Reviews with content warning for Death - Sestry Blueovy

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Sestry Blueovy by Coco Mellors

566 reviews

aoifeprettypurplepolkadots's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

reverie_and_books's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

4.5

"They say you don’t know your principles until they become inconvenient to you, and Avery is proof of this. She is deeply principled and often inconvenienced."

I liked Mellors writing in “Cleopatra and Frankenstein” but wasn’t all in on the story itself. “Blue Sisters”, however, drew me in instantly.

It’s about four sisters, the loss of one and reuccuring addiction in the family. No easy themes, but easily read. The dynamic between Avery, Bonnie and Lucky was capturing for me. I really liked reading this book and learning more on the subject matter by the bye.

I’m glad to have picked up the second novel by her! Given my delight with reading about sports, I liked Bonnie’s story the most.

Content Warnings

isabellastafford's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book surprised me - whilst I’d seen Coco Mellors making the rounds on social media for her first novel and this new release - I didn’t dream I would take so much from this book. She explores addiction through this upper-middle class family in a way which feels both honest and appropriately pitched to her audience. Above all else, Mellors writes with a knowing intimacy about the singular privilege of loving, and being loved by, a sister. A beautiful story, I think the Blue sisters will stay with me for some time.

Content Warnings

e11en's review against another edition

4.25

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

gabrielastbr's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book had me gripped and tearing up since chapter one. It's a heartfelt and heartbreaking story about sisterhood, addiction, and grief. My chest felt heavy and my heart tight while reading because it tackles many painful topics and family issues, but I love books that make me feel this deeply. It’s sad, but also hopeful and sweet.

If you have sisters, have had parents struggle with alcoholism, have mommy issues, or if you or a sibling has struggled with addiction…this book will hit you harder than most. As an older sister who was parentified at a young age, I found Avery’s POV very compelling and it prompted some serious reflection within myself.

This is, without a doubt, one of the best books I’ve read this year. It reminded me of reading Hello Beautiful last year. The writing is spectacular. I will read anything that Coco Mellors puts out, but this one truly stole my heart.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the advance reader copy. This book is already out in the UK, but comes out in September 3rd in the U.S. Hope you love it as much as I did!

Content Warnings

nsebestova's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

hannah2896's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark hopeful slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I thought the storytelling throughout this book was interesting and I enjoyed how the sisters characters were developed, particuarly Bonnie's story. The final chapter was positive and uplifting, and partially made up for the difficulties and struggles the sisters faced throughout the book. The audiobook version of this did feel too long and quite repetitive in parts, and I got bored quite quickly, so it took me over a month to complete.

Content Warnings

oz2021's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

nialiversuch's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

bethantg's review against another edition

3.5

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The writing style here is very pleasant to read - it flows in a very natural way, where I can easily read a scene and feel completely caught in it. The characters are vivid, I can see them in my head. Unfortunately, there is very little that is realistic to me about them, as I have seen them described in other reviews - these characters, to me, are straight from a movie, not from real life, and I do feel that that took away a lot of the relatability and some of the enjoyment for me while reading this. Bonnie was absolutely the most 'real' to me, but her lack of development hinders this - not that she doesn't grow as a character, but that she remains a character, a list of traits, never quite becoming a person. This is most exemplified in Lucky, who we're told is "exceptional" without ever being shown how - I think we get two comments on her having skills - and who we're simultaneously told is much more than her appearance or her body, but also that she really is so beautiful and so thin, and have we mentioned her lupine smile yet? She is so uninteresting. For a character-focused book, especially one for which the focus is heavily in her favour (eg. a Bonnie chapter skipped in favour of returning to Lucky, and another Bonnie chapter focusing entirely on Lucky), this is unfortunately a pretty significant problem.

Additionally, the book feels like it lacks purpose. It's just a little glimpse into these women's lives, but why? At the centre of the story is addiction and the pain that this brings into families suffering from it, but so little depth is given to these discussions that I gained nothing from it.

Something I found particularly difficult was how Nicky's addiction and her death were spoken about. The consensus ends up being that her sisters couldn't have done anything, but this lacks volition. It just feels like a plaster being put on the wound. Because Avery and Lucky are both shown to clearly need support when facing their addiction, and they know that Nicky didn't have this, and they acknowledge that they noticed the signs that she was struggling with this, but didn't attempt to support her through it, and allowed it to be swept under the rug. Maybe if they had supported her, she still would have died. But they don't know that, and Avery's rush to accept her mother telling her that "you're not that important," even though the importance of family support has been so central to this book, just feels like the need to accept comfort from an empty platitude. She doesn't go through the process of learning how to live with such a harrowing mistake. She just accepts these empty words, which have been proven to be untrue, and moves on. So there was no emotional release at this climactic moment, just disappointment for me.

I still do feel that this has a special place in my heart because I love books about family :D

Content Warnings

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