Fairly typical family fiction; well done but not earth shattering. Sad but also ultimately what I would still classify as a “feel good” story, deals with grief, addiction, absent parents.

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sign me up for the next book Coco Mellors!

Blue Sisters is incredibly well written in ways that will keep you up late, immersing yourself page, after page. Heavily character driven with superb development.

Nicky, Bonnie, Lucky and Avery. This is their story of grief, hope, and the difficulties of family dynamics with an alcoholic father and an emotionally unattached mother.
As the sisters come to grips with their not so perfect childhood and the loss of their sister, Nicky, they realize that life really does have other plans. How even though life sucks and each one of them has battled addiction, fought for their sanity, fought with each other and for each other. They were also the only ones who could save each other. But, would you want to tell the others about your dirty little secrets?
Blue Sisters had me dragging myself, willingly, through an emotional knothole.

SYNOPSIS
- Three sisters, Avery, Bonnie, & Lucky, are all living in different cities. It is the one year anniversary of the death the of Nicky, their fourth sister.
- Their parents have never been great.
- Avery is the eldest sister, and she is an attorney living in London in with her wife. She is also a recovering heroin addict.
- Bonnie is a boxer, and she’s currently working as a bouncer in LA after having a bad loss in her boxing career.
- Lucky is the youngest. She is a model & living in Paris. She is dealing with her own addictions - drugs, alcohol, etc.

MY THOUGHTS
- How is this my first Coco Mellers book?! Such incredible writing.
- There’s so many great topics covered in this book - generational trauma, the roles we take on in families, chronic illness, addiction, sibling love.
- The characters are nuanced, complex, messy, & real.
- Loved the settings & descriptions of the different settings.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️⭐️beautiful writing + amazing. I will never forget this read.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchanges for an honest review. This book will be published on September 3, 2024.

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this book but expected to feel more. The writing was wonderful and I enjoyed the exploration of grief from each of the sister’s perspectives and their individual struggles with addiction, self worth, relationships, etc. Just felt like there was a little something missing and can’t put my finger on it. However, I did think it was a great read and would recommend just didn’t wow me.

I’m one of four sisters. So saying this hit different is an understatement.


I’ll write a longer review in a bit. Once I can fully gather my thoughts.

This was so much better than I thought it would be.

This was something new and unexpected.

Was a really beautiful read. As someone who has deepened her relationship with her sister in this last year the thought of losing her was tough to swallow reading through the other 3 sisters the loss of Nicky.

This is my first Coco Mellors book and I am hooked!! This book was beautifully written!! It is a beautiful story of sisterhood, trauma, addiction, grief, and so much more. The characters were real and beautifully flawed. And let's not forget to mention the gorgeous cover!!
This is by no means an "easy" book, it's very heavy at times, but don't let that stop you!!
Coco Mellors I am a fan now and can't wait to dive into your other books. 5 glorious stars!!!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sharing this beautiful story with me in exchange for my honest review.

Explorations of grief are challenging - but I love books like this when I'm trying to be mentally calm.

Reasons I Loved It:
Mellors does a great job with character studies. At 10 percent of the way in, I knew exactly who our four main characters were.
- The character growth? *phenomenal*
- Sisterhood described, explained, wrenched from the universe? Unparalleled. I highlighted so many sections while reading, but I couldn't get enough.


My favorite quote of the whole book:
'True sisterhood...You don't chose each other, and there's no furtive period of getting to know the other. You're part of each other, right from the start.' - It's hard to explain this if you're not a woman with a sister.. but it's so true. I don't remember a single day without my sister in my life. Almost 3 decades of love wrapped in catfights, shared Polly Pockets, forced cuddles and ridiculous jokes all wrapped in one relationship that I couldn't explain better if I tried.

The Reason I Removed One Star:
- I felt that the sections from 60-80% of the way through were sluggish, and I wanted to quit. I'm glad I didn't, but something about that was just almost an overload of sadness and I desperately wanted it to get better. Thankfully it did but I can't handle THAT much sad.

*We leave for a road trip in 8 days and I'm excited but MUCH to do until then! Getting through my ARCs at record speed so be prepared to be peppered with reviews.

**Thank you Ballantine for the advanced reader copy. All thoughts are my own. - SLR

Coco Mellors is a master of her craft. Her last book, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, was excellent and her second novel is just as good.
Blue Sisters tells the story of three sisters, Avery, Bonnie and Lucky who are each mourning the loss of their 4th sister, Nicky. The way they each process this loss, separately and together, make up this story. This book explores, loss and grief, familial addiction, and the bonds of family and sisterhood. I enjoyed each sister’s story and felt their pain and joy. If you enjoy a good family drama this is the book for you.
Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was beautifully devastating. Such care went into crafting each of these women and their stories. All of the little joyous and painful moments of their lives told in such an effortless way, it’s almost unbelievable that this is a work of fiction.

As the youngest of three sisters, I was hooked by that first paragraph alone. And the last one? Gutted me.

I felt utterly seen by the Spice Girls reference. I know that probably sounds silly, but I know my sisters would understand, which is the only thing that matters anyway.

