blue sisters is a lot of things: 3 sisters grieving over the death of a sister, addiction in its many forms, complex female family dynamics (with daughters prone to perpetuating the cycles of mothers if not careful), and more. i loved getting to know avery, bonnie, lucky, and nicky as individual people as a result, but also as a family unit. because death is often the branching event that makes humans consider the before and the after in order to move forward there is so much growth to be had. i particularly loved the discussions about faith and how believing in something, whether that is a god or something else, makes the world feel less big. in mellors build up towards the sisters' acceptance of their grief, however faith manifests, the deceased can still serve a complimentary role in the lives of those who were left behind and i think that's a sweet sentiment. honestly, this sentiment is a perfect example of what i consider to be the best quality of mellors' writing, the ability hone in on the desire of people to be honest and outright above all. i hope to say "i love you too. without the too" more because of it too.

This book follows three sisters as the navigate grief following the death of their fourth sister, Nicky. We meet them on the one year anniversary of Nicky's death; Avery is living in London with her wife, Bonnie, a former world class boxer, is a living in LA working as a bouncer, and Lucky, the youngest, is in Paris working as a model. But they all find their way back to New York, to the home they grew up in, and soon find their way back to one another.

Mellors explores grief in such an interesting way throughout this novel, Nicky despite being only a memory is a firm character and place within the lives of the sisters and in turn the reader. The delicacy in which Mellors explores addiction and breaking family cycles is beautifully done. I can't express how much I adored this book. She does not shy away from the messier parts of family life. Each character was vividly alive in my mind and their struggles and battles with mental health and addiction were some of the best I have read in fiction to date.

I finished this book too quickly and it is unfair, I wanted to stay with the Blue Sisters for at least 100 pages more, but I know the ghosts of these characters will haunt me into my next novel and further still.

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors explores grief and loss, addiction and mental health issues, sibling relationships.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review!

3.25 stars!

I loved the dynamic of the sisters in this. It felt real and raw at times. I was really surprised how wrll I got invested in each sister and their own life. Also reading about grief, family dynamics and just sisterly love/fights felt all real and really kept me wanting to know how this would end. I can't really pick a fave sister but I really did enjoy Bonnie and Lucky the most.

Avery is the eldest sister, now a lawyer and married after drugs almost destroyed her life before she got clean and became the faultless perfectionist.
Bonnie was a world-class boxer before quitting, and is now a bouncer at a dive bar. The only place she had any fighting spirit was in the ring.
Lucky is the youngest, a gorgeous model and wastes her day drowning in drugs and alcohol and parties.
Nicky was 27 years old when she died, suffering from endometriosis. Life had been reduced to two days for the three remaining sisters: the day Nicky was still alive and the day she died.

It was easy to love someone in the beginnings and endings; it was all the time in between that was so hard.

Her representation of a messy life, of self-destructive behaviours, of how we cope, hide, lash out is beautifully, painfully realistic to read about. Not to mention her presentation of invisible pain and not having the language to properly communicate it.

This book is just beautiful. Heartbreakingly, soul-wrenching, messily beautiful.
It is incredible that someone can write with as much emotion and depth as this. Mellors has certainly become an auto-read author for me, even as someone who doesn’t typically vie towards this genre.

”Everyone's addicted to something. Might as well be something good for you."

Finally, I have to acknowledge that Mellors has such a skill at writing cities - she proved this to me in her debut, and continued to astound me in their vibrancy in this book.

READ THIS. Sit with it. Discuss it.

”I love you too. Without the too.”

Thank you to Estate Books for providing an archive of in exchange for a review!

I went into Blue Sisters with the expectation that I would love it, just not as much as I loved Cleo and Frank. I was wrong.

The ways in which Mellors captures the family dynamics of each of the sisters as well as their own struggles and personalities was so real and raw that at times I felt like I was reading someone's personal diary. The writing was evocative and eloquent, even if the pacing was a little slow for my liking in the last quarter of the book, but it was never so slow that i considered skimming.

A wonderful book that will leave you feeling both wounded and healed.

This book definitely shows how grief can effect us all in different ways as the sisters each deal with the loss in a way that makes sense for them.

Blue Sisters is a story of three sisters as they deal with the death of their fourth sister, Nicky. Avery, a recovering addict, lives in London with her wife. Bonnie fled New York for LA after giving up on her boxing career after Nicky's death and the youngest sister, Lucky is a model in Paris dealing with her own addiction issues.

