I wasn't quite sure how I would feel about this book. I had heard great things of "Cleopatra and Frankenstein", but I had a hard time immersing myself in the story. However, blue sisters outshined Cleopatra for me and was just what I needed. Blue Sisters follows the stories of three sisters of New York, 1 year after their beloved sister Nicky has passed away. It is a tale of grief, love, hate, and navigating trauma. It was a reminder for me that we all grieve in very different ways, there is no right or wrong way. Follow Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky as they navigate these tricky waters and learn how to "fall in love with life again."

Three sisters reconnect a year after the death of their fourth sister. There's a simple summary. However, Blue Sisters from Coco Mellors deserves so much more.

The Blue sisters were all special. Avery is the oldest and the most type-A...until she ran off to San Francisco, got addicted to heroin, and was homeless. After a year of this, she cleaned up, went to law school, and now lives in London with her wife. Bonnie was a champion boxer until she ran to LA after a devastating loss. Nicky was the sweet one everyone loved. She wasn't the best at anything in particular, but she was so well-loved by everyone who met her. Lucky was the baby who left home at 15 for a modeling career.

Avery, Bonnie and Lucky are all fighting their own battles when the one year anniversary of Nicky's death arrives. Eventually the women make their way to the family apartment and must reconcile with the truth about Nicky and about themselves.

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In the prologue of this book, a line has stayed with me : True sisterhood, the kind where you grew fingernails in the same womb, were pushed screaming through identical birth canals, is not the same as friendship.

As the fourth of five sisters, I was drawn to the complicated relationships Coco Mellors was able to capture with a raw realness. It's painful dealing with sisters. You fall into the same roles that you always have the minute you are all together. I still do it with my own. Old memories of fights still linger. The Blue sisters are still the same little girls who had to protect each other their entire life. They all are addicts - of a variety of things.

I found this story to be painful and beautiful at the same time. The grief bleeds off the page and you can't help but hope the women will each get over themselves and connect to honor their fallen sister. I could read another book about the years in between because the characters created are all imperfect and growing. Mellors has done with again with Blue Sisters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.

This is not my typical read, as I most often like to lose myself in a low stakes romance or easy mystery, but I am so glad I received this arc and had the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone here. I was absolutely hooked from the very first page. There is something uniquely tragic about the fellowship of sisterhood that Mellors captures so honestly. I will be thinking about this one for a long time.

I knew this would be a favorite before I even reached the halfway mark. My favorite thing a writer can do is articulate a feeling I've never been able to express myself—and Coco Mellors managed to do that on nearly every page of Blue Sisters. The writing is so succinct, beautiful, and honest; each word chosen with the utmost care. She knows exactly where to place humor to lighten the mood, yet still make it feel natural. Mellors takes what seems like an ordinary scene and gives it so much weight and meaning. The novel is an incredible exploration of sisterhood, grief, addiction, generational trauma, and what it truly means to be a person struggling. I loved that we met the characters where they were and gradually came to know them so intimately as they fell apart and eventually pulled themselves back together. They were so carefully crafted that it felt like reading a memoir; I almost wanted to google them to see where they are now. I'll truly never forget the Blue Sisters.

Blue Sisters is an exploration of sisterhood, estranged family dynamics, and the impacts of addiction. Coco Mellors portrays the lives of three young women, Lucky, Avery, and Bonnie, who are grappling with the loss of their beloved sister Nicole, and the aftermath of enduring their turbulent childhood marked by substance abuse. We are invited into the women’s innermost thoughts and fears throughout the novel, and we experience the dysfunctional modes in which they slowly self-destruct, while attempting to rebuild their tenuous connection. With a contemplative pen, Mellors examines grief and the feelings of regret and guilt one often feels after the death of a loved-one.
This story changed and healed parts of me that I’d long forgotten and buried deep within me. The desire to be close to one’s sisters while simultaneously wanting to carve out an individual identity is something many women will relate to. After reading I felt a keen awareness that love and pain must coexist, and it’s impossible to have one without the other. The things we love can cause us to hurt, and the presence of pain aids us in loving more deeply. Mellors convinces us that the love of one’s kin carries beyond the physical plane, and that a bond forged between sisters transcends life and death.

first of all, thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review! i was really excited to get approved for this one — i loved cleopatra & frankenstein, and the blue sisters did not disappoint.

this book was beautiful and sad and equal parts heartwrenching and heartwarming. i've grown tired of comparisons to other books unless deliberately stated by the author, because i think to call this a version of little women means to cast it in the shadow of something it isn't. like, yes, it's a story about four sisters and their bonds — but those kinds of comparisons always come with the expectation that the characters and relationships will be similar, and that isn't the case here.

which is great, because this book is wonderful all on its own. as with cleopatra & frankenstein, the writing is beautiful. i also found the characters, while often unlikable, to be that much more real and three-dimensional for it. the complex relationships between the sisters and their stories both individually and in the greater context of the family were at times really difficult to read about it, but compelling all the same. i found avery's pov to be the least entertaining or relatable to me personally, but obviously she is a crucial and necessary part of the book that makes the story full.

overall, this was a standout for me. i'm sad now but i'm also not? bittersweet is probably the word. in a really beautiful way.

