Questions About If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood

by Gregg Olsen (Goodreads Author)

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Answered Questions (18)

Forget Shelly, forget everyone in the household telling others to leave, why the flippin' heck didn't the daughters do something? Tell the police, priest, school counselor? They didn't because the abuse shifted? Knowing right from wrong, and how all this was wrong, how could those two daughters do nothing.at.all? I know they're reading here anxious for responses, pity, whatever, no, these deaths are their faults too.

Erin Written by someone who clearly knows absolutely nothing about trauma, trauma bonding or anything else related to systemic, horrific abuse. There's a r…moreWritten by someone who clearly knows absolutely nothing about trauma, trauma bonding or anything else related to systemic, horrific abuse. There's a reason you don't understand. I'd focus on being grateful for that lack of understanding, instead of criticizing something that's outside your scope of comprehension. Let me guess? You also think it's super duper easy for victims of domestic violence to just get up and leave too, right? (less)

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Is it just me, or does Olsen seem to be working overtime to let Knotec's accomplices off the hook for the murders?

Sharyn Gilmore In some regards yes, but, I also think the author is trying to show the inner workings of the psyche. The things your brain and conscience will justif…moreIn some regards yes, but, I also think the author is trying to show the inner workings of the psyche. The things your brain and conscience will justify to avoid the true horror of the situation. Shelley is a monster...sociopath...that family was in a cult, and their leader was calculatingly EVIL!
I'm not quite done, but am incredibly aggravated that Nikki and Sammy told Tori to hang on just a little longer... those poor people all just wanted to please Shelley so I get why it was so hard to get out of it...
I can't even imagine! (less)

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Madeleine

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ok, so can someone tell me if i should buy this book or not? i read the reviews and some of them say it's poorly interpreted

TheAccidental Reader I would rather read a book which gives some examples from the life of a psychopath or whatever Michelle Knotek is, and speaks broadly about her mental…moreI would rather read a book which gives some examples from the life of a psychopath or whatever Michelle Knotek is, and speaks broadly about her mental disorder. This book is not that. In painstaking detail, it chronicles what seems like every single incident of abuse perpetrated over a period of many years just by this one woman and her cohorts, but without any perspective. Many of the incidents and much of the writing is redundant. I at first thought this must have been a self-published book, with no editing whatsoever. I was shocked to see that the man who wrote it is the author of some thirty books. I would give it a hard pass.(less)

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Dangling thread for me: who sent the note about hearing gunshots?

Santos I think maybe it was Kathy's brother.

> Michelle Knotek maintained that she and Loreno were in regular contact. However, a private investigator hired b…moreI think maybe it was Kathy's brother.

> Michelle Knotek maintained that she and Loreno were in regular contact. However, a private investigator hired by Loreno's brother concluded that she had probably been murdered by Michelle Knotek.(less)

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