Member Reviews

a story of three women who think of themselves as sisters. It tells the story of how they go through life together. I enjoyed it very much.

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Enjoy this read the atmosphere the characters the sisters the storyline kept me imagining summer at a beach just listening to this story from start to end page turning for unfolded at a great pace. Enjoy this read and I love the cover.

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The Sisters of Blue Mountain Beach take place at the beach as we can expect from the title of the book. In this book we meet three different women dealing with life issues, although they aren't sisters they claim each other as one. For me this was a different sort of read, with all the differences of the story lines converging into one story line. I would say its wasn't one of my favorite reads but still was a good read. I would still recommend to others because I know not everyone enjoys the same type of books.

I received and ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

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The Sisters of Blue Mountain Beach is a lyrical, literary work that makes you think about life and things not always being as they appear. It is a story of three women, who remain faithful friends even though husbands and children and jobs fail them. They even go through a hurricane together because they know they can count on each other. The written descriptions of the beach, the sunsets, sand and the water is poetic and alluring - might have to go to this part of Florida to experience the natural beauty in person.

The plot of this book was not a straight line and you have to stick with it to find out the nuggets of the story. The chapters are named for each sister, Mary Fran, Arden and Cilla (short for Priscilla) and we see the story unfold from their points of view. The three ladies usually do a girls vacation in Destin, Florida during August in a house named The Personal Injury, by Arden's crazy lawyer husband Alec. It is a grand nouveau mansion that is filled with luxury items, exuding an enormous wealth. This year they are summoned by ringleader Arden for a second trip in October because their lives have gotten off track and they need another trip.

But this trip is not a fun trip and each point of view hints at something being tragically off for all three. The pending hurricane is a great literary metaphor for the traumatic changes occurring in the lives of Mary Fran, Arden and Cilla. Breaking up the changers, the novel has quotations which serve as signposts and written like testimonials. All of the the townspeople who waited on them or delivered goods to the house, chime in with their impressions of what's going on, which create other points of view of what's happening in the story. There are many plot twists and the reader can't really tell which way the story was going to end.

This was a well-written , but sad book with plot structure problems and strange add-ins that kind of distracted from the great characters in the book. The sisters' stories were told through memories of the past and yet it was lyrical enough and a good enough story to hold my interest. Thanks to NetGalley and Rebelle Press for the opportunity to read this novel.

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I found this book to be very confusing. I initially really enjoyed the book, but about 30% of the way in, I really lost interest but did finish reading because I wanted/needed to see how it ended. I felt the end of the book went out of order writing the obituaries before the last couple of chapters because honestly the last 25% of the book I thought they would die together in solidarity, which I think might have been a preferable ending for me. While the stories were connected, it just felt like I was often reading three separate stories and I thought there was a lot of backstory that was just unnecessary. I apologize for the poor review, but unfortunately, this book just was not for me. On a positive note, I do appreciate the author minimizing the amount of sexual content. I would be willing to read other works published by the author, because again, there was enough of a hook I did finish the book. Content warnings: heavy use of alcohol, prescription meds, moderate language, overarching theme of death/dying

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The Sisters of Blue Mountain Beach by Kalan Chapman was a really good story.
I found myself pulled into this remarkable story with intriguing characters and unable to pull away.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

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“Her Cilla may die, and this was worse than her husband, her Alec, going to jail. This is worse than losing all her money. This is worse.”
A good story about how the high can fall too but also about sisterhood and how life changes over the years. I like how we learned little details about each character all throughout the book.

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This book is about three ‘sisters’, all at different stages in their lives.
The cover promotes a beach read but the storyline doesn’t follow through on that idea. There wasn’t a lot of flow, the story seemed muddled and the set out of the book wasn’t appealing.
I didn’t connect with the characters and was disappointed with the book overall.

Thanks to Rebelle Press, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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This follows the complex lives of three found sister and how they cope with the trials and tribulations that happen throughout their lives. The formatting of the book was hard to follow but nonetheless the story of friendship prevails.

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc!

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I was very happy to receive this book prior to publication, since I've read Ms. Lloyd before and enjoyed the books. The title and cover of The Sisters of Blue Mountain Beach looked so GREAT, I dove in as soon as I got it downloaded. Unfortunately, this book, in my opinion was not a beach read.

I found the book difficult to read since there were no chapters, but it seemed like maybe since this was an ARC that the formatting was still going to take place...maybe? So much repetition. We learned details of the 'chosen' sisters over and over again. The best/important thing to know about....fill in the blank...began to be my least favorite phrase in the whole book.

The last part of the book is notable and I'll not spoil the ending for those who read to the end. I had to force myself to get there, but it is worth the read.

Three stars, but only because of the ending.

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I really struggled with this. It was so hard to follow. I didn’t know what was happening and with who. There wasn’t any chapters which didn’t help at all, the sisters seemed to be angry at each other but I couldn’t work out why and it didn’t seem to get resolved. There were some interviews in the story but because of lack of chapters I didn’t know why. I didn’t care about these characters and ended up skim reading to finish.

I was looking forward to reading this one so am sad I didn’t enjoy it,

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this book.

