bloomed's reviews
132 reviews

a really gorgeous slow-burn exploring grief, sisterhood, motherhood, and addiction.

blue sisters didn’t land for me quite as hard as cleopatra and frankenstein did, but i think that’s just a personal thing—for people who have sisters, i feel like this could be the book, given how vividly the familial dynamic is written! each sister individually is also lovely; they’re all extremely flawed people, grappling with their own secrets, but the way they’re written makes them feel unbelievably human.

the only con this book really has, at least for me, is that it’s a pretty slow burn; with the synopsis of the book being what it is, i kind of expected that the sisters would be together sooner and spend a little bit more time together. as-written, it did still work, but something about the mismatch between what i thought the structure of the book would be vs the reality did make the first half or so feel a tiny bit stretched out.

regardless, coco mellors’ writing is stunning, and if she writes it, i’ll read it and love it. 4/5 stars!!

and, as always, thank you to netgalley and the publisher both giving me the opportunity to read this ARC!

Content Warnings

Green Dot by Madeleine Gray

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.5

Another millennial malaise banger.

What this book does really, really well: Hera’s narration is pleasantly stream-of-consciousness, and so it’s very fun (and then, later, heartbreaking) to read. It feels extremely authentic, too; oftentimes books that are trying to write this kind of story, one where there are a lot of asides about pop culture and current events, come across as cringey, like the author isn’t entirely sure what they’re doing. In Green Dot, though, you can really tell Madeleine Gray has a finger on the pulse, so to speak. Hera is also—as a result of the authenticity of the writing, I think—an extremely relatable character. Not all the time, but enough that I felt seen by the book more often than I didn’t. Always a plus! So is the fact that it never overstays its welcome; it’s exactly as long as it should be, with a nice, quick pace that goes down easily.

What it doesn’t: honestly, not much. The only “flaw” it really has, at least in my eyes, is that it very much is what it stays it is. If you like slice-of-life stories about depressed, queer, twenty-somethings fumbling their way through the world, you’ll like this book, end of story. It’s very much for fans of books like Ripe, or My Year of Rest and Relaxation. Given how polarizing that particular niche can be, though, I’d steer clear if it’s not your thing! This book is amazing at what it’s doing, but I don’t think it’ll make someone love a genre or style that they usually can’t stand.

More...

bloomed's reviews 132 reviews

bloomed's reviews
132 reviews