Absolutely exquisite. Coco Mellors’ understanding of the human condition and complexities of love in its many forms is just astounding. To be able to put words to so many relatable feelings is just… mind boggling. What a beautiful piece of work. Sisterhood, love, grief, heartbreak, addiction, trauma. Coco Mellors makes it all make sense. She makes utter sense of the nonsensical.

4.5*

Oh my. I am bereft, I was not at all ready to say goodbye to the sisters Blue. Their story was written with such compassion, with harsh realities shared, that my heart broke for them time and time again. The only reason it’s not a five star read is that I felt the pace quickened quite unnaturally and it was all wrapped up too quickly at the end.

Sometimes a book comes into your life just when you need it to, and Blue Sisters is the perfect example of that for me. With themes of sisterhood, grief, identity, and self-worth explored in a gentle but poignant manner, Mellors has created a space where human relationships and all their complexity can breathe without judgment.

Each sister is afforded their own story, and in the process is fully fleshed out and vital to the overall impact of Blue Sisters on the reader. I will always advocate for stories that elevate the importance of familial and platonic relationships, and Mellors does such an excellent job with that here. She does centre the story on these sisterly dynamics, as the title suggests, but her exploration of romantic relationships are executed perfectly too. The interweaving of these elements builds complete and sincere images of the sisters, who by the end feel like they’re real enough to step off the page.

A step-up from her debut novel Cleopatra and Frankenstein, which was already such an achievement, Blue Sisters secures Coco Mellors as one of the most promising writers in the literary fiction genre.

Thanks to Net Galley and 4th estate publishers for sending me an arc of this book.

I was so excited when I heard that Coco Mellors was releasing a new book, I adored Cleopatra and Frankenstein.

All I can say is wow, this book for me tops Cleopatra and Frankenstein. This book is devastating and yet the story never stops you from having hope for the characters.
I laughed and cried a lot while reading this.

This book is about the powerful form of love that is sisterhood and Mellors writes it perfectly. If you’re like me you fight a lot with your sister/s but at the end of the day no matter how bad the fight is you would do anything for them. And Mellors demonstrates this fantastically.

The book is also about grief and how differently people can navigate it, some people self sabotage their lives, some people will simply do anything to not feel and think about reality, some people lash out and some people run away.

But this book is also about healing and it was a joy to see these characters slowly slowly realise who they are/ what they realised they were meant to do and work towards that goal.

The authors writing is just fantastic, whenever I picked up the book I just didn’t want to put it down, the language she uses is almost hypnotic. She makes each character so relatable and realistic and you automatically get attached to them.

This was a book I didn’t want to end and one that I wish I could go back and read for the first time all over again.

Whilst I don’t think it quite reaches the heights of her wonderful debut, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, I really enjoyed this exploration of sisterhood, grief and addiction from Coco Mellors. The alternating perspectives worked very well to bring an objectivity to the stories of the three sisters mourning their missing fourth and anyone with sisters of their own will find much that’s familiar in this story, even if they’re not as world class successful as the characters here (the one aspect that felt a bit off to me). Highly recommended and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

“She couldn’t help it; the maybes bloomed bright and strong like dandelions, those lovely and uninvited weeds that always find the cracks. She hoped and hoped and hoped.”

Avery, Bonnie, Nicky and Lucky are the resilient Blue sisters. Born and raised in New York to a distant mother and an alcoholic and erratic father, the bond between the sisters, held together by Avery, keeps them laughing through the pain. The Blue sisters are somehow able to bloom in their own ways in spite of their childhood: Avery a successful lawyer living in London, Bonnie a world champion boxer, Nicky a warm and beloved teacher and Lucky a well-known model securing jobs around the world. As the sisters grow, so does the distance between them until Nicky tragically loses her life and the remaining three are left to pick up the pieces.

I loved reading the alternating perspectives of Avery, Bonnie and Lucky; they are all written with so much complexity, depth and love and I recognised parts of myself, and people I know, in each of them. While this is an obviously heavy book, there are so many tender and humorous moments that all come together to make a truly exceptional read.

When I read and reviewed Cleopatra and Frankenstein last February I said I couldn’t wait to see what Coco Mellors did next. Safe to say she has absolutely exceeded my expectations and then some with Blue Sisters; it is a stunning book that I genuinely adored.

Big thank you to 4th Estate Books and Netgalley for the ARC. Its released on May 23rd and if this one isn’t already on your radar to pick up next month, I hope it is now.

A book about family relationships and how even though they can be misconstrued, love - familial love can conquer all.