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"The Sisters of Blue Mountain Beach" left me baffled and frustrated. From the onset, the premise of three sisters who aren't really sisters seemed promising, but the execution fell flat. The narrative lacked coherence, leaving me confused about the relationships and the plot's direction. The erratic format further added to the confusion, making it difficult to stay engaged. Instead of building anticipation, the impending hurricane felt like a relief, signaling the end of my struggle with the book. Overall, the novel failed to deliver a compelling story or engaging characters, leaving me disappointed and longing for a more coherent read.

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Two cousins and a friend join together for their yearly vacation at a beach house on the Florida gulf coast. Arden is vastly wealthy and owns the house. Cilla is fighting cancer. Mary Fran is widowed and recently learned of her deceased husband's affair. Their usual dynamic is upset by their respective problems. Faced with an impending hurricane, their decisions could be tragic.
One big problem with the book ARC is that the chapters are not clearly defined. The additional comments of the coastal town dwellers feel out of place and add nothing to the plot. There is a large amount of repetition that tends to annoy.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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:
This could have been a wonderful thought-provoking novel had it not been so difficult to navigate. The lack of formatting had the book feeling like it was one long run-on paragraph. There were multiple POV, but they were almost impossible to distinguish.

From what I could tell, each chapter was alternately allocated to a sister and their acquaintances, and while it was interesting, there was a lot of repetition throughout.

I went into this knowing it was an Advanced Readers Copy, but it was the first time receiving one so completely disjointed that I had a headache by the end.
I loved the premise of the story but did not enjoy the struggle of reading it. I sincerely hope all these issues will be addressed before the release date.

Thank you to Netgally and Rebelle Press for the advanced copy. My review was voluntary.

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I enjoy a good beach read book. Three sister-friends are spending their annual two week vacation at Blue Mountain Beach.
Each is dealing with major changes in their lives, their stories revealed in alternating chapters for a two week period lending with to a hurricane. The book is hard to read as it does not flow well, it is more like a a narrator telling a story at a high level. I could not get invested into the characters or the story because of how choppy the book is written. I understand this is an advanced reader copy and I am hoping these type of situations are cleared up and smoothed out prior to publishing. I do thank Netgallley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity.

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I did not like any of this. The writing style was not for me, and the formatting was like nothing I've ever read. The combination of the two made this very hard to get through, let alone enjoy. I just couldn't do it. This wouldn't be something I would necessarily recommend, but I do think it would be a good read for the right reader. That reader just wasn't me, unfortunately.
Thank you, NetGalley and Rebelle Press, for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy.

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I picked The Sisters of Blue Mountain Beach to read because I love books about the fun at the beach. I read the description about book and thought it would be different than it was. I expected a good beach read up until something went awry when the hurricane arrived.

While I realize this is an advanced copy, the first thing I found jarring was there weren’t chapters, it just all blended together. That is distracting because you don’t know where you are and if the point of view and person talking has changed. In addition to that it felt like the story just kept repeating over and over and over. There’s a part where we are learning about Mary Fran at the beginning and it says 4 times that “The important thing to know about Mary Frank is…” Then it’s repeated again a few pages after as if the reader won’t be able to remember. It was like this throughout the book.

I forced myself to finish this book because it was an advanced reader copy, but it did not get any better.

I appreciate being given the opportunity to read this book by NetGalley and the Publisher.

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A great read that is well written, thought provoking and beautifully set. The characters are 3 dimensional and believable; topped off with a twist!

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Thanks to NetGalley and Rebelle Press for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is the story of three women - Arden, Cilla, and Mary Fran. They are not sisters by blood but by choice. As they navigate the ups and downs of their lives, a hurricane approaches, and they must face it together.

Frankly, I wouldn't say I liked anything about this book. It was repetitive. The omniscient narrator might have known all the thoughts and feelings of the character but I felt unmoved. I always keep in mind that I am not reading a finished copy. That being said, I would have appreciated better spacing surrounding the first-person accounts of the people after the hurricane.

I don't give one-star ratings often, but this book and I cannot coexist.



Expected Publication Date 21/05/24
Goodreads Review 20/04/24

#30Abookclub #NetGalley.

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I thought this would be like a fun beach read (queue in Emily Henry or Elin Hilderbrand), but this was kind of a bit not like that?

It felt predictable (okay sure say what you want about my other beach read authors, but their stories are always something I gush over, and cannot get enough of).

This was a 'nothing happens' then 'everything happens' then just honestly, weird. There was a hurricane at some point, maybe? But I never got to it there was so much fluff, and just blah.

Some of my top take aways:

-There weren't any chapters either (which I know it's an ARC, but still, I felt there should have been some separation?).

-Nothing was resolved, you didn't get that feel good ending...

-They are actually not as young as you think they are... they are older women, but it is written like they are 30ish.

-It drug on so much about this fluff stuff.

I had a hard time really getting into this, so it became a DNF around 53%. I couldn't get into it, and honestly, when I struggle to get into a book, I stop. The world is wide, there are millions of books, this wasn't the one for me.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for my E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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