Absolutely sublime. This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it exceeded my (very high) expectations. I was gripped from the start and very quickly realised that Mellors' expansive understanding of the human condition was going to be showcased masterfully. Each of the sisters were vividly portrayed in a beautifully empathetic way, and their stories interspersed and flowed very naturally. Mellors' writing style is magically warm, utilised to powerful effect in exploring a range of challenging themes. One of the best books I have read this year - I cannot wait to see what she does next.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

After waiting what felt like forever, I finally got my hands on 'Blue Sisters'—and let me tell you, it was worth every second of the wait! Initially, I wasn't sure what to expect, but once I started, I was hooked. Laughter, tears (yes, even in public), and a whole lot of "just one more chapter" later, I couldn't get enough.

As someone without sisters, I wasn't sure if I'd fully connect with the story. But boy, was I wrong! Mellors really nailed the whole sibling dynamic. And as a lawyer and eldest in my family, Avery's journey really hit me right in the feels. It was incredibly emotional to see aspects of my own life reflected in her experiences, especially the unique challenges and guilt that come with being a parentified eldest daughter.

I felt like I was right there with the characters, experiencing every twist and turn of their lives. 'Blue Sisters' is all about letting go, moving forward, and finding your true self.
I had pretty high expectations for this book, especially after falling in love with Mellors' debut. And guess what? It surpassed them all! Plus, can we take a moment to appreciate that cover? Absolutely stunning!
In short, "Blue Sisters" is a real emotional rollercoaster that leaves a lasting impression.

🔵 REVIEW 🔵

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
Publishing Date: 21st May

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

📝 - The Blue Sisters may have grown up in the same dysfunctional house, but that is where the similarities seem to end. Avery, the eldest, a strait-laced lawyer living in London with her wife, seemingly living the perfect life. Bonnie, an ex-professional boxer who has escaped to LA to work as a bouncer. Lucky, a model since her teenage years, flitting between fashion weeks, never in one place for too long. And Nicky, the beloved sister whose unexpected death left the family in turmoil. Blue Sisters delves into each sister’s life as they come back together a year after Nicky’s death.

💭 - This was (unsurprisingly) an extremely emotional dive into what it means to be a sister, a woman, a mother. Each of the sisters comes with their own flaws, and each is still coming to terms with their grief following Nicky’s death. The relationship between the sisters was developed very well, and felt very natural, especially in their dialogue. I also found it interesting as the theme of addiction arose across the members of the family, though in different ways. I did find some of the narration to be a bit overdone though, and felt there was some unnecessary content that didn’t add much to the story.
Overall a good read, and I feel a lot of people will love it, but for me it just wasn’t outstanding…

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I really enjoyed this tale of three sisters, I found it a super easy read and I was gripped from the start. The characters were all vivid, and I was rooting for them the whole way through.

(Thank you Netgalley for a copy)

This is a very overwhelmingly real novel. I knew of Coco Mellors and have read her previous book (which I had mixed feelings about). Though, just as it was shown in this book, Mellors is an extremely good writer. She is able to discuss a variety of very serious topics without romanticizing them (as I have found a lot of authors do). I personally loved the vivid dynamic between these sisters and the arguments felt real and dramatic, just as sisters can be.

I also really enjoyed the jumping between the different cities in which they lived in--it added some fun and mystique to the whole plot.
Mellor's tender and sentimental writing is so worth noting. It feels as though it ties this whole book together and unifies the characters even further.

May do a longer review upon rereading.
Loved.

This book is a hit, for girls everywhere that are sisters (even if we don’t have sisters).

We follow Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky, sisters who are desperately trying to make sense of their lives and their new dynamic that has been forever altered by the loss of ¼ of the Blue sisters, Nicky. Mellors expertly navigates themes of love, loss, grief, dysfunctional family dynamics, and addiction through alternating POVs of the sisters, an approach that ensures there’s a little something for every reader.

What I loved the most about this book was the sisters learning to give grace to each other, to those around them, and most importantly to themselves. The writing is not only fantastic but also authentically realistic. All these elements culminate in a cathartic reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc!

I devoured Cleopatra and Frankenstein and when I read the premise of Mellor’s second book I knew I was going to love it.

I have two sisters and our relationship and bond is something I can’t put into words, but that’s exactly what Mellors has done in Blue Sisters. It’s authentic, emotional, funny and I honestly couldn’t put it down. A truly fantastic read.

Also, LOVE the cover!

I was very excited t read this after being utterly consumed by Cleopatra and Frankenstein and it did not disappoint!

This is about three Sisters dealing with life a year after a big loss, it explores grief, motherhood, chronic pain, addiction, sobriety and relationships in various forms. I have to admit that this book took me a little longer to become invested in as there were three main characters/perspectives but once I had gotten to know the Blue sisters I was hooked and it broke my heart again and again. Being an only child this complex look at sibling love is fascinating, the characters and written brilliantly, each with flaws that could consume them but at the same time deeply human and relatable.

This book focuses on 3 sisters navigating their relationship after their sister death. Obviously this is book is about the relationship between sisters, as someone that does not have a sister I found it incredible to read because it gave me all the insight I need. I feel like sisters are complex things, this read although deep was incredibly fun to read. It was laced in humour, and stability.

Mellor always does a great job at touching on the harder aspects of life and she does this brilliantly. Exploring grief and the different ways that manifests in different people sounds like a hard job but it felt effortless to read.

This was such a complex story with all kind of drama and feelings that I was left feeling weird about it, like I wanted it to end to see the characters at some sort of end but in the same time I wanted to continue reading about them. I loved their complexities and reading about their relationship and their own view of each other and of the events that took place in their lives. Also, the way every one of them dealt with grief showed that it's unique to each individual but still they were not alone in that moment they just had to let the others in their lives.
Loved the story and the writing and can't wait to see what else Coco Mellors has under her pen.

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 😂