I loved this book. It deals mainly with grief, addiction, sisterhood and even more and Mellors handles these topics so well. Her writing is wonderful, there was so much emotion in the story and it was perfectly paced - I was totally drawn into this book and raced through it within a few days. The sisters are all brilliantly well rounded and so real.

This was so easily a 5 star read for me, and it's made me remember that I have Cleopatra and Frankenstein sitting on my bookshelf still waiting to be read, so I'll definitely be doing that soon.

The story of the Blue Sisters, trying to find a way to cope with the loss of their sister, each in their own, usually destructive way. They all seem lost and are trying to find their way in life again. When they get together to sort out their sisters belongings a year later and start to reach out a little to each other they start to find a little hope. I didn't like any of the sisters at the start, Bonnie was probably my favourite. But later on in the story I also warmed up a little to Avery and especially loved the chapter when she visited her mother, who also had her flaws. I don't know why but I couldn't put it down through that chapter, I think I felt Avery needed her mother so much at that point. I didn't feel the same connection as I did with Cleopatra and Frankenstein, which is one of my favourite reads, and I love Coco's writing style, so I am so grateful to have had the chance to read this one before the publishing date.

This was gloriously claustrophobic. An emotional story about the bond of sisters and how we all struggle. Wonderful.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein was my favourite book of 2023 and I think this might be my favourite of 2024.

Cocos writing is endearing and heartfelt and, most of all, makes me feel seen.

She is definitely an auto buy now, this book is so real and raw. I’d recommend either book to anyone who wants to dip their toes into litfic (or anyone who is already knee deep in it). Mellors writes in a way that perfectly expressed what’s is needed in every sentence, without being too flowery or hard to follow.

The characters feel so realistic, each with their own flaws and strengths that would allow anyone to relate to them.

Incredible.

I love this book and did not want it to end. How sisters cope when the unthinkable happens.
Warm, engaging and absolutely heartfelt.

I don’t miss sleep for many things, but I started Blue Sisters right before bed, stayed up too late reading, then woke up early so I could finish before going out. WORTH IT!

The Blue sisters are mourning the recent death of their sister in their own individual ways. Avery is desperately trying to hold on to the facade of a perfect life while looking out for her siblings, Bonnie has turned her back on a successful boxing career, while model Lucky is partying a bit too hard. This book tells the story of their grief and how they process it separately and together.

The relationship between the siblings is beautifully and realistically written. It is neither idealistic or overly dysfunctional. The book’s rhythm is gentle but persistent and keeps your attention from start to finish without the need for major plot twists or dramas. An exquisite example of literary fiction.

I really enjoyed Cleopatra and Frankenstein so was thrilled to receive an ARC of Blue Sisters.
What a treat! I actually enjoyed this more than C&F.
A really lovely family drama, complex characters beautifully written.
5 stars.

" 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"
This book had me from this opening line and enthralled me from here  until the final sentence. 

I loved Coco Mellors, first book Cleo and Frankenstein and was so excited to get the chance to read this one. The "tricky" second novel can go so many ways, not for Mellors, who has triumphed with Blue Sisters. This is Little Women for the 21st century , complex , fascinating women navigating their own lives , addictions and issues and their relationship with each other after they lose their sister ,told with stunning, assured prose imbued with wit and warmth.

The Blue Sisters - Avery the eldest sister, a recovering addict living in London in a beautiful home with her wife and has a successful career as a lawyer. Bonnie was a champion boxer but after a crushing defeat she fled to LA and is working as a bouncer. Lucky is a model  living in Paris and partying  hard. Nicky, the fourth Blue sister, died suddenly a year ago and Avery, Bonnie and Lucky's lives have been in freefall since . When their family apartment is going to be sold, the three remaining sisters reunite in New York, to the home where the four girls grew up and where Nicky died , to try and stop the sale and to see each other again for the first time since their worlds fell apart.
What a read. From the different locations captured with such detail to these women. I loved these characters, I loved how real and imperfect they were. This is a book about grief and addiction and sinking to the lowest points and yet it's so beautiful, tender and full of big huge emotions and heart, so much heart. It is the best book I have read that captures the relationships between sisters since I first read Little Women. A book that made my smile, made me nod in recognition, made me uncomfortable and left me crying and hugging it. A wonderful special read.
Mellors is fast becoming one of my favourite authors, if you haven't read Cleo and Frankenstein, do and preorder / reserve this book, you won't regret it.
5 huge stars

I really hope her third book is underway.

