Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters

Confessions Of The Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford

Source of Miscellany: I checked this out of the library after seeing it reviewed on another blog.  I’m so sorry fellow blogger that I can’t remember which one you are!

Why this book? It’s due in 2 days.  Must read post haste.  Although I have been stricken by a feeling of dread after learning that the author has written another book that I found profoundly dissatisfying.  Hrm.

The premise is intriguing.  At Christmas dinner, Almighty Lou announces that the whole Sullivan family (from her son and his wife down to their six children) will be cut out of her will if she does not receive a confession of wrongdoing by New Year’s Eve.  No confession?  All of her wealthy will go to provide raincoats to less fortunate dogs.  With incredibly little thought or consideration the family decides that one of the girls must have been the perpetrator of the crime and thus the girls are told to start writing.  What follows are three stories covering what is essentially the same period of time, from three different perspectives.  Each of the stories is relatively interesting, although not deeply compelling.  For me the real thing keeping this in my “it was okay” column was that the different perspectives don’t really add anything.  It could have been so much more carefully interwoven to show you more important (not random) information.  Various ends are left loose which always irks me, and the ending didn’t live up to my expectations, but do I think teens will like it?  They might.  It seems like it will be a romance type, but it really isn’t.  It’s a lot more about family dynamics.

Whoa Nellie, why’s this a Mature Teen read? Repeated use of the F-bomb will guarantee a movie an R rating.  While I have no such personal language bias, I tend to respect that of others.  Also, while sex may only been off-screen and implied, the fact that it is statutory rape and that its significance is completely ignored tells me that I’d rather have readers who are capable of making their own sane judgment about the situation.

Religion – Jane is a bit blasphemous and since part of the book takes place in Catholic school expect a bit of religiosity on the part of the nuns.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A girl did a striptease in a school show (but she wasn’t in the show, just stripping on stage during it).  There’s lots of talk about liking people.  Also, there’s  kissing ranging from just quick ones to making out.  One girl has supposedly hooked up with every boy on a certain team and may be dating a much older man.  Another high school girl does date an older man.  A girl wears a shirt where her bra shows.  A married parent of one of the kids puts his arm around a teen girl and tells her she’s sexy.  There’s a conversation about a girl who paints pornographic scenes on children’s blocks (you know, as art).  A girl spends the night with a much older man.  Nothing other than kissing occurs in scene, but sex is implied.  The brothers share stories about guys in their frats that “have their way” with girls then tell people that they’ve seen the girls naked and that they’re fat.  A girl is sent a joke text telling her to kiss a boy.  People joke that a girl wants to have a boy’s babies.  The rumor mill is saying that some girls give blow jobs to pervy guys.  Girls bet on how long it will take for another girl to do something slutty.
Profanity – Norrie says she’ll try to leave out any curse words but that two of her siblings don’t sound like themselves if they’re not cursing.  What follows is a veritable cornucopia of swear and swear-adjacent vocabulary: “ass,” “slut,””frickin’,” “heck,” “shut up,” “ho-fucking-hum,” “T&A,” “A-hole,” “sucks,” “hell,” “hos,” “Jesus,” “prick,” “F-,” “shitless,” “pissed off,” “bullshit,” “screw them,” “badass,” “fuck,” “damn.”  I feel certain I must have missed some and I am completely certain that I did not represent these in all the forms they use in the book.
Death, Violence and Gore – A girl has a bloody nose.   Sassy keeps getting hit by cars but not hurt.  A guy tells a story about once when he saw a woman who was covered in blood from cutting off someone’s hand with a carving knife.  A family member dies.  In pondering what someone might do if they found out something, it is volunteered “[she’s] going to slit your throat and drink your blood out of her best Waterford crystal.”   People are shot in a hostage situation.  A kid talks about how her brother’s friend was shot and killed by the police.  There’s a younger brother who is always shooting at things and pretending to blow out their brains.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Jane smokes.  They go to parties where there are kegs or spiked hot chocolate.  Various teenagers drink and are drunk (sometimes to the point of vomiting or passing out).  A parent supplies kids with Valium. Alcohol is consumed from containers inside paper bags. Alcohol is served at a gallery opening.
Frightening or Intense Things – There’s a reference to modern day slavery.  Also, there’s some talk about past slavery and how just about nothing’s worse than it except for maybe genocide.  Jane talks about martyrdom and the execution of Joan of Arc (burning to death).  A girl falls through an open floor in a house.  There is a hold-up of a convenience store that involves hostages.   Sassy ponders all the suffering in the world, including what it would be like to live in a concentration camp, to be badly burned, to go hungry, to witness a massacre.