Book Review - Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

Title: Blue Sisters
Author: Coco Mellors
Genre: Fiction/ Contemporary
Published: 2024
 
Description: The three Blue sisters are exceptional – and exceptionally different. Avery, the eldest and a recovering heroin addict turned strait-laced lawyer, lives with her wife in London; Bonnie, a former boxer, works as a bouncer in Los Angeles following a devastating defeat; and Lucky, the youngest, models in Paris while trying to outrun her hard-partying ways. They also had a fourth sister, Nicky, whose unexpected death left Avery, Bonnie and Lucky reeling. A year later, as they each navigate grief, addiction, and ambition, they fins they must return to new York to stop the sale of the apartment they were raise in.
 
But coming home is never as easy as it seems. As the sisters reckon with the disappointment of their childhood and the loss of the only person who held them together, they realize the greatest secrets they’ve been keeping might not have been from each other, but from themselves.
 
Review: The Blue sisters grow up in a small New York apartment in a family with an emotionally absent mother. And a father who also doesn’t quite know how to handle the responsibility that comes with having a family. This is the foundation on which four sisters must build their lives, and it does not come easily.
 
As is the case in any family, dynamics develop between them that will last a lifetime. When there is a sudden death in their family, everything is put on the edge again. The great loss is palpable with Avery, Bonnie and Lucky. As a reader you get a clear picture from the alternating perspectives of these three sisters. How each of them deal with the loss of their other sister Nicky, sister number four. All three sisters have destructive tendencies that stem from that shaky foundation.
 
This is Coco Mellor’s second book. Her debut, “Cleopatro and Frankenstein”, I read earlier this year. And I really loved it. And the same goes for “Blue Sisters”. Mellors really knows how to write a good character driven story and write strong, vivid characters as well.
 
No matter how lonely they sometimes feel withing the oppressive bonds of family, there is also an indestructible kind of love. And I really loved that about “Blue Sisters”. I didn’t love the books as much as I expected to, it didn’t hit me hard emotionally. Maybe because I don’t have sisters and a bond with a brother is different than one between sisters. But, still, “Blue Sisters” is an amazing read that I would recommend.
 
Rating: 4/ 5

Title: Cleopatra and Frankenstein
Author: Coco Mellors
Genre: Fiction/ Romance/ Contemporary
Published: 2022
 
Description: Twenty-four-year old painter Cleo has escaped from England to new York and is still finding her place in the sleepless city when, a few months before her student visa ends, she meets Frank. Twenty years older and a self-made success, Frank’s life is full of all the excesses Clea’s lacks. He offers her the chance to be happy, the freedom to paint, and the opportunity to apply for a Green Card. But their impulsive marriage irreversibly changes both their lives, and the lives of those close to them, in ways they never could’ve predicted.
 
Review: Cleo is from England and does not have much money. She is an artist living in the U.S. and her visa is about to expire. She falls head over heals in love with Frank, director of a New York advertising agency and twenty years older then her. He falls for Cleo too and not long after they meet, they marry, which will change their lives and the lives of the people around them.
 
Cleo and Frank’s story is told from their perspective as well as that of their friends: Cleo’s best friend Quentin views her marriage with distress, as he might prefer to have married Cleo himself, were it not for the fact that her likes men. Anders, Frank’s friend, is handsome and has no desire to commit, and so more that one woman from Frank’s circle he has slept with. Then there is Zoe, Frank’s half-sister, perpetually broke and at first not happy about her brother’s marriage either. There is Eleanor, who works for Frank and has always been his support. And Santiago, a friend of Frank, who lost his wife.
 
Author Coco Mellors has managed to poignantly describe the vast, turbulent world that revolves around love. With each chapter, we see the perspective of a different character, about their life, their struggles. It is still, in core, about Cleo and Frank, but the other people we follow are the ones that shape their lives. And how their marriage shapes the lives of their friends and family members.
 
“Cleopatra and Frankenstein” is not a happy love story, it’s heartbreaking but beautiful. It has multiple layers and is a great character study. Very well written. Coco Mellors’ book “Blue Sisters” is on my TBR and I can’t wait to read this as well.
 
Rating: 4/ 5