This is a really beautifully written book and I loved everything about it. It struck something in my soul and I can't wait to read what Mellors writes next.

First, a story: Sometimes it's okay to judge a book by its cover. I happened across Cleopatra and Frankenstein (Coco Mellor's debut novel) by accident, and just loved the cover. I had never heard of the book nor the author, but the cover evoked a feeling in me that I couldn't shake, so I bought it. Of course I also read the blurb and was mildly intrigued, but the artwork is what really did it for me(props to you Gill Button). I anticipated reading it sometime this year whenever I was having trouble choosing my next book. Two days later, I finished the book I was reading and walked over to my bookshelf; once again, the cover worked its magic and I opened it to page one. I was in the middle of chapter two before I realized I was still standing there at the bookshelf. Cleopatra and Frankenstein is hilarious, spectacular, brooding, and painful. I could write/talk about it endlessly, but this isn't a review for that book.

The day I finished Cleopatra and Frankenstein , I saw that some people had an advanced reader copy of her upcoming novel Blue Sisters. I immediately set myself to the task of getting one for myself and had it within 24 hours. I hadn't felt this much excitement to read a new book for several months, but I was apprehensive about hyping myself up just to be let down. Well let me tell you folks, nothing to worry about here.

I don't want my review to be all summary, so briefly: Blue Sisters is about four sisters, one of whom has died exactly one year prior. It explores the aftermath of their relationship with their parents, each other, and themselves.

Mellors just has a way with describing mental states that is so accurate, I often feel like I'm being called out. Death and grief are huge themes in this book, obviously, but her real strengths are in the way she writes about the little feelings we try to hide, specifically from ourselves. The way we take on attributes of our parents and relive or repeat the traumas of our childhoods on ourselves and those we love, all the while self-righteously pretending we are better than those who imposed upon us these same traumas. The ways we internally deny our addictions and make excuses for ourselves, even when no one else is around to warrant justification. The tendencies we have for believing our own narrative is objective truth, and repetitively looping negative experiences over and over in our minds, refusing to detach and, therefore, not really letting ourselves know "the other", so to speak.

It's not a complicated book, but it's difficult in its unflinching exploration and portrayal of deeply tragic events, misunderstandings, and anger filled confrontations to which we can all relate. It's also filled with moments of love, mercy, humility, and again, love. Familial love. Romantic love. Worldly and spiritual love. Self-love. It's a beautiful book and I think you should read it.

thank you to netgalley for sending me an advanced copy of this book, it was such a perfect read.

blue sisters is a book that every girl, sister, and daughter should read. from the second i started reading, i was absorbed in the story of four sisters who battled everything they possibly could, grief, love, addiction, family, and so much more. i found myself relating to all of them in different ways, and having a greater appreciation for my mother and my sister, two of the most important people in my life. coco mellors wrote a phenomenal story that shows women and anyone who struggles with family and addiction that you can become the person you want to be and there will always be someone by your side. i am so glad that i got the opportunity to read this book. i'll leave it with the a lyric from the song that embodies this book, "you don't have to be sorry for leaving and growing up".

Could not wait to get into this after enjoying 'Cleopatra and Frankenstein' so much almost 2 years ago. This did remind me a little of 'Hello Beautiful' by Ann Napolitano - a four-sister family navigating heartbreak and tragedy. Beautifully and tenderly written, and relatable in parts as a UK to USA immigrant like the author herself, each of the characters finding their own way in the world again and back to each other after their lives have simultaneously been turned upside down. Devastating yet heartwarming in the best way possible & I didn't want it to end.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

This was honestly such a beautiful story. As someone who only has one sibling that is almost 10 years older, I’ve never had a family dynamic that involved much sibling relationship.

I found it quite brilliant to write this story surrounding loss and how it affects an entire family dynamic. The story was multiple POV which I usually enjoy, but I truly loved learning and hearing from each sister in this family.

If you love books about self growth and family drama, this will be right up your alley. I felt like CoCo Mellors beautifully wrote characters that were so flawed that you couldn’t help but relate to them. Watching them all realize that life is fleeting and that sometimes to make something of your own life, you have to deal with the pain you’ve experienced and learn from it.

