Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - 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

maddiebusick's review against another edition

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emotional 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

3.0

Content Warnings

eliseelk's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

3.75

A captivating story about 4 sisters, each with a complex and deep character.

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supermormongirl's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Content Warnings

welshgirlreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is one of those books I know I’m going to be thinking about for a long time. It gave me so much to think about and question. The characters were very real, all imperfect in their own way, flawed but with a desire and need for change. I loved the writing style and how each chapter focused on a character it helped the book/storyline move forward without you getting bored as the narrative was constantly changing.

It was brilliant to see endometriosis mentioned in the book - although my only qualm is that there seemed to be a few mentions of a hysterectomy and the suggestion that this would have solved/helped with the Nicky’s pain if she had of decided to go ahead with the surgery. A hysterectomy offers no guarentee of pain relief as endometriosis grows outside of the womb. As someone who lives with the condition I found it quite difficult and emotional to read in places and could relate to the way Nicky had done such a good job of hiding her pain from her loved ones. It would have been great to have had even just one chapter from her POV.

On saying this Blue Sisters is still one of my favourite reads of 2024 and will be recommending to others!

Content Warnings