Review by Chikom -- The Reel Sisters by Michelle Cummings

[Chikom]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Reel Sisters" by Michelle Cummings.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Reel Sisters by Michelle Cummings is a story of five women, Rose, Sophie, Veronica, Amanda, and Melody. These women are friends and bond frequently through camping and fly fishing. Each woman’s thoughts and actions are in each section of the book. Rose is the oldest of the group and seems to have much experience in fly fishing than the others. Sophie runs a greenhouse and nursery business, which is doing well. She seems to be the planner of the group. She plans everything in her mind for everyone. Veronica is the President of her own company, which deals with coaching women executives to be leaders. When not travelling, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Thatcher, who owns a restaurant in downtown Denver, Colorado. Amanda is a teacher, mother of two, and her husband, Mike, who is in the military and currently serving in Afghanistan. He keeps in touch with his wife and two children, Parker and Jordan, via phone calls and Skype.

Lastly is Melody. She is a photographer and can play about any instrument given. The author introduces her in a very peculiar way. She is part of an online group called Suicide Girls and wants to do nude photography for the group. After taking the photos, she accidentally trips and falls into the river. Melody is frightened as the cold, raging river carries her downstream. Thankfully, the girls see her and come to her rescue. Consequently, Melody agrees to stay a few more days with the girls to learn more about fly fishing. After her first catch, as with the others, she is hooked.

This book spent a lot of time going through the daily lives of the characters. The author used dialogue, which made me identify with the characters and kept me interested in reading this book. Although I was not bored with the book, I must say the ending was boring to much of my displeasure. It was one of the things I liked least about the book. It was more of a tragic end than what I felt was appropriate for the book. Because the better part of the book was about the bonding sessions of the women and learning new life lessons, I felt the ending was strange for the book because the better part was mostly happiness and self-development among the characters.

The characters of the book are well-developed. I could see and hear their thoughts as I dwelt more into their lives reading this book. Congratulations to Mitchelle for her creative manner in which she created and developed the women characters.

There were things I did like about the book. It was interesting to read and mind-blowing learning about fly fishing and to see how diverse it was from other types of fishing. I did enjoy Melody’s hike that she takes into the woods. Her mission of self-discovery was fun and exciting. My best moment in the book is when Sophie remarked that “ I can grow any plant on the planet but yet cannot seem to cultivate a meaningful relationship with a man.” It cracked my ribs to tears and also made me realise how complex human relationships when compared to plants and animals.

The lesson I learned in the book was that of association. The way the women quickly joined the group surprised me. There was no fear caused by the association with any of the women. Neither was checking into who they were before extending an invitation to Melody for a couple of days.

Since there were no grammatical errors I encountered, I give this book a 4 out of 4 stars. It was a masterpiece and deserved a full rating from me. I recommend the book to everyone. There is a lot of humor that would be appreciated by most people. I believe those interested in fly fishing would find this book helpful.

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The Reel Sisters
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Honest-reviewer]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I appreciate the author’s writing style. Great review!

[LiLj]

I have heard a lot about this book and I definitely need to read it, thank you for your review.

[Connie Otwani]

I also enjoyed this book. Maybe the ending was the author's way of showing the dynamics of the women's bonding in calamity. Life blindsides us sometimes. Great review, nonetheless!