disclaimer: This is my first Coco Mellors book and I am an only child. So you can take this review with a pinch of salt. Or not.

On its surface, Blue Sisters is a relatively slow character study about sisterhood and grief, and yet it was such a page turner. While the writing often ventured into telling-and-not-showing territory, the sisters felt fully fleshed, despite only spending one chapter at a time with each one.

As mentioned above, I'm an only child. I wanted siblings once, when I was about 5 years old, but a sleepover with my best friend and her siblings quickly cured me of that desire and I went home and told my mom that she could stop trying to give me a sister (which was probably a relief to her, since unbeknownst to my 5 year old self, she'd had her tubes tied for years).

And yet. I love sibling stories. Blue Sisters is no exception. It takes a good writer to make me relate to stories of siblinghood. I found myself highlighting various quotes relating to being a sister as if I was one myself.

➥ thank you to Random House for the e-arc!

although it took me a while to finish, it’s only because I was hanging on every word. I absolutely adore the descriptions and relationships in this. As a sister with many siblings this really got to me. Coco bless you for writing this!!!

From the very beginning, Mellors hooks you into this story. Grief is explored in so many ways. As well as self discovery. All told through loving sisters. I will read this over and over again.

A wealthy family drama? Yeah, sign me up. With strong themes of grief and addiction in its many forms I was hooked by Blue Sisters from the jump. As an only child, it's not that I struggle with stories of sibling-hood, but it is naturally harder for me to relate to them sometimes just based on my lived experience, however I am always fascinated by the dynamic. Mellors writing did a good job of keeping me engaged in the characters and their special bond really forces them to endure their complex relationships. With multiple POVs, Mellors does a great job of writing in the lens of these different characters. For fans of Succession and Euphoria.

Most anticipated book release of 2024 did not disappoint. Beautiful yet tragic story of sisterhood, and love. The characters felt so real, and I felt like I was literally there in the story.

Thank you Net Galley for an advanced copy!

Blue Sisters is an emotional, heart gripping story that is guaranteed to make you feel all the feels. Coco Mellors will have you sobbing. I can not recommend this book enough!!!

Thank you NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

my GOODness this was wonderful. it was such a compelling story about grief that left you feeling emotionally tired yet happy at the end. wonderful and descriptive writing that was easy to follow and created a great image in my head while reading.

This was a phenomenal read. All three sisters were relatable and I found myself rooting for them despite — or perhaps because of — their poor decisions. You know a writer is amazing when as a reader I felt like I really knew and cared for a character that had already died before the book began. This story was a complex look at grief, sisterhood, and adult life. It was equally heartbreaking and heartwarming with beautiful writing.

This book deals with the complexities of families and how three sisters deal with the death of their sister one year after her passing. I tend to enjoy books that have chapters with point of views from different characters, but I found this one a bit harder to get into. The chapters are very long, and sometimes I found myself trying to hurry to the end of the chapter to get back to a different character's part of the story.

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors follows four women who have seemingly found lives of their own and yet all that they are, are each other's sisters. But when four becomes three, everything shifts and all there is to do is learn how to navigate life missing a sister. ------ What a mess this book has left me in. I'm typically a fast reader by I found myself taking the time to read each word as thoroughly as possible because I feared it would end just too suddenly. What a debut novel Mellors conceived with Cleopatra and Frankenstein, but my word has she blown the roof with this one. This one was so deep, so inviting, so heartbreaking. I wanted more and more with each page. The way each character was explored, not only as individuals but as they are being sisters, wow, wow, wow. Truly a 5+ star read for me. I also feel for the older sisters/first born daughters, what a great portrayal of what "not being that important" means. I'll be thinking about this book for a while, that's for sure. In the end, I'm truly devastated that I have to die not knowing what it's like to be a sister and worst of all, not having one to be my own at all. (All love and thanks to the publisher for the ARC and the opportunity to experience this book)

Blue Sisters is well written and grabs your interest in the women in the book right from the start. You feel like you know them and are soon invested in each of their stories.
I will be recommending this book and I can looking forward to reading Coco Mellors previous book.

The relationship between three sisters is strained when their fourth sister dies. All three, which have seemingly successful lives, struggle with personal issues and the relationships between themselves in the year after her death. When their mother decides to put their home on the market, the sisters finally face each other and their demons. This book covers grief, addiction, and family dynamics.

From the opening paragraph alone, I knew this will be one of my top 5 of the year. Coco Mellors writes a beautiful portrait of a family grappling with the throes of grief and addiction. Sisters Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky get an email from their mother, telling them to clear out their deceased sister Nicky's things from their childhood apartment, as it is being sold at the end of the month. Tensions bubble as private lives mess with the family unit, threatening to destroy everything the sisters have known and are struggling to learn in the wake of their sister's death. With stunning examination of the meaning of family and learning to love ourselves despite imperfections, Mellors' sophomore novel proves that she is here to stay as one of the most brutal, honest, unique voices in the game.

5/5

“We’re your sisters. Whatever you do, we’re ultimately on your side. You could kill someone, and I’d help you sneak the body back to us and fill a bathtub with hydrochloric acid so we could dispose of it discreetly.”

“A sister is not a friend. Who can explain the urge to take a relationship as primal and complex as sibling and reduce it to something as replaceable, as banal as a friend.” True sisterhood is not the same as friendship. Following the Blue Sisters: Avery, the stereotypical eldest daughter that’s hiding a secret that could undo her perfect life. Bonnie, a former renowned boxer that’s working as a bouncer in LA after a devastating defeat. And Lucky, the rebellious youngest whose hard-partying ways finally disrupts her life. They are all grieving the unexpected death of their beloved fourth sister, Nicky, in different ways. But after a year apart, they reunite in New York to stop the sale of their childhood home and finally navigate their loss together.

