Grief

Without Tess is a whirlwind of a novel - running the gamut from emotional to sweet to disturbing, all easily within a few pages. It's a forthright and honest look at youth, childhood, grief and mental illness without shying away from darker moments or themes. Told in the very real voice of Elizabeth "Lizzie" Cohen, the first-person perspective makes the events of the novel with Tess much more personal, much more visceral for the reader than a more removed third-person omniscient would have done. This super-involving story of Lizzie's life and of Tess's death is compelling and a must-read. This is a novel that was hard for me to read, but I never once felt like giving up on it.

Born two years before Lizzie, Tess is the center of the book around which everyone else operates. The relationship between the two girls is the most central and important one of the entire book: one does not feel whole without the other, in the beginning. Tess by herself is not a very sympathetic character - she's vibrant, fragile, unique and precocious but she's also removed, sullen and controlling. Ms. Pixley does an incredible job of presenting Tess as sympathetic through the eyes of her sister, but the reader can discern early on that there is just something off about Tess even before Lizzie understands. She's very creative and imaginative, but what is play and make-believe for Lizzie is life for Tess. Lizzie is much more grounded than her sister, from the beginning even as children. Intelligent but not motivated to succeed at school, Lizzie never really recovered from Tess's death - for obvious reasons. Fifteen years old at the time of the novel, Lizzie occasionally comes across as the traumatized ten-year-old she was when Tess killed herself. Lizzie herself is also hard to like, in her present-day incarnation, as opposed to the completely sympathetic and likeable version present in the flashbacks. Sympathy and empathy come easily for the character, but genuine affection was harder to find. Lizzie continually punishes herself for her sister's death, and even carries a journal belonging to Tess as a daily reminder of her guilt and grief.

A series of flashbacks, some quite lengthy and others a tad shorter, shed light upon Tess's problems through her whole life. The flashbacks are so extensive and well-done they present a more rounded picture of Lizzie's life growing up with - and under the thumb of - Tess. I really enjoyed the narrative structure of this novel; the juxtaposition of Lizzie's changing attitudes towards Tess as she ages is realistic, though sad for more-than-valid reasons. Poems from Tess are scattered between chapters relevant to the poem itself and lend an extra air of atmosphere and personality for both the book and Tess herself. Like I said, this can be a hard book to get through - I had to take several breaks because the author pulls no punches with the brutally honest portrayal of Tess and her intense illness.

I did have a few problems while reading Without Tess. There's a rather unsubstantiated subplot about religion and searching for God (Tess and Lizzie are Jewish with a very devoutly Catholic friend) that seems completely unnecessary and distracting from the actual plot. The quasi-philosophical wonderings of Tess in the midst of Tess's meltdown burdens the plot and the pacing for the more riveting main story. I found it off-putting when the girls' Christian friends urged them to pray "the right way" etc., and I also found it unreal for the ages of the girls at the time. Another thing that tried my belief was how the sisters talked/wrote at the time of Tess's death. Both definitely come across as much older than the intended 10/11. Their dialogue is far too mature, as are the themes and ideas of Tess's poetry. They both seemed more in the range of actual teenagers: 16-18 would be a more accurate representation.

Besides the few minor issues I had with this novel, I found Without Tess to be a great novel. It's emotionally stirring and completely heartfelt without stinting on the darker moments or glossing over Tess's issues. Lizzie's story might not be the easiest or the most fun to read, but it is rewarding to do so. Pick this one up if you're looking for a young-adult novel that isn't afraid to make you cry, or one to make you think. ( )

The blurb of this book sounded so interesting and different from what I've read that I was excited to give it a try. It did not disappoint! This was an extremely insightful look at childhood mental illness and it was sad yet hopeful all at once.

The Good: What I loved about this book was the subtle way Pixley alerted the reader that things were not right in Tess Cohen's head. What started out as a cute and harmless game for children turned into a disturbing look at how mental illnesses ravage families and their victim. I really felt bad for Lizzie. Her "secret" is one that I think many people would carry with them if they were in the same situation as Lizzie and that made me feel sad for her. The closeness between the sisters makes the story that much more harrowing. Pixley created the world's most adorable mentally unstable characters I've met. Tess is so undeniably vivid and full of life but she is disturbingly sick. It's so evident and you want to pull your hair out because you know just how sick she is and you want her to get better. I felt like I WAS Lizzie for a while. The poetry weaved into the chapters was such a brilliant way to show us more of Tess's character. It foreshadowed enough without giving anything away and was perfect lyrical poetry. For once, I loved an ending that had a certain amount of closure and certainty. I'm usually a fan of ambiguous endings, but in this novel, I actually loved the ending.

The Bad: Even though I really enjoyed this novel, it was one of those that I know in a week, month or year I will have forgotten it. There wasn't enough "Umph" to make it amazing. It was simply an emotional, well written story. The one thing I really disliked was that I wanted to know more about Tess's mental illness. We never get to know what type it is, or how it affects her. We just know she has this mental illness. I would have liked to know exactly what type of odds she was against.

Overall, this was a really great look at childhood mental illness and a sad but beautiful story of a sister coming to terms with her sister's death. I would give this book a B-!

**I received this book free from the publisher through www.netgalley.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. ( )

What does mental illness do to a family? A young girl describes the toll her older sister's complete break with reality, eating disorders, and subsequent death have on her and her parents. Well-told and intense, and absolutely riveting. ( )

This book had a slow begining, but the pace really picked up once I was half way done. I couldn't stop thinking about how much I dislike people who act like Tess: ignorant bossy, and controling. Q3P4 AHS/Kathleen R.