The Sister Pact

Title:

The Sister Pact

Author:

Ramey, Stacie

Subject:

Family & Relationships

Death, Grief, Bereavement

Psychology

Depression

Psychopathology

Fiction

Siblings

Description:

Who holds your secrets? Allie is devastated when her sister commits suicide-and it's not just because she misses her. Allie feels betrayed. The two made a pact that they'd always be together, in life and in death, but Leah broke her promise and Allie needs to know why. Her parents hover. Her friends try to support her. And Nick, sweet Nick, keeps calling and flirting. Their sympathy only intensifies her grief. But the more she clings to Leah, the more secrets surface. Allie's not sure which is more distressing: discovering the truth behind her sister's death or facing her new reality without her.

Publisher:

Sourcebooks Inc

Date:

2015-11-03

Summary

From bestselling author Stacie Ramey comes a powerful story of sisterhood, young adult depression, and love. A suicide pact was supposed to keep them together, but a broken promise tore them apart.

Allie is devastated when her sister commits suicide--and it's not just because she misses her. Allie feels betrayed. The two made a pact that they'd always be together, in life and in death, but Leah broke her promise and Allie needs to know why.

Her parents hover. Her friends try to support her. And Nick, sweet Nick, keeps calling and flirting. Their sympathy only intensifies her grief.

But the more she clings to Leah, the more secrets surface. Allie's not sure which is more distressing: discovering the truth behind her sister's death or facing her new reality without her.

A great pick for:

Fans of Jodi Picoult's The Pact and Lynn Weingarten's Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls Readers looking for depression young adult books and teen romance Buyers of contemporary young adult

Also by Stacie Ramie:

It's My Life

The Secrets We Bury

The Homecoming

Praise for The Sister Pact:

"A well-written portrait...reminiscent of Jennifer Brown's Hate List...and Gayle Forman's I Was Here. A heavy but powerful read that tackles big topics without letting them drag the narrative down."--Booklist

"A powerful story of redemption, forgiveness, love, and the ability to persevere."--VOYA Magazine

"The story reads like Go Ask Alice...As Allie learns the many sordid secrets of her sister's concealed life, she begins to understand the powerful influence her sister had on her and, a talented painter, struggles to find her own voice. "--Kirkus

"The story is well written and will hold teens' interest."--School Library Connection

Reviews (2)

Kirkus Review

In the aftermath of her sister's suicide, Allie's grief is thick and relentless. Allie adored her older sister, Leah. What with boyfriend troubles, their mom's Xanax addiction, and their dad's affair, the sisters had a pact that they would die together if things ever got too awful. Now, Allie is reeling from her sister's solo fatal overdose, and she's not coping well. The story reads like Go Ask Alice, as, page to page, Allie's swigging NyQuil or swallowing yet another pill. She's constantly drifting in a haze of queasy highs and nauseous lows. Frequent ghostly visitations from her dead sister seem to lead Allie ever deeper into drug use and further from reality. As Allie learns the many sordid secrets of her sister's concealed life, she begins to understand the powerful influence her sister had on her and, a talented painter, struggles to find her own voice. Allie's fraught inner monologues and hallucinated conversations with her sister succeed in illustrating Allie's emotional struggle. As if her own struggles aren't enough, Allie's flat, present-tense narration recounts additional teen drama, such as friends' squabbles and sexual dalliances, and much of the dialogue feels scripted: "Don't push me away. I didn't mean it. I don't love her like." An earnest, overstuffed look at the collateral damage of suicide and drug abuse. (Fiction. 13-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Allie had never been serious about the suicide pact she and her big sister, Leah, had created when their parent's fights became unbearable. But after Leah takes a fatal overdose of pills, Allie is forced to look back and ask herself how she didn't see how much pain her sister was in, and why she had been left out of Leah's decision. This story proves to be a well-written portrait, not just of grief but also of the pain of realizing you didn't really know someone you thought you were close to. Ramey's haunting novel is reminiscent of Jennifer Brown's Hate List (2009), with similar themes of devastating hindsight, and Gayle Forman's I Was Here (2015), which also captures the desperation to make sense of a loved one's suicide. Allie's own prescription-drug abuse is handled well, with the consequences physical and emotional laid out clearly without getting too preachy. A heavy but powerful read that tackles big topics without letting them drag the narrative down.--Horan, Molly Copyright 2016 Booklist