"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? 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."
Loved this one! A must read if you have sisters, even though I couldn't relate to every dynamic described. Sisterhood, family, birth order, and addiction are major themes throughout this book.
The book is very character driven and I loved each Blue sister and her individual story. Absolutely loved the ending.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Coco Mellors delivers an achingly beautiful and deeply impactful novel with Blue Sisters, a story of grief, sisterhood, and self-destruction wrapped in prose that deeply hits the heart. Following the sudden death of their youngest sister, Nicky, the remaining Blue sisters—Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky—navigate their fractured relationships and the ghosts of their past while attempting to find meaning in a world where Nicky no longer exists. I enjoyed seeing the experience from each of the sisters perspectives.

Mellors masterfully captures the nonlinear process of loss—the way it pulls people together even as it threatens to tear them apart. The sisters are each grappling with their own versions of grief: Lucky, spiraling into chaos and partying amongst models; Bonnie, trying to keep it all together but drowning under the weight of responsibility and finding her footing in the fighting ring; and Avery, sharp-edged and lost, searching for something she can’t quite name while feeling pressure being the eldest sister. The novel doesn't just explore how we mourn those who have passed, but how we mourn the people we once were, the versions of ourselves we can’t seem to reclaim.

Bonnie and Avery stood out to me the most, perhaps because they feel the most like home—Bonnie, with her quiet resilience and the way she shoulders burdens no one asks her to carry, and Avery, raw and reckless, constantly seeking an escape that never quite satisfies. Their struggles feel deeply human, their flaws so painfully real that at times, it’s almost too much to bear. Yet Mellors doesn’t judge them—she lets them exist in all their contradictions, giving them space to fall apart and, maybe, piece themselves back together.

What makes Blue Sisters exceptional isn’t just its raw portrayal of grief, but its ability to find beauty in the wreckage and to lean on family in the midst of it. Mellors’ writing is both sharp and lyrical, filled with moments that feel like gut punches and others that make you pause just to take them in. It’s a novel about love, about survival, about how family is both a wound and a lifeline.

This book broke me and put me back together again. A stunning, unforgettable read.

A moving story of sisterhood and frank exploration of addiction.

Blue Sisters follows sisters Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky a year after the death of their sister Nikki. As they process their grief, their struggles with addiction take center stage as they return to their New York home for the first time since Nikki's passing. Each sister is fully fleshed out, each of their stories strong enough to stand to their own. But it's when they all come together that the story truly shines, that despite their vastly different lives and personalities, they all must unite to overcome the hardships they face. While often painful to witness the choices they make, there's still hope and light in the darkest of places, and each sister brings a unique perspective to complicated aftermath of the loss of a loved one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC.

Raw thoughts ahead!

This was a beautiful and realistic portrait of sisterhood. While I don’t have any sisters myself, I could still connect with the bond that Mellors conveyed between her characters.

I think there were bits that felt overwritten - Avery’s perspective in particular. I didn’t find her as intriguing as I think her character’s background lended itself to. I wanted to know more about her addiction and recovery, but a lot of her chapters felt a bit fluffy and unfocused (compared to Lucky’s and Bonnie’s)

The ending was very well done. It was wholesome and reflective and scratched the literary itch I was yearning for.

Mellors’ writing overall was very readable! For a book >400 pages, it read quickly 75% of the time. I’m excited to pick up her debut novel!

***Book Review***
This one has been out for a bit and was a recent #bookofthemonth pick a few months ago. I wanted to let my thoughts of this book sink in a little before posting my review. I was immediately drawn to it as the complex dynamics of 4 sisters is not lost on me. I am one of 4 sisters myself. This novel was no different. This is more a character study, than plot driven albeit there are definitely many challenges these sisters face both internally, within relationships and amongst each other. Life certainly isn’t a fairytale for these sisters navigating young adult hood and all the hurdles that come with figuring yourself out. I saw a little bit of myself in each of these sisters. By the end I was craving a little light and thankfully the author delivered yet, realistically. #netgalley #bookreview #bluesisters #cocomellors

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was heartbreaking in the BEST way. I was attached emotionally to all of the sisters immediately and hooked from the start. I felt their devastation, their anger, their love and joy. I wish I could read this for the first time again.

