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A review by jennyzreads
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I went on a bit of a journey with this book. I don't think I started really enjoying it until well into the second half, and it was only by the last quarter that it finally won me over. I liked the writing, it has a quality that is capable of sweeping you up in it, and I suppose that's what propelled me through because for the majority of this book I couldn't stand or relate to its characters, the four sisters (one dead, three grieving) at its center.
In a family prone to addiction, the self-destructive habits of the oldest and youngest sisters and the way they were at each other's throats whenever their paths crossed was so exhausting. Their middle sister Bonnie, an ascetic professional boxer, was the only one I came close to liking and rooting for, and by the end her story actually did win me over in a big way. I also liked the way the author wrote about New York, I think she captured its unique magic accurately and beautifully.
Now for the audiobook review. The narration of this audiobook is so whack, I don't even know where to start. The narrator is not American and the New York accent she tries to affect for the sisters is so preposterously unidentifiable, it drove me absolutely nutty. The best I could do to clock it would be to say she was trying for a sort of New York Jew, Yiddish inflected lilt, which makes zero sense since that has nothing to do with the sisters' identities or the neighborhood of Manhattan where they grew up. It was maddening. By the end though, I was listening at 1.5 speed and had kind of gotten used to it, plus she reads in a sort of staccato which eventually became more rhythmic than irritating. Overall though, really bizarre, except for when she gets to do British accents, which she's great at. I wished she could just do British accents for everyone, even the Americans...it would have made for a much more pleasant listening experience tbh.
In a family prone to addiction, the self-destructive habits of the oldest and youngest sisters and the way they were at each other's throats whenever their paths crossed was so exhausting. Their middle sister Bonnie, an ascetic professional boxer, was the only one I came close to liking and rooting for, and by the end her story actually did win me over in a big way. I also liked the way the author wrote about New York, I think she captured its unique magic accurately and beautifully.
Now for the audiobook review. The narration of this audiobook is so whack, I don't even know where to start. The narrator is not American and the New York accent she tries to affect for the sisters is so preposterously unidentifiable, it drove me absolutely nutty. The best I could do to clock it would be to say she was trying for a sort of New York Jew, Yiddish inflected lilt, which makes zero sense since that has nothing to do with the sisters' identities or the neighborhood of Manhattan where they grew up. It was maddening. By the end though, I was listening at 1.5 speed and had kind of gotten used to it, plus she reads in a sort of staccato which eventually became more rhythmic than irritating. Overall though, really bizarre, except for when she gets to do British accents, which she's great at. I wished she could just do British accents for everyone, even the Americans...it would have made for a much more pleasant listening experience tbh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Grief