Reviews with content warning for Grief - As irmãs Blue + brindes

Yeah, not for me. LOTS of reasons why, but I'll stick to the endometriosis rep. Spoilers coming up.

One of the sisters, Nicky, is killed off before the story even starts - in the prologue, I mean she literally doesn't make it to chapter 1. And OF COURSE she's the sister with endometriosis.

The descriptions of endometriosis pain were ok - quite accurate (though superficial). But endo doesn't typically kill people. So Mellors gives it the double-whammy and throws in some drug addiction for pain relief, and that's what kills her.

These are two serious issues, but the way they are casually combined is trite - very frothy, a Hallmark version. There's a weird part where they think her soul has been reincarnated into a pink smeg fridge. That's the kind of Hallmark I mean.

The whole story is about Nicky's remaining sisters 'find themselves' again in the wake of her death. It can be summed up by this one (bad) quote: 'Did Nicky not teach you anything? Do you still not get the part about the fucking fragility of life?'

'Bury your disabled' is a well-known trope. It's basically where writers kill off the disabled characters because they're only there as a plot device - to give inspiration or a life lesson for the non-disabled characters. That's pretty much what's going on here.

Nicky's life has no value in itself - she doesn't really exist in the story, only as a memory. And her main purpose is to inspire her non-disabled sisters to turn their lives around. Even in interviews, I've heard Mellors describe it as a book about 'three sisters' - she's erased from the start, even though the whole plot hinges on her death.

She's also presented as something of a martyr, the 'good' sister who, out of them all, least deserved to die *eye roll* - another disability trope.

There are also some weird takes on queer relationships, too, including this awful sapphic sex scene: 'It felt so good, so right... Not at all like with the boys before... Above her the Virgin Mary smiled down, and, staring up into her benevolent grey eyes, Avery had orgasmed powerfully for the first time. She'd maintained a secret soft spot for the Mother of God ever since.'

I mean... ?!

I could go on, but think I'll just leave it there....

Content Warnings

naomzzz's review against another edition

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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

5.0

maybe it was just the right book at the right time for me but i thought this was incredible. the characters feel so real to me now, i genuinely feel like i'm going to miss them now i've finished the book. the way the perspective alternates between avery, bonnie, and lucky was so well done -- i really felt like they each had such distinctive voices and i was inside each of their heads (even though it's all written in 3rd person). the conversation between avery and her mum in the last chapter before the epilogue hit me so hard i had to take breaks while reading it. i absolutely love these characters and this book. (you probably shouldn't have a favourite sister but bonnie was my favourite.)

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norilein's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

3.75

Wir begleiten die Schwestern Avery, Lucky und Bonnie Blue.

Sie haben vor einem Jahr ihre Schwester Nicky auf Grund einer Überdosis verloren. Wir erleben den Trauerprozess und die erneute Annäherung der Schwestern. Sie finden einen neuen Weg für ihre Schwesternbeziehung ohne Nicky als aktiven, jedoch immer bleibenden Part. Auch den persönlichen Heilungsprozess von Sucht und Vernachlässigung in der Kindheit können wir verfolgen.

Es ist toll wie die Schwestern als Einzelpersonen und in ihrem Zusammenspiel lebendig werden und die gemeinsamen Herausforderungen zunehmend wieder zusammen bestreiten.

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hillie's review against another edition

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challenging 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

5.0

Mooi verhaal! Gaat vooral over vier zussen die samen opgroeien en daarna elkaar beetje kwijtraken, o.a. door ieders eigen moeilijkheden met verslavingen. Vind de band tussen de zussen goed beschreven en vind ze ook leuk anders van elkaar en niet te klef, maar wel realistisch een goede band hebben.
Moest even inkomen in het verhaal en had verwacht dat het een beetje een cliché verhaal zou worden, maar dat was helemaal niet zo. Uniek, mooi verhaal over familie en ook vooral over zelfontwikkeling en een betere versie van jezelf worden met hulp van zussen.

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anna_wiskerchen's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If you have sisters, you need to read this book. I have two sisters, I’m the oldest and it’s so funny how a person with sisters just knows how to write sister relationships perfectly. I definitely saw both of my sister‘s personalities in Bonnie & Lucky, and although I am not Avery, I definitely saw some similarities between both of us, I think the big sister will always just take on that role of being the protector, while the middle sister is always the mediator and the youngest is the baby with little to no responsibilities even when she does have responsibilities. I think it’s wild how no matter how you were raised that’s pretty much how sister relationships are depending on where you are in the sibling mix.

Blue Sisters was so well written and I loved how each sister was featured with their own chapters through the book, it made it really easy to follow along, you definitely really had a pay attention to this book because there were times when suddenly the story was in the past and I didn’t realize it was in the past so I had to rewind and figure out what I missed, even though that happened quite a few times I really liked the incredibly smooth transition of going from present to past. (totally on me for not listening well enough, ha) It was certainly an emotional roller coaster from start to finish, you really weren’t sure what was gonna happen, or if any of the sisters would be able to fix themselves by the end of the book. They all kind of came to the realization that they had issues and they needed to fix at the same time and honestly, even though it might be cliché to end a story, that is so spot on to how sister’s minds work. You will always be connected with them whether you want to or not. It’s similar to “twin telepathy,” in a sense.

I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to reading more by Coco Mellors.

Content Warnings

melreadsstuff's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

I went into this as part of a book club, really expecting to not like it after seeing a number of people on booktok saying it was quite overrated. That may have skewed my perception, but I really loved it in the end! I got through it over the course of a few days, and I think it really beautifully explored some very difficult topics of family dynamics, grief, and partnerships.

Content Warnings

ilianacaballerov's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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