I love these kinds of stories. The family bonds grow weak, but through struggle and time, they're strengthened. A pleasant read that leaves you in a good place.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me early access to this book. I was very excited to read this book. It was a slow beginning, but once it picked up, I did not want to put the book down. I also love the cover!

The reality of sisterhood…lots of drama, complexities of growing up, but an indestructible love. The story wrapped up nicely but was overall a little disjointed for me. I can see why this is a popular read!

Thank you @randomhouse and @netgalley for the ARC!!
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If it wasn’t for buddy reading, I wouldn’t have been able to finish this book. I was about 6 weeks postpartum when I decided to buddy read something because reading on my own was sticking and I just wanted to prove to myself that I was still there. That I wasn’t just a mom, Rahat was still there.
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This book was a really heavy book with a lot of triggers. It’s not an easy read. The story starts a year after the death of their fourth sister and how the other 3 have been coping with it all. The remaining three sisters are dealing with not only the loss of their sister but also how their dynamics and relationships were.
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I really liked reading the conversation between the eldest daughter and their mom. As children we judge our parents on their decisions or their behavior never realizing what their lives before us was like or what their hopes and dreams were.

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors is an absolute gem! The characters are deeply relatable, and the story is beautifully woven with emotion and intrigue. Mellors' writing is both captivating and poignant, making it impossible to put down. Highly recommend!

I loved this book!! a beautiful, real, intimate portrait of sisterhood, addiction, and grief. each character was so well developed and the writing was beautiful!

I absolutely loved this book. When I finished, I called my sisters and mom. Very well written and loved the characters. I recommend to anyone! Coco Mellors is one of my top authors <3

4.5 ⭐️ Blue Sisters is Coco Mellors' second book, following Cleopatra and Frankenstein. While I enjoyed her debut, I truly loved this well-written novel, which focuses on four sisters and gives an intimate look at grief, loss, sisterhood, and the complexities of family. Told from multiple points of view, I found myself rooting for this complicated family as they navigated their chaotic lives.

Sometimes you read a book that strikes you through your core and that's what Blue Sisters did for me. I absolutely loved this book and how each character was so well thought-out and designed.

I don't have a sister, but I know what it's like to love someone so deeply and lose them to death that your whole world shatters and you lose yourself and your purpose. Each reaction of the sisters and their coping mechanisms were so relatable and messy and gorgeous and painful.

I devoured this book and was so glad it ended where it did, but I could have kept reading it forever. Once it published, I purchased my own physical copy and became my favorite book of 2024.

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 5/5 stars

A story about sisters? Sign me up!
Except this turned out to be much sadder and heart-wrenching than I expected.
I read Cleopatra and Frankenstein by the author last year which I loved, but This... This was raw and emotional in its purest form.

<i> “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?” </i>

It really says something about the book when a completely character-driven story ends up being such a riveting read. It follows the lives of three sisters - Avery, Bonnie and Lucky - one year after the death of their fourth sister - Nicky. We follow their lives as they continue to live them, while simultaneously grappling with the emotional and physical consequences of what happened a year back. They are each a mess in their own way - whether it's sabotaging a perfectly curated life, becoming a drug addict, or running away from the thing they love the most.

When their parents decide to sell the childhood home they always had a love-hate relationship with, the three sisters come together in New York to stop the sale. But, the long-overdue reunion instead helps them start conversations that helps them grieve better and not hold it all in.

A beautifully tragic story about loss, mourning, dysfunctional people and sisterhood - this is a profoundly raw and gorgeously written story that will stay with me for a long, long time.

Thank you NetGalley and Random Publishing House for sending me a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

#bluesisters #cocomellors #contemporaryfiction #netgalley

3.5 stars! I kind of wanted more from this book. But I still thought it did an amazing job of demonstrating the complicated relationships between sisters and reminded me a lot of growing up with my own sister.

4.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley for this arc! Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky have been living separate lives since the unexpected loss of their fourth sister, Nicky. A year later, their mother announces she’s selling the family condo, bringing the sisters back together for the first time in a long time. As they reunite, they’re forced to confront not only their grief but also the struggles they’ve been hiding from each other. A heartfelt and compelling story about sisterhood, loss, and family dysfunction, this book is an emotional and engaging read that I highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors!

Gorgeous, perfect, literary fiction at its finest I love Coco Mellors. This is one of those books that makes me realize just how much better this author is doing this genre than a lot of others.