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A review by kelly_e
If You Tell by Gregg Olsen
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Title: If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood
Author: Gregg Olsen
Genre: True Crime
Rating: 4.0
Pub Date: December 1 2019
T H R E E • W O R D S
Disturbing • Shocking • Haunting
📖 S Y N O P S I S
If You Tell is the real-life horror story of three sisters who endured years of torture and abuse at hands of their very own mother, Shelly. It delves deep into their lives as Shelly manipulated and controlled everyone in her life. It's a story of dark family secrets, the power of denial and the unbreakable bond of sisters.
💠T H O U G H T S
There's always something about true crime that interests me. Having studied psychology, I am fascinated by the human brain and often drawn to stories for the psychological sides of things. This book was definitely one of those where I had a million questions going through my mind as to why and how something so horrifying could happen.
When it comes to content it is certainly not an easy read to stomach, and yet it reads very well structurally. I was gripped from the very first pages, and although the pace seemed to tag three-quarters of the way through, it kept my interest. Olsen has done a fantastic job pulling together pieces of both the past and the present. It is clearly evident he has done a tremendous amount of research in putting this book together.
While there were certainly times when I had to put this book down just to give my mind a break or because I was absolutely blogged by the horrific events that took place, the bond between the three sisters offered a glimpse of hope. I wanted nothing more for these three girls to be able to find happiness and safety in life after facing such evil for much of their first twenty years. This book is definitely not for the faint of heart, but I enjoyed learning about this story and was absolutely shocked to learn Shelly will be released next year after all she has done.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• True crime fans
• Psychology students
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"She knew that Shelly was searching high and low for her, and that thought of her mother coming to get her made Sami sick inside. Even so, the hold her family had on her was like a leg trap and she was some animal out in the woods."
"I loved my mother because I didn’t know I had a choice. I had to love her."
Author: Gregg Olsen
Genre: True Crime
Rating: 4.0
Pub Date: December 1 2019
T H R E E • W O R D S
Disturbing • Shocking • Haunting
📖 S Y N O P S I S
If You Tell is the real-life horror story of three sisters who endured years of torture and abuse at hands of their very own mother, Shelly. It delves deep into their lives as Shelly manipulated and controlled everyone in her life. It's a story of dark family secrets, the power of denial and the unbreakable bond of sisters.
💠T H O U G H T S
There's always something about true crime that interests me. Having studied psychology, I am fascinated by the human brain and often drawn to stories for the psychological sides of things. This book was definitely one of those where I had a million questions going through my mind as to why and how something so horrifying could happen.
When it comes to content it is certainly not an easy read to stomach, and yet it reads very well structurally. I was gripped from the very first pages, and although the pace seemed to tag three-quarters of the way through, it kept my interest. Olsen has done a fantastic job pulling together pieces of both the past and the present. It is clearly evident he has done a tremendous amount of research in putting this book together.
While there were certainly times when I had to put this book down just to give my mind a break or because I was absolutely blogged by the horrific events that took place, the bond between the three sisters offered a glimpse of hope. I wanted nothing more for these three girls to be able to find happiness and safety in life after facing such evil for much of their first twenty years. This book is definitely not for the faint of heart, but I enjoyed learning about this story and was absolutely shocked to learn Shelly will be released next year after all she has done.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• True crime fans
• Psychology students
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"She knew that Shelly was searching high and low for her, and that thought of her mother coming to get her made Sami sick inside. Even so, the hold her family had on her was like a leg trap and she was some animal out in the woods."
"I loved my mother because I didn’t know I had a choice. I had to love her."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Gun violence, Blood, and Excrement