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

The Reel Sisters by Michelle Cummings is a story about five women who have bonded over fly fishing and subsequently developed a lifelong friendship. Each woman is unique because of their differences in age and background but the root of their relationship is their shared love of fly fishing in the rivers of Colorado. The story describes how the women meet and come to know each other and how they were introduced to fly fishing. The newest member of the gang was actually saved from potentially drowning by the other four women when she was swept off her feet by a fast river current and carried down to where the other four women were fishing. The novel takes the reader through a shared time in the women's lives and how they depend on each other's friendship to manage life's trials and tribulations.

I would give The Reel Sisters a 3 out of 4 stars. Michelle Cummings does a wonderful job at pulling at the reader's heartstrings by her outstanding portrayal of the five women and their stories. I will even admit to crying at one particularly poignant part of the story. I also laughed at several interactions between the women. The women are incredibly relatable; their thoughts and situations are ones that most women will understand. The novel is well edited and I did not notice any blatant grammatical errors which makes for a very pleasant reading experience. I especially enjoyed the character development of the women. Michelle Cummings put a great deal of effort and finesse into making the women seem so real. Their contrasting personalities and backgrounds will draw readers deeper into the story; the readers will feel like they know these women personally and can understand why they behave and think as they do.

While I enjoyed the novel I thought that many parts of the story dragged along, especially the lengthy descriptions of the women fly fishing. I would think that most readers would have a vague or elementary understanding of fly fishing, such as myself, and because of this the fly fishing scenes can be unrelatable and quite tedious to read. However, if