The characters are all flawed, the Blue Sisters of the title - and their parents and their partners, where they have them, but this does make them more believable.

A family of four children, one who died in adulthood, and the repercussions and guilt for everyone concerned.

I enjoyed the interactions between the sisters and their unbreakable love for each other, whilst being annoyed and fed up with each other. What I missed was a little light and shade - families are messy but where there is love there is also usually humour - and I wished there had been a little of that. A small criticism as I did enjoy the book and I would recommend.

This is an excellent read. Mellors presents to the readers a group of three sisters mourning the tragic loss of their fourth sister. Avery, the eldest, is a successful lawyer living in London with her caring wife. Bonnie is a former world champion boxer currently living in LA and working as a bouncer. Lucky is a model, living a hedonistic life and trying to find some kind of meaning amongst the shallowness of her world. All of them are staring directly in the face of addiction, whether it be to drugs, alcohol or pain.

As they continue to try and make sense of Nicky’s accidental overdose (as she takes medication to manage her endometriosis), they also have to come to terms with a difficult childhood due to their cold and selfish parents. Mellors’ novel does not shy away from some of the thorny issues in life - insecurity, self-doubt, addiction and the struggles caused by a dysfunctional childhood. However, there is a poignant wisdom in the presentation of the characters and a genuine warmth in their complex relationships. ‘Cleopatra and Frankenstein’ was a great read - I think that this is even better.

The four Blue sisters live with their dysfunctional parents in a two bedroomed apartment in Manhattan. Avery, the oldest sister, is surrogate mother to the other three, filling in on the care that their mother forgets to give, and protecting them from their alcoholic father. As soon as possible, all the girls flee the nest and make it out into the wider world themselves. When the four suddenly become three, memories, frictions and love come to the fore. All battling with either addiction or demon, they struggle to find their way until they start to accept each other for what they are. Although close, the sisters are not suffocatingly so, and that’s ok, they each need their own space to grow and develop.

A story that captivates from the start. Each chapter focusing on a different sister, though not to the exclusion of the other.s. Sisterhood and all its intertwining bonds is dealt with perfectly. No, they may not always like each other, but they do love one another. Avery, Bonnie and Lucky are all high achievers, and this certainly appears to drive the book, with many references to either their beauty, brains or brawn, with their many errors quickly forgotten or not dealt with. However deceased Nicky was ordinary and mundane, though very loved. Still a good read though, and did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. Not sure the ending is what the book deserves, it felt a little mawkish.

Thank you NetGalley and Fourth Estate.

Avery, Bonnie, Nicky & Lucky - the Blue sisters, all exceptional and unique in their own ways. One a top lawyer, another a world champion boxer, one a formidable teacher, and one a world famous model. The sisters are spread far and wide across the globe, that is until they Nicky’s unexpected death. A year on, and the three remaining sisters are all still getting to grips with life without Nicky and navigating grief, however as Nicky’s empty apartment in New York is put up for sale, the sisters are forced to come together once again as they confront the loss of the sister that held them all together.

What’s that? ANOTHER 5 STAR READ? I know, I’m just as shocked as you are, but this book deserved every single star. I’ve seen several wonderful reviews of this book and given that I adored reading Cleo & Frank last year, my expectations were high. This book tells the most beautiful story about the bonds of sisterhood, navigating grief and battling addiction, and l never wanted it to end. It was moving, it was so emotional, and after finishing the book I just sat and cried for a bit because I didn’t know what else to do?
Honestly this book was everything I wanted and more, and I apologise profusely for how much I’m going to be talking about this book and recommending it and basically shoving it down people’s throats until they read it 😂

Coco Mellors is now an auto buy author for me. I really enjoyed Blue Sisters, it’s raw and unflinching in its description of family relationships and especially siblings. The love and bonds we have and the place addictions can play, the guilt and the shame. I liked all the sisters and found myself hoping everything would work out and come good for them in the end.

Loved Mellors previous books and this has something of a similar feel. Slightly dips in the second half but still a great read.

I think above anything else, Coco Mellors has become so popular because she frequently hits on moments that feel very true in her stories, and is brilliant at providing catharsis. I can rely on her to shove her characters off a cliff and then catch them as they fall.
She’s also really good at writing affairs.
Blue Sisters, like Cleopatra and Frankenstein, isn’t perfect. It took me a little time to invest in the characters beyond stereotypes and I felt the dialogue and prose sometimes lost immersion for me but when Mellors is good, she’s really good and it’s worth the journey more often than not. I particularly liked Avery’s moments with her mother towards the end of the book, a scene which will really stay with me.
Blue Sisters also follows a more coherent story than her debut, and provides characters I rooted for a bit more, despite their moments of equal messiness. If you liked what she did before, you’re absolutely going to like this too

Coco Mellors is the real thing! Her second book is superior to her first in my opinion and I liked the first one. Witty, contemporary, street-smart and compassionate.
Excellent book.

