From Goodreads: Annabelle has always taken her bipolar brother under her wing, but after years of acting as his personal disaster janitor, she finds herself fighting against her lifelong compulsion to take responsibility for his actions and fix all his mistakes. It’s easier said than done, especially when his actions affect her own future.

The struggle between letting her brother deal with his own consequences and fixing just one more thing for him – so she can keep the life she’s always known – pushes and pulls at her as each mistake he makes lands her further and further from the future she had planned. In the end, the decision she makes about whether or not to play clean up crew for his most recent disaster, does not in fact produce the results she expected … but … it just so happens, it might not be such a horrible thing after all.

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This is a great novel focusing on the life of a normal teenage girl attempting to protect and understand her bipolar brother.  Smith does a great job setting up her novel, and I highly enjoyed it.  It’s a very well written, true-to-life story, and Annabelle’s struggles are very poignant, especially her belief that she’s a terrible sister, which is heartbreaking. 

Watching her deal with her own issues, as well as trying to keep her brother out of trouble was very interesting. Bullied by her ex, in love with her ex’s best friend, and trying to understand what her brother could have possibly done to get permanently kicked off the track team, voided any chance at a college scholarship, Annabelle feels like she’s between a rock and a hard place.  I really loved watching this story unfold from Annabelle’s point of view.  She doesn’t hold anything back, telling it as she sees it, and the raw emotions she feels adds to the validity and depth of the story.  I really enjoyed it, and recommend this to all. Four stars.

I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.