> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.tawnymagazine.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Three Books That'll Make You Want to Call Your Sister - URL: https://www.tawnymagazine.com/three-books-thatll-make-you-want-to-call-your-sister/ - Published: 2026-09-18T22:10:43.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-18T22:10:43.000Z - Description: Three novels, three very different takes on sisterhood, and one reminder that nobody knows how to love, annoy, and understand you quite like a sister. - Author: Andrea Carrillo - Tags: Books, TBR, Book Recs, All Culture My sister and I share the same blood, some of the same childhood memories, and somehow completely different personalities. We’re on different tracks. We have different interests. Most notably, I read 42 books last year, and she read *checks notes* one. And yet, she’s still one of my favorite people. That’s the weird thing about sisters. You can grow up in the same house, fight over things that absolutely do not matter, become wildly different adults, and still know each other in a way nobody else really can. Maybe that’s why these three books got to me. Each one approaches sisterhood differently, from grief and family secrets to generational baggage and the simple reality that sometimes the person who drives you the most insane is also the person you’ll always come back to. After reading all three, I had two thoughts: sisterhood is complicated as hell, and I should probably call mine. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/7f/5d7fd442-71ad-4570-8922-dc1cc32e7d8e/content/images/2026/09/blue-sisters-coco-mellors-cover.png)](https://amzn.to/4hzxP91?ref=tawnymagazine.com) Book cover courtesy of Ballantine Books ## Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors > *“A sister is not a friend. Who can explain the urge to take a relationship as primal and complex as a sister and reduce it to something as replaceable, banal as a friend?”* **What it’s about:** Who are we outside of those who raised us? Avery lives a picture-perfect life as a lawyer in London. Bonnie is reconsidering her professional boxing career. Nicky was a schoolteacher who thrived on hope for her future. Lucky is the carefree girl appearing on billboards and magazine spreads. Yet each sister is holding onto a dark secret that begins to unravel after Nicky’s sudden death. We can run and hide, but we all have to face the past, and the wrath of a sister, at some point. **Why you’ll love it:** If complicated families, sibling rivalry, and a bit of big-city glamour resonate with you, you’ll like [*Blue Sisters*](https://amzn.to/4hzxP91?ref=tawnymagazine.com). My siblings and I managed to dodge the dysfunctional-relationship part, but we still navigate our roles in the family, and I love seeing that reflected in literature. In *Blue Sisters*, Mellors weaves themes of endometriosis, grief, and addiction into the lives of her Manhattanite characters. She also artfully captures the experience of loving your siblings... even when you kind of hate them. Some reviewers gripe that the book leans too heavily on characterization and clichés. But *Blue Sisters* is literary fiction, so the characters’ experiences are the point rather than a traditional beginning-middle-end plot. Still, it’s a quick read polished by Mellors’ cool-girl writing style. --- [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/7f/5d7fd442-71ad-4570-8922-dc1cc32e7d8e/content/images/2026/09/the-sisters-jonas-hassen-khemiri-cover.png)](https://amzn.to/4dEXkTZ?ref=tawnymagazine.com) Book cover courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux ## The Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri > *“She sipped on one of her drinks, she tried really hard to look like a person who was holding a drink for someone who had left to go to the bathroom, she even started looking toward the bathrooms and then checking the time, to show anyone who was watching her that she wasn’t as alone as she looked, she had sisters, she had friends, they were just not here right now.”* **What it’s about:** [*The Sisters*](https://amzn.to/4dEXkTZ?ref=tawnymagazine.com) spans three decades, and about 650 pages, following the lives of the three Mikkola sisters and a man named Jonas. Each character struggles to exist on three cultural planes: the one they were born into, the one they grew up in, and the one they eventually found themselves in. Throw in a family curse, generational trauma, and a touch of electrocution, and you’ve got *The Sisters*. **Why you’ll love it:** Ina, Evelyn, and Anastasia, the book’s three sisters, are magnetic. I found it easy to relate to Ina’s control-freak tendencies (older sisters rise!), while also wanting to channel Evelyn and Anastasia’s it'll-all-work-out-eventually attitude. Khemiri, partly inserting himself into the character of Jonas, magnifies the anatomy of sister relationships and explores why we never really stop being our siblings’ caretakers, no matter how old we are. With such a beefy book, you spend a lot of time with these characters. And just like your sister stealing your clothes, some of *The Sisters*’ plot twists and character developments are extremely frustrating. But truthfully, none of it feels unrealistic. Life is messy, and that’s the point. --- [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/7f/5d7fd442-71ad-4570-8922-dc1cc32e7d8e/content/images/2026/09/yo-julia-alvarez-cover.png)](https://amzn.to/3Tzrfq1?ref=tawnymagazine.com) Book cover courtesy of Algonquin Books ## ¡Yo! By Julia Alvarez > *“I’m mad as anything, so I U-turn the car and drive back home and call her up and I get her long-winded machine that says she can’t come to the phone right now, to please call her agent. Like hell I’m going to call her agent to give her a piece of my mind. Instead, I call up one of the other sisters.”* **What it’s about:** Yolanda “Yo” García has just royally pissed off her family. She committed a cardinal sin in the Hispanic community: airing her family’s dirty laundry. But *¡Yo!* isn't your typical family drama. Each chapter is told from the POV of a different person in Yo’s life, showing that we may have more influence on other people than we realize, and our families often have something to do with it. **Why readers will love it:** [*Yo!*](https://amzn.to/3Tzrfq1?ref=tawnymagazine.com) isn’t entirely centered on sisterhood, aside from the first chapter. But Alvarez does highlight how our childhood and family relationships shape our decision-making later in life. If you’ve ever blamed a sibling or parent for how you turned out, you might see yourself in *¡Yo!*. This book is technically a sequel, but it stands perfectly well on its own. Historical fiction loves to see Julia Alvarez coming, and *¡Yo!* offers a compelling glimpse into the immigrant experience. It’s tricky to navigate your own lane without getting someone else’s opinions, judgment, and critique at every turn. At the end of the day, though, as mad as you might get, it’s hard to resist coming back to your sister. --- Whether you have a sister, a sibling who drives you insane, or simply an appreciation for complicated family dynamics, these novels deserve[**a place in your TBR**](https://www.tawnymagazine.com/my-tbr-has-become-a-work-of-fiction/)**.**