The ending felt a bit quick, but it too was so well done that I don’t even find that to be a fault with the book. Only that I wanted more so badly. To see more of the beautifully written details of how these sisters continued to work through their issues with addiction, grief, and each other.

Loved it. Cried a lot. But that’s not a surprise.


Thank you to Ballantine Books and Random House for the e-ARC 💙

A beautiful family drama about 4 sisters struggling, but committing to one another, to their families, and themselves. Heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time.
Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this book.

After the loss of their sister Nicky, the Blue sisters all go a bit off the rails in their grief. Avery is a revering addict that is suddenly finding other vices, Bonnie was a professional boxer but is now a bouncer at a bar after a bad loss, and Lucky is a model that is traveling down a bad path with drugs and alcohol. As the one year anniversary of Nicky’s death comes and goes, all three sisters return home before their parents sell it. Their relationship just isn’t the same without Nicky though. Can the sisters find their way through grief together?

I have to start by saying this book was a bit more character driven than I normally prefer, and because of that it took me a while to get through. That said, I truly enjoyed it! The Blue family has a serious history of addiction, and it comes for all the sisters in their own way. The entire family was so dysfunctional, and it started with the way the parents raised their girls. This book was heartbreaking at times, but also heartwarming at others. I enjoyed every second of following along with the sisters and how their lives changed in the year+ after Nicky’s death.

Thank you to @randomhouse for my gifted copy of this book!

After reading Cleopatra and Frankenstein earlier this year I had high expectations for Blue Sisters. I was not disappointed and the book continues to sit with me some 4 weeks after finishing it. I loved it so much!

“A sister is not a friend.”
“You don’t choose each other, and there’s no furtive period of getting to know the other. You’re part of each other, right from the start.”

I found this to be an intense and beautiful portrayal of grief and loss. When their sister Nicky dies from an overdose, Avery, Lucky, and Bonnie are each made to confront their own addictions and self-destructive behaviors, as well as cope with the changes to their family dynamics and relationships. This book is often raw and gritty with a compelling narrative that drives the plot forward very early on. I could not put this one down from the first few pages.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and Net Galley for the advanced reader copy. 5 Stars

This book is my 6th 5 star read of the year, which is no small feat.

Honestly, I think a lot of this is due to reading it during the exact right time in my life. The themes of grief, who you are once you live with grief, and how your family impacts that, all just hit very hard this specific weekend I read it.

But even with all of that heavy stuff, I feel I left this book with a little bit of hope for the future, and developed a bit more grace for myself.

This is another book for the messy girl genre. Which is quickly becoming one of my genres.

I cried. I laughed. I loved. And I think that's all you need to know :)

I have been looking forward to reading this book for a while now! Coco Mellors tackles the complexities of sisterhood, the frustration of addiction and the nuances of grief. There were moments when I wanted more character development, but overall I was very impressed with the genuine dialogue in the book, and the realistic approach to forgiveness in a dysfunctional family structure. Mellors presents a poignant take on the search for a home when family is spread apart. It is impossible not to see parts of yourself in all of these characters! I highly recommend this title - I really think this book has something for everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books, and the author for this ARC! #BlueSisters #NetGalley

I have not read a book by Coco Mellors before, and it is safe to say that this will not be my last. Through every step of the journey, I felt every feeling of the Blue Sisters and all I wanted was for them to find happiness, through their grief and personal struggles. While I didn’t personally relate to each character on every level, I could find a little piece of myself within every one of them. As an older sister, this book was everything to me.

The writing was beautiful and I often had to reread a sentence a few times just to merely process what was being said and how it was said. This book was real and raw—these characters have many flaws and are not perfect in the slightest. But that is real life and real people. I would recommend this book and to check TW before reading.

This book is so so good! It makes you feel a lot of different emotions. I was blown away by this book. I highly recommend this. Surely this will be chosen as one of the big book club picks in September.

Something different than what I usually read. I’ve been trying to dip my toes into more contemporary books. And what a choice this was!

Melancholy at its heart, Blue Sisters is about three sisters and their journey through grief and all that follows after their fourth sister has died.

Multiple POVs, with each sister having her own voice and struggles. This book covers some really hard hitting issues such as addiction, alcoholism and childhood traumas.

I loved the way it was written. The dialogue was quick and sometimes witty and sharp, but then it was offset with poetic passages.

This book pulled on my heartstrings. It made me nostalgic for the childhood I had and had me yearning for a sisterhood that I have never experienced.

A good book to reach for when you need something more poignant and meaningful.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

A beautifully written story that felt so real!
Coco is such an incredible writer and I have been so impressed with both her books. She has a way of making her characters feel like people that really exist. She covers many tough subjects in this story in an educational way while also giving hope that they can overcome these issues they face. I came to love the Blue sisters by the end of this book and definitely look forward to reading the next book she releases!

Loved reading about the Blue sisters dealing with not only the aftermath of their sister’s death, but also the ramifications of their life growing up and seeing how things affected each sister. The ending was carefully thought out to where it wasn’t a fairy tale, it was a plausible and realistic ending to the story.