I’m very excited to read more from this author. Cleopatra and Frankenstein is next on my list!

Coco Mellors’ debut “Cleopatra and Frankenstein” stayed with me long after I finished reading (Eleanor!!) and I was so excited to see a new book coming about sisters and am so lucky to get accepted for an ARC.

The Blue Sisters, Avery, Bonnie, Nicky and Lucky grow up in a small apartment in New York with their British mother and alcoholic father, with Avery taking over the parent role, learning about addiction at an early age. They grow up to be a super successful lawyer, a world-class boxer, an English teacher and a fashion model, respectively. Only Nicky ends up staying in their Manhattan apartment.

Soon tragedy strikes as one of them unexpectedly dies and the Blue Sisters become blue with grief of loss and their lives unravel and they reunite in their small apartment.

My sister was diagnosed with an illness a couple of years ago and living through with the thought that I maybe losing her was a horrible pain. I used to call her as a little kid my “little mom”, like Avery is to her sisters. This book had me relive the sadness, the joy and the unexpected growing I lived through during that period.

Like her debut, Mellors writes wonderfully in “Blue Sisters” about people who may be broken but can be found and also about the unbreakable bond between sisters where even the worst fights can be forgot after some teasing and most importantly about sharing laughter. I sobbed reading a couple of times so I’d definitely recommend this.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House and Coco Mellors for the ARC!!

Coco Mellors has once again written a stunning novel. Full of emotion, nuanced relationships, and grief, Blue Sisters brought me to tears multiple times. The prose is stunning and the plot had me gripped the entire time.

This book, at its most basic level, is the story of a dysfunctional family; yet as familiar as that plot is to us all, it felt different. Perhaps it is due to the strong writing and the strong and well developed characters. It had an excellent opening that pulled me right into the family. It was intense and kept building and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early release in exchange for fair and honest review.

I just finished Blue Sisters and I have to say, this book is so much more than I expected it to be. This book is unputdownable from start to finish. It is real and raw, and takes you on a journey of grief, addiction, strength, growth, and love. This is a beautiful ode to sisterhood; I did not want it to end.
Coco writes so beautifully but in an easy-to-digest manner. I absolutely loved Cleopatra and Frankenstein, but Blue sisters surpassed even that for me. This book had me laughing and crying on the journey that is their lives. We get a POV from each sister and that enhances the reading experience by far. What can I say? This has easily hit my top 10 books of 2024. This releases Sept. 3rd and I suggest preordering! I already ordered my hard copy.
Thanks NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this is advance, and to Coco for creating a tragically beautiful story. This will be posted to my instagram and goodreads. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Happy Reading!

It's only March, and I'm already prepared to declare this my book of the year. Blue Sisters is a stunning character portrait following three sisters a year after the death of their fourth sister. I knew I would love this from the first chapter - if a book can make me cry only 2% of the way in, that's a good sign. From just that short time invested into this, I was immediately hooked and immediately cared for all of the characters. With each sister having their own chapter and point of view, I thought the narration style was perfect for this book - it allowed us to see the internal justification for certain actions, and, consequently, how this action was perceived externally, showing how intention doesn't always translate with the people we love most.

This is such a raw book and an excellent portrayal of the human experience - definitely something I would recommend to fans of complex relationships represented in fiction. Grief was discussed so well here, and I loved the way that the story showed grief over time, how parts of it morph and parts stay the same. I don't have any sisters, but Mellors did such an amazing job of writing these relationships, that I felt like I could imagine them - I wanted to call all of my friends who do have sisters and beg them to read this, because if I was this attached to, I can't imagine the experience of reading it as someone who can relate to more of what is discussed in this novel.

Genuinely don't think I've cried this much over a book all year, and I'm so sad it's over.

Sisters. Loss. Love. Growth. This book explores what happens when 4 sisters become three and deals with the aftermath of loss. A gripping look at grief as well as the power of addiction, this book is a powerful read.