As I wrote in my review for Mellors' previous novel, Mellors is undoubtably an excellent writer. Her ability to weave a consistent and intriguing story, with excellent pacing and fleshed-out characters appears to me to be unrivalled. My issue with this novel is the blurb. In the blurb each of the sisters are positioned like they are on a precipice of a life shattering event, and aside from for Lucky, that doesn't seem to be the case in the novel. Bonnie and Avery do something that in real life could be explosive (no spoilers here!) but in the novel they seem to face little to no repercussions. The novel is less about falling apart and more about the unifying and equalising nature of grief. Mellors' real gift is being able to create such lovable yet realistic characters, who have faults, but you root for them anyway. 4.5*

This is the first Coco Mellor's book I have read and wow what a writer she is. She had me completely absorbed in the life of the Blue sisters. We begin by meeting Avery, Bonnie, Lucky who are about to reach their sisters one year anniversary of her passing. They are all living across the world Paris, London and New York and the book delves in to the lives of each of them and how they are coping in the year after Nicky dies. I loved the writing style and deep character exploration of all of the sisters. It explored relationships between each other , their mother and their loved ones. Really great writing with extremely believable characters and stories. Such beautiful writing to discuss devastating topics such as death, grief and addiction! As soon as I finished I instantly went and purchased Cocos first book to read as well. I will be recommending to others and looking for more from this author
Favourite line - 'I find what gives me pleasure and I do it until it gives me pain' she said 'every time'

I have only heard good words for this author so I was super excited to read her upcoming title and I am glad I got an opportunity to read this. This one is based on sisterhood and in real life, I have a sister too, so that made it more interesting too as it was quite relatable.
The writing was smooth and beautiful, I was amazed at the same time was understanding why everyone loved her last work too. The characters were amazing and the plotline was well written. I had an amazing time reading this.

Let me tell you, it felt like they were MY sisters.
Slightly dysfunctional, ,slightly enmeshed group of sisters tryin to make sense of senseless tragedy. Heavy but readable.

Description:
There were once four Blue sisters, and now there are three. A year after Nicky, the second-youngest, dies of a painkiller overdose, Avery, Bonnie and Lucky are still struggling to recover.

Liked:
Emotive and touching, made me cry a few times. I really felt for the sisters, and the depictions of various forms and stages of addiction seemed nuanced and sympathetic.

Disliked:
If emotive is the nice way to put it, mawkish is the flip side. It takes care to temper its sweetness with some grit, but it all feels just a little too staged. Each of the sisters - besides Nicole herself, interestingly - is exceptional: Avery is a rich hotshot lawyer, Bonnie a boxing champion, and Lucky an international model. Mellors makes a point of criticising the contempt Avery has for Nicole's mundanity (focusing on the high-street clothes left behind in the wardrobe they must clear), but the whole book is full of vitriol for the norm, and a lavish attention to things deemed stylist or tasteful, like Avery's beautiful London townhouse. If this were only in Avery's POV I could see it as an exploration of character, but it bleeds into them all. It all combines to give the impression of a pretentious glossy magazine, a 'tastemaker', and I kind of hate it.

Read This If:
You’re prepared to overlook a bit of posturing and cool-girl lit flourishes in order to enjoy an interesting exploration of addiction. Note: I feel like the marketing I’ve seen for this book so far positions it as an exploration of sisterhood - I don’t think it’s half as astute on this topic as on addition.

Anything Else:
Unforgivably, there was a particular sentence in this book which reminded me of 50 Shades of Grey: Mellors makes a 'subtle' T. S. Eliot reference by speaking about his character Prufrock, but the allusion adds absolutely nothing, and serves only as a reminder of the author's intellectualism. E. L. James does exactly the same with an unattributed reference to Hamlet, and both were such crass, cack-handed asides that they made me physically wince.

As the youngest of three sisters, this book hit me hard! coco mellors has a way of writing the realist and most complex characters, and similar to cleopatra and frankenstein, the characters felt human and relatable.

I’m not sure if the author has sisters, but the relationship dynamics between Avery, Bonnie, Lucky, and their grief felt so authentic and completely hit the mark for me.

I can’t wait to buy a physical copy and read this beautiful book again.