Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford

Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford

Release Date: September 1, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 320

The Sullivan family is a rich and powerful family--mostly thanks to Almighty Lou--from Baltimore, Maryland. Almighty is the old-fashioned grandmother of the Sullivan children, and she a huge influence over society. It is Almighty's money (and she has a lot of it!) that supports the Sullivans but on Christmas Day, that threatens to change.

Almighty calls her family together after Christmas dinner and announces that she does not have very long to live--and that the Sullivans have been taken out of her will. Someone has offended her and she will not reinstate the family back into her will unless they write letters of confession, and apologize to her. They have until December 31st to give her their letters, which she will read before considering whether or not to put them back into her will on New Years.

Since the girls of the family have gotten on Almighty's bad side most, the family decide it must have been one of them who offended Almighty. So Norrie, Jane and Sassy set off to write their letters and hope to save their family.

Was it Norrie, whose unexpected brush with love that offended Almighty so gravely? Or might it have been Jane and her rebellious nature had that gone to far this time? Perhaps it was Sassy, who has her own life-or-death story? Will Almighty accept their explanations and apologies?

The Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters is divided into three parts--one for each sister. You get to hear each girl's full confession before moving onto the next. This format really worked for this book and I really enjoyed how it was written! The stories weren't too long or too short and you definitely get a sense of what each sister is like in their respective letters! The Sullivan family may have been big and the sisters may have had their own views and beliefs, but they still care deeply for each other, a fact which is evident in all of their stories.

The overall plot is unique and provides for a fun story. Almighty's response to the apology was true to her style, but I had thought the ending would be a bit longer. Nevertheless, a very fun, well-written and enjoyable novel with dynamic characters--I definitely recommend checking Natalie Standiford's new novel when it hits bookstores in September!

Overall: 4.75 out of 5
Plot: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Writing: 5 stars
Cover: 4.75 stars