The prose was amazing, but the story fell flat. Instead of focusing on 4 sisters this book would have been stronger with only 3. There simply wasn’t enough time to explore Nicky or Bonnie when 85% of the story focused on Avery and Lucky. A story on the complexity of addiction is hard to achieve and I don’t think this book does well enough of a job. Removing the character of Bonnie and instead focusing on the relationship between Avery and Lucky after the death of Nicky and how their similarities and self destructive tendencies clash would have made this a 4 or 5 star read.

I absolutely loved this book, Blue Sisters is the story of four sisters who grew up in very difficult circumstances and, although very different, all have a very strong bond. It is set in New York City and London. The sisters have suffered the loss of one of the four due to overdose. Avery, the oldest, and seemingly the most put together has been the “parent” to all her sisters. However, Avery also struggles with recovery and another compulsion. Bonnie is a female boxer and the one who discovered her sister’s body. Lucky is a young model who is on a self-destructive path.
It is a story of love and how it helps people overcome not only their differences, but their difficulties as well. Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Ballantine Books for this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. Blue Sisters tells the story of three sisters, who are living through the first anniversary of their beloved sister’s untimely death, and their first reunion altogether since that time. We learn about their backgrounds, how their lives have changed since their sister’s passing, and how they continued to be affected by this tragedy.

I was a fan of Coco Mellor’s debut novel, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, and was so excited to be able to read this new novel in advance of its publication. To say that this novel exceeded my expectations was an understatement. This is one of those books that found me at the right point in my life and there were so many points where I read a line and would think “Yes, this is exactly how I have felt or am feeling now!” . The author’s raw descriptions of grief, addiction, mental health struggles, and so much more felt very true to reality for me; it was raw and real and captured so well the pain that comes with losing a loved one.

I loved the structure of this book and although I don’t usually like long chapters, I enjoyed the lengthy chunks of time we got to spend with each character in this book. The author brought you right into the mind of each sister and brought you to walk alongside her in her journey. This book was such an absolute enjoyment to read and by the time I was halfway through, I couldn’t put it down. I thought the pacing of the book was so well balanced, with enough events to propel the plot forward and also enough time to contemplate and sit with the emotions of the character at the time.

I would absolutely recommend this book to literary fiction lovers and those who enjoy family centric stories. I am looking forward to revisiting this story at some point myself and can’t wait to see what others think when it’s out in the world!

Cleopatra & Frankstein was one of my favorite reads of 2022. When I saw the author wrote another book, I couldn't have been more thrilled! Coco Mellors writing completely captures the reader in her orbit. This is another stellar read. Thank you netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After being completely enchanted by Mellor's debut, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, I was eagerly anticipating this read. And it did not diappoint. The rawness of the grief, the depth of the bond between sisters, the dynamics that went unsaid, it is simply perfection. I lost myself in the world of the Blue Sisters. Mellors has a way of writing relationships that feel like they float above the mess of the world. You, as the reader, are invited in to the intimate connection between individuals. In Blue Sisters, we meet a trio going through a deep and almost violent experience of death. Nothing else matters nothing else could matter. Only the sisters.

I loved the writing and how the author portrayed the sisters in this book. The plot was familiar but I like books with complicated themes and characters. This story had those elements. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

There is a lot here that Coco Mellors does well. She easily conveys the messiness and complexity that comes with sister relationships, and I enjoyed her exploration into the impact of family trauma and grief. Their prose is also very lovely and easy to read. My main issue is that I found it a bit boring. The concept of the book isn’t anything new, and when you’ve read many books with similar plots and themes, it takes something special for one to stick out, and this didn’t have it for me.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

I was really excited to read this book since I previously enjoyed her debut (Cleopatra and Frankenstein) and it did not disappoint. As always, Coco Mellors sharp and genius writing was phenomenal in here and it was such a delight. I was invested from the very first page, the characters were described and portrayed in a way that made you want to read more and more. I absolutely loved it.

Coco Mellors is a great writer of family. Blue Sisters exists in the tradition of the feminist family bildungsroman: she takes great cues from Austen, Alcott, and Bronte. Her voice is driving yet gentle: I couldn't put the book down, yet it retains an ease and simplicity. I think people are really going to love this book.