Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

Three sisters reconnect a year after the death of their fourth sister. There's a simple summary. However, Blue Sisters from Coco Mellors deserves so much more.

The Blue sisters were all special. Avery is the oldest and the most type-A...until she ran off to San Francisco, got addicted to heroin, and was homeless. After a year of this, she cleaned up, went to law school, and now lives in London with her wife. Bonnie was a champion boxer until she ran to LA after a devastating loss. Nicky was the sweet one everyone loved. She wasn't the best at anything in particular, but she was so well-loved by everyone who met her. Lucky was the baby who left home at 15 for a modeling career.

Avery, Bonnie and Lucky are all fighting their own battles when the one year anniversary of Nicky's death arrives. Eventually the women make their way to the family apartment and must reconcile with the truth about Nicky and about themselves.

----
In the prologue of this book, a line has stayed with me : True sisterhood, the kind where you grew fingernails in the same womb, were pushed screaming through identical birth canals, is not the same as friendship.

As the fourth of five sisters, I was drawn to the complicated relationships Coco Mellors was able to capture with a raw realness. It's painful dealing with sisters. You fall into the same roles that you always have the minute you are all together. I still do it with my own. Old memories of fights still linger. The Blue sisters are still the same little girls who had to protect each other their entire life. They all are addicts - of a variety of things.

I found this story to be painful and beautiful at the same time. The grief bleeds off the page and you can't help but hope the women will each get over themselves and connect to honor their fallen sister. I could read another book about the years in between because the characters created are all imperfect and growing. Mellors has done with again with Blue Sisters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.