racist undertone that I just couldn’t get behind.
The plot was so draggy…it took forever to finish…Not even the audio could save it!
Alas…The Frederick sisters were NOT living the dream…at least not until the last few chapters when they had a heart to heart.
notinjersey's review
5.0
This book took me by surprise. I have seen some mixed reviews and it’s rare for me to like a book that others did not – usually I don’t like books that everyone else does! This book is about three middle aged sisters – Maggie, the youngest, is separated from her husband and is raising two sons, plus a dog and a cat. Ginny, the middle sister, is intellectually disabled and after a health scare must now use a wheelchair and requires much assistance. Maggie moves Ginny and her dog Rascal to the Hudson Valley, where she lives. Meanwhile, their oldest sister Bets lives in CA. The story flashes back to the sisters’ childhood and addresses the difficulties of being a caretaker. Even though Ginny was privileged to have been left money to help with her care, you could see how difficult it was for her sisters to know the right things to do. There were some lovely, sweet, and funny parts to the story. It does include animal deaths, which made me cry!