“All she was asking for was comfort, a little relief. In that sense, perhaps she was no different from an addict. Weren’t all addicts looking for relief from some invisible pain? Weren’t all people?”

This book was amazing. I also had high expectations because I really liked Cleopatra and Frankenstein when I finished the novel last year, and Blue Sisters didn’t disappoint. I usually dislike multiple narratives because certain ones aren’t as great as others, but every Blue sister kept me engaged. This is such a great novel about grief, sisterhood, and addiction from multiple perspectives that made me tear up at the end. The characters are realistic, and the story shows how there’s no “happy ending,” but a real one. This will probably be in my top 10 books of the year, and I’m so happy I had the opportunity to read it. Coco Mellors is an auto-buy author for me, and I would actually recommend you start with this book if you want to read her work.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

“But what they don’t know is this: As long as you are alive, it is never too late to be found.”

“I think you're the opposite of insufferable, I suffer you gladly.”

So thankful for this book and for crying in this book and for my sister, how I achingly related so heavily to this story, being an eldest sister. How I didn’t feel so alone in my worry. How my little sister has been Nicky, with what Nicky goes through. Having to go through that and still in recent years, you can't help but put your life down the line to protect your family. It's so interesting to read a book sometimes and relate to it almost too much? I feel like Coco pulled my brain out, inspected it, and knew what to write and how to tell this story for me. My sister is just another thread of me.

I think anyone can relate in so many different ways in this book, without even having a sister. In relationships, careers, family trauma, chronic illness, and addiction. Right off the first page in the prologue, it has gripping and strong writing that pulled me in. The writing is meticulous and thoughtful for each character with an attention to detail that works so well in telling a story. All characters felt nuanced yet flawed, and very human. Make no mistake, these characters are not perfect. Likable yes, but going through it in grief and the consequences of their actions from years of neglectment to themselves. To the point of just boggling your eyes at the decisions they make. But nothing like Coco Mellors to wrap up this book in the way she did. I could read about the Blue Sisters forever, their dialogues, and their life. So much goes on in this book so take your time reading it, if you choose. And savor it too! Definitely a favorite of the year 🩵

“A sister is not a friend. Who can explain the urge to take a relationship as primal and complex as a sibling and reduce it to something as replaceable, as banal as a friend? Yet this status is used again and again to connote the highest intimacy. True sisterhood is not the same as friendship. You don't choose each other and there is no furtive period of getting to know each other. You are a part of each other, right from the start. Look at an umbilical cord– tough, sinuous, unlovely, yet essential– and compare it to a friendship bracelet of brightly woven thread. That is the difference between a sister and a friend.”

I thought this was a touching story of four sisters that dealt really well with difficult topics like cheating, death, and addiction. While the sisters themselves were engaging, the side characters left much to be desired. I also think the presence of the dead sister was felt very deeply. She left a hole in the book that I think is important for talking about grief. The prose was incredibly well done. I think the plotting of the story was sometimes a little off or scenes were explained retroactively like the affair. It wasn't super badly done but it did detract from the story. Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it was a touching entry into the lives of the Blue Sisters.

My sisters… my Spice Girls… oh how I love the Blues.

I can’t tell you the last time I felt this connected to characters on a page. Maybe it’s because i’m the eldest of three sisters, maybe it’s because Coco Mellors takes my breath away with every sentence she pens. She captured the good, the bad, and the ugly of sisterhood in ways and words I could never even imagine ascribing to the nuances that coincide with such a deep knowing and loving. But she did it flawlessly.

I wish I could verbalize everything I’m feeling after putting this down, but I can’t. I’ll be thinking about this book forever and I can’t wait to reread it… and to make my sisters read it too. Fill the tub ❤️

“It is good you have each other … You never have to explain yourself to sisters. … Until you know my sisters, you don’t know me.”

—

Thank you NetGalley & Penguin Random House - Ballantine for the ARC! Please get your hands on a copy of this as soon as you can!!!

3.5 Stars

This is the story of three adult sisters experiencing the one-year anniversary of the death of their sister Nicky. They grew up in an apartment their parents owned in NYC, and now their mother wants to sell it. At this point the sisters are far flung in various locations like the youngest Lucky who is a model in France, oldest sister Avery a lawyer in England, and Bonnie is taking a hiatus from boxing and working as a bouncer in Los Angeles. The main focus of the book is the tragedy of losing their sister, and it's not revealed how it happened until around the middle of the book. Other conflicts include the sisters' attachment to this apartment and some of their addictions to alcohol and drugs.

I particularly enjoyed how the author described the various locations the sisters lived in; riding the tube, subway, or open top buses, roaming Central Park in NYC, and the leafy suburbia of Hampstead Heath in London, England. I also was a voyeur to bad behavior by the two sisters with the addictions, and perversely, that was riveting. Overall it was a pleasant read, but I would have preferred a little more editing. By the way- I love the book cover!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

This book is for the Gilmore Girls girls! Sharp quick humor interwoven with touching moments. Not to mention characters that make absolutely infuriating mistakes and are often hard to like. Sometimes they were a bit too hard to like, to be honest. I found myself losing interest in some sisters' story lines at times because it's not enjoyable to read about someone burning their lives down. That said, this very much a book by women for women, and I was able to relate to many of the Blue sisters experiences and challenges.

The characters in this book are incredible! Each sister was so unique and I cared about all of their stories. This wasn’t a book where a whole lot of big things happened, but it was still quite gripping. I was sad when it ended because I wanted to continue to know how the Blue sisters were doing. Great, cozy read!