‘Weren’t all addicts looking for relief for some invisible pain? Weren’t all people?’

This was my first book from Coco Mellors and I really enjoyed it. It's an excellent exploration of family trauma, specifically how alcoholism in a parent affects children in a range of different ways.

There were a variety of other themes explored, such as grief, chronic pain in women, the choice of motherhood, shame, adultification of eldest sisters, sobriety, and addiction. There was also some interesting exploration of class, with the family being one of the 'poorer' families at a private school, owning a house in NYC, but it being too small for them to live comfortably.

The characters all felt really distinct and real, and the locations also came alive in the writing. I really got to know each sister individually, they really stood out in their own way, with their own struggles stemming from a shared centre. These struggles felt really realistic, with real depth that you really felt for what they were going through.

There were a lot of messages I loved throughout such as the importance of being vulnerable and loving ourselves and others despite our flaws. Throughout I found myself highlighting a lot of sentences that resonated deeply.

My only small nitpick is there were a lot of ‘SAT words’ used. I had to use my dictionary a bit more than usual, so I was thankful to be reading digitally. I highlighted a sentence where a character says ‘it’s the usual palaver of American prurience’ which stood out to me as being overly flowery. This is entirely down to my personal preference though and definitely won’t bother everyone!

Overall, I’m really glad to have had the chance to read this, and will likely pick up Mellors’s debut next.

From Coco Mellors first novel Cleopatra and Frank I knew she was a very special talent.Blue sisters her second novel confirms this the characters the writing I will be raving and recommending her books .#netgalley #4thestate.

If you liked Cleopatra and Frankenstein, you'll love this. And I LOVED Cleo and Frank!

So I love Blue Sisters too, but with some minor reservations:

- Despite having a larger cast than Cleo and Frank, the range of voices is much more similar and muted, whereas in her earlier book I enjoyed the chapters written, say, from the perspective of a gay European guy in New York and Frank's neurotic Mary Gaitskill style co-worker at the ad agency who has a massive crush on him. In this case, the story was told in the third person and the sisters' voice were quite similar, which was a bit of a missed opportunity given the author's talent for ventriloquism.

- It also trod over some of the material from Cleo and Frank about addiction, as all the sisters have a predisposition to drugs and alcohol- with the exception of second-eldest Bonnie, whose addictions are to boxing and her coach (think Million Dollar Baby with a happier ending). As the author seems to acknowledge towards the end of the book, there's not much to say about addiction that hasn't already been said, and sometimes you can almost sense her rummaging around for a fresh insight.

What I liked: the great depictions of Hampstead and oldest sister Avery's house (if she doesn't want it, I'll have it)! plus Avery in general, and her surprise fling with a young performance poet. Wonder if he's based on anyone I know?

A solid read, with some transcendental moments that's sure to win Coco Mellors well-deserved new fans!

Many thanks to Fourth Estate and NetGalley for this ARC.

Such a moving, heartfelt, realistic exploration of sisterhood, loss and grief.

The story follows Blue sisters, Avery, Bonnie and Lucky, as they try to move through life after the loss of their sister Nicky.

Each sister was so different and unique, each dealing with their own struggles, carrying around their pain and dealing with it by taking it out on themselves. It was so easy for me to fall in love with these sisters, to care for them and want to see them thrive and be happy. It is so painfully clear that Nicky was the glue keeping them together, and that they now have to find a way to work without her there. Their stories are seamlessly intertwined, showing how deep their bond is, but also what unifies and sets them apart.

The themes of sisterhood, addiction, and grief are explored so beautifully and with such deep care. The prose was incredible, giving life to such raw, all consuming emotions; I felt pulled right into the story, walking through everything that was happening with them. I genuinely feel like New York was almost a character of its own in the story, as the city that saw them through life from the very beginning, and that, eventually, brings them back together.

So much of this book resonated with me, and I found myself crying over it many times in the short time it took me to get through it. The way it managed to capture so much while following on such a short period of time really is something I appreciated. There's so much I cannot even put into words, but this book and these characters will surely stay with me for a very, very long time.

Huge thanks to 4th Estate & Netgalley for providing me with the eARC in exchange for my honest review!