This is a tender, yet deeply tragic book about three remarkable sisters trying to move on from the death of their other sister. I have brothers, only one of which I grew up with, so I was drawn to this book with a sense of longing. I adore stories about the bonds of sisters and this book holds nothing back.

The Blue sisters are each unique in their own way. Avery, a former addict, turned her life around and became a lawyer. Bonnie, once a champion boxer, now works as a bouncer. Lucky, the youngest, a model with incredible substance abuse issues. Each of them is still reeling from the death of Nicky, even a year later. Faced with the news that their childhood home is being put on the market, they all race away from the demons in their current lives to join up at this apartment that holds so so many memories... good and bad.

Through snapshots of their lives, we get this slow build to the whole picture of each of the three sisters' lives, gaining better understanding along the way each of them. Their motives, their struggles, their triumphs. The way they deal with loss and addiction, the way they interact with one another... it all culminates into this beautiful story that I sobbed through. The desire for this book not to end was guttural. The Blue sisters have left a lasting impression on me.

Amazing and heart wrenching tale of sisters Avery, Bonnie, Nicky, and Lucky Blue. Coco Mellors delves deeply into dysfunctional families, addiction, love, and angst as the lives of three of the sisters appear to fall apart following Nicky’s fatal overdose. Each of the sisters feel a sense of responsibility for their sister’s death; believing they could and should have done more, been more aware, more present to prevent Nicky’s death.

This is one of the most beautifully written books I’ve read recently. It’s an emotional roller coaster with a happy ending as the sisters finally find peace within themselves and their relationship with each other.

I am pretty much always into a family drama, particularly between siblings, so Blue Sisters is very much in my wheelhouse. It starts with a moving prologue introducing the reader to fours sisters and then jumps to the one-year anniversary of the third sister Nicky's death. Avery, the oldest, is a lawyer living in London, married, feeling boxed in as her wife is pushing on their future of having children. Bonnie, the second sister, is a champion boxer who now finds herself in Los Angeles as a bouncer wondering if her emotions got the best of her when confronting a patron. Lucky, the youngest, is a famous model in Paris barely holding her career together as she takes more and more drugs.

The sisters receive notice from their mother, who they have a complicated relationship with, to say the least, that she is selling their NYC apartment. The same apartment that Nicky was living in when she died. The three sisters convene in New York as each of their lives is hitting a turning point. Intense fights and long held grievances come to light. Each sister is well-developed and I could understand how they each reached their current point in life. This is a great read. I had read Mellors' previous book Cleopatra and Frankenstein which I enjoyed but this is leaps and bounds better in my opinion and has won me over as a fan and I can't wait to read what she comes up with next.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

This book hurt me in a way that I don't think a book has ever hurt me before. I am the youngest of 4 girls so I related so much to Lucky's struggles. I saw a bit of myself in all the sisters. Each one had such a unique yet complex story. These are the type of characters that will stick with me for the rest of my life. I am in absolute awe that I got to read this book early. I will read anything Coco Mellors' writes. She is truly a masterclass. I have no words other than PLEASE read this.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

oh jeez, i’m hysterical crying from that epilogue…

when i read coco mellors’ debut novel i was intrigued by the chaotic characters but not necessarily impressed by them. why are cleo and frank the way they are? they were just weird and chaotic to no end, and to me, had no true growth

but her sophomore novel blew me away. sure, there’s the same chaos from her debut, but it feels more impactful? the blue sisters are self destructive and chaotic but mellors gives us the background as to why they are the way they are. not only that but they all acknowledge their vices and struggle to do what’s best for them in spite of the pain.

mellors writes sisterhood and life in such a beautifully impactful and imperfect way. i loved the blue sisters and wanted more, more, more. i wish we got more of nicky, and i think that’s the whole point — when you love someone, you take for granted all the time you think you have until you don’t have anymore.

The humanness of being messy. The messiness of being human.

Synopsis: “Blue Sisters” follows three sisters — boxer Bonnie, lawyer Avery and model Lucky — as they mourn the unexpected loss of their sister, Nicky. The story explores the journeys of grief, addiction, betrayal, childhood disappointment and family dynamics.

What I liked: Sometimes I forgot I was reading fiction, as the dialogue and journeys felt so real, relatable and emotional. I don’t have any sisters of my own, but the themes with family still resonated.

What I disliked: Not a downside for me, but some readers may dislike that this is more of a “vibes and journey” type of book, rather than a firm plot with a specific climax/conflict.

This book is for you if… you like great writing and want your heart to be ripped out just a little bit.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advanced reader copy of #BlueSisters.

One of my good friends from bookstagram received this book as an arc, and, barely two chapters in, she told me I simply had to apply for it on NetGalley. This seems like it dabbles in the litfic genre, and I have to admit, I am not usually a big litfic girly. I find the genre quite intimidating, but I didn't feel that way about Blue Sisters at all. It felt very inviting while still containing a lot of drama, conflict, and shocking prose. I loved it. It challenged me, especially as I grew up an only child who desperately wanted a sister for a time. This book showed both the beautiful aspects of having sisters as well as the gritty, ugly side that I totally imagine can accompany such intense love. This book left my heart viscerally aching at times, and at others my jaw actually dropped with an audible gasp. This was my first Coco Mellors book, so thank you NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for introducing me to another incredible author. I will absolutely be going back to read Cleopatra and Frankenstein! Review on bookstagram to come on pub date!

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
✨ Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📕 If you like ______, you’ll like this: Hello Beautiful; women’s fiction
📖/🎧 Read Type: E-book/ARC (thank you @netgalley, Coco Mellors, and Ballantine Books!)

Blue Sisters revolves around Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky, three sisters who have drifted apart in the past year after losing their sister Nicky. In addition to their grief, each has their personal challenges—Avery, a successful lawyer, grapples with the guilt of her impulsivities and feeling like she’s failed as a big sister; Bonnie, a former boxer, has retreated into a world of isolation and self-destruction; Lucky, the youngest, is a model struggling with addiction and a sense of emptiness. When their mother announces plans to sell their childhood home, the NYC apartment where Nicky died, the sisters are forced to return and confront their unresolved issues and painful memories of their loss.

I’m crying, you’re crying, we’re all crying. This novel pained me, but it is equal parts beautiful and devastating in the best ways. It is a master class on describing the complexities of grief and how that shows up with complicated family dynamics. Told from each surviving sister’s POV, the characters feel so real and their struggles and inner demons are palpable. It’s an incredibly raw story that leaves us heart warmed and heartbroken, which is the best kind of feeling to leave a book with. If you like hanging out in your feelings, clear your schedule on September 3 when Blue Sisters is released!

As always, please look up trigger warnings!
(Slight Spoiler ********* If you are easily upset by relationship strain due to differences in whether to have children, probably swipe left.)

#bluesisters #cocomellors

Whenever I start a new book I find that it typically takes me a few chapters to feel like I am part of the story and to form a bond with the characters. This is not the case when reading a book written by Coco Mellors.

I read her debut, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, and was amazed how I felt like I was immediately thrown into the story. Her second book, Blue Sisters, was no different.

This is a character-driven novel about three sisters who return to their family home in New York after their sister’s death. Each sister has their own clear and unique voice but also one that felt familiar to the others, which made me think of how it is with my siblings. Bonnie, Avery and Lucky are flawed and relatable characters and I was invested in all of them equally as they attempted to grieve their sister, Nicky, and figure out how to navigate this new ‘normal’ without her. The choices they made were often unhealthy or reckless, but I found it impossible to not remain empathetic and hopeful.

Coco Mellors has a deliberate and honest way of writing her stories where they can feel larger than life, yet intimate. Each sentence serves a purpose and this is especially apparent in the way she writes dialogue between characters. There were so many moments that had me in awe of the way she was able to mirror my own feelings and emotions.

One of my favorite books of the year and one that will be tattooed on my brain.

*This book covers many difficult/sensitive topics. Please check TW.*

I want to begin with saying thank you to @cocomellors @netgalley @ballantine @randomhouse for this beautiful ARC of Blue Sisters that I instantly fell in love with from the beginning.

Release date: September 3, 2024

Grief will rock your core and leave you to figure out how to balance yourself out again. After Nicky’s death, Lucky, Bonnie, and Avery were rocked by grief, addiction—of their own and in their own ways—and life’s memories, never knowing where to begin with balancing themselves out.

Since children, they struggled with their relationships with their parents. Seeing their father’s alcoholism take over his every being and how their mother lived in denial and left Avery to be the one to clean things up for her. Seeing this as children, it bled into them as adults.

Avery, the oldest, has always been a mother to her sisters and later struggling with an addiction as soon as she was able to finally live for herself. Bonnie, the second born, never touched alcohol or drugs in her life but used boxing as an outlet and the pain from it as her own addiction. Nicky, the third, suffered from her addiction with pills to numb the pain of her endometriosis. Lucky, the last of the bunch that packs a punch, numbed life with everything she could get her hands on which was easy in the modeling world.

When it comes to death, there is a before and there is an after. It’s like an ink mark that cannot be removed. Before Nicky’s death, these 4 women were inseparable in their own way, in a way that only sisters, siblings, can be and understand. After her death, there was a break, an ink mark that scarred their story.

I cannot organize my thoughts well enough to explain how beautiful this story was because in a way, beautiful isn’t even the word. It’s so raw in the descriptions and realism of addiction of all the characters, especially the Blue sisters. The feelings of grief are so exposed, you can’t help but feel like you’re sitting at the same table or bathroom floor as Lucky, Avery, or Bonnie.

Tears of happiness will fall from your eyes. This book is not all about sadness, grief, addiction, death. This is about the process. It’s the in between that no one talks about but many live through. The Blue sisters lost Nicky in such a tragic way, then lost themselves and one another. Then they found themselves. They learned they had to process their feelings, deal with their addictions, lean on one another, leap into opportunities, fall into love and not hate and anger, and more importantly, they had to let go of whatever wasn’t serving them anymore. They had to forgive even if they couldn’t forget, and “Go lightly”.

If you don’t have a sister, this book will definitely make you lay in bed staring at the moon, wishing you had one. It sure as hell made me do this exactly.

I’ll leave you with one of the quotes I loved. “They were not four, and they never would be again, but they were starting to find the symmetry in three.” (Ch. 12)

I will also quickly add this: Coco, if you read this review, I am always in awe of your writing. Thank you for gifting us readers with the opportunity to read your work and the chance to get little pieces of you and your world through these works of fiction and these characters. Your writing is beautiful and I wish you great success on Blue Sisters. 🩵🦋

This reads like a funky indie movie. Great aesthetic, flowery writing, mediocre plot. Yet another Little Women inspired contemporary literary fiction tale, with morally grey characters.

The book starts out really well, and just steadily sprints downhill, along with the characters' self-destructive spirals. It picks up significantly in the second half, I have to admit, and I do love messy family dynamics and emotionally satisfying endings. Since so much of it is predictable and has been done before, my judgement/enjoyment of this comes down to the prose, which is...lackluster. This book deals with chronic pain and addiction issues, and surprisingly gets it wrong here and there, but I won't judge this too harshly because it's fiction and doesn't peddle erroneous views, just overly rosy ones. This is pretty perfect for a travel or casual read, or just because that cover is very pleasing artwork.

Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC! Blue Sisters is being published in the US on September 3rd, 2024.

Nicky Blue was the third of four sisters…
at 27 she died from a fentanyl overdose when she could not get any more pain pills for her endometriosis from which she greatly suffered.
In this story, the family apartment in New York that they were all raised in is about to be sold by the parents who now live in upstate New York, and the three remaining sisters come together to clean out Nicky’s belongings.
The three remaining sisters all have thoughts that they should have known about Nicky’s addiction and all have issues stemming from their mother’s disinterest and their father’s alcoholism. A couple have addiction problems.
I enjoyed this and will take a look at her previous book, to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC!

After the sudden death of their sister Nicole, the surviving three Blue sisters find themselves adrift. Avery has secretly reverted back to bad habits, Bonnie has quit her career in boxing and fled to the west coast, and Lucky tries her hardest to outrun her feelings one party at a time. Even though this book is quite heavy, I throrougly enjoyed how it depicted realistic sibling relationships and still found a way to remain hopeful.

This felt like a deeply personal story in many ways. The author has been open about her own struggles with addiction and as a result there is a lot of compassion given to all of her characters, even as they continue to mess up. The ending also appears to have been inspired by life events in the author's life so I'm inclined to give a pass for an epilogue that might not have been necessary. Overall, I highly recommend this book. I loved the writing style and was very sad to leave these characters behind.

Blue Sisters • Coco Mellors

Thank you so much @randomhouse for letting me get access to this one ahead of the US pub date.

Stayed up way too late last night reading this & then kept reading almost as soon as I woke up. The characters of this book are so complex and well written. Mellors really did a fantastic job of capturing sisterhood and familial grief and putting it down on paper. Just an absolutely beautiful family story. Found it way too easy to get invested in their struggles both personally and as a collective.

These sisters spent their years growing up, taking care of one another although it seems like they hardly noticed they were doing it. And seeing them come back together after the loss of one of their own was special. But also highlighted all the unique ways one might choose to grieve a loved one.

Made me grateful my own sister calls every day and that we’re almost always texting (even though I’m certain she’s cringing if she’s reading this).

Out already elsewhere but US pub date is Sept 3, 2024