Without Tess
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4.5 • 14 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Tess and Lizzie are sisters, sisters as close as can be, who share a secret world filled with selkies, flying horses, and a girl who can transform into a wolf in the middle of the night. But when Lizzie is ready to grow up, Tess clings to their fantasies. As Tess sinks deeper and deeper into her delusions, she decides that she can't live in the real world any longer and leaves Lizzie and her family forever. Now, years later, Lizzie is in high school and struggling to understand what happened to her sister. With the help of a school psychologist and Tess's battered journal, Lizzie searches for a way to finally let Tess go.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With pensive and darkly lyrical prose, Pixley (Freak) immerses readers in the harsh realities of mental illness and its far-reaching effects. Growing up, sisters and best friends Tess and Lizzie fill their days with magical games, pretending to turn into flying horses and selkies. But as the girls grow older, Lizzie is ready to leave flights of fancy behind while Tess sinks deeper and deeper into her fantasies. In turns dreamy and disturbing, Pixley's story reveals how Lizzie worships fiercely imaginative Tess but suffers as a result of her delusions. When Tess decides that she can't bear the real world any longer, her actions trigger a maelstrom of guilt, grief, and shame that burden the now 15-year-old Lizzie, five years later. Under the guidance of a therapist, acerbic Lizzie revisits Tess's journal (Tess's sublime but sinister poems appear between the book's chapters). Slowly, she inches her way toward understanding the dizzying power of the bond that still holds her to Tess. Pixley's memory play is a difficult, sadly beautiful ode to a complex and heartbreaking issue. Ages 12 up.
Customer Reviews
AMAZING
Absolutely amazing, heartfelt and sad, Thai book is my favorite! The only book that has also made me tear up as well as get so attached to the characters! I highly recommend it, 11/10
Wow
This book is INTENSE. It made me think a lot and books that make me think a lot are often good books. Tess, the sister of the main character, is borderline crazy. And when she’s acting crazy it can be kind of scary. So I would recommend this for people 12 and up. Overall, it’s a great book and I liked the ending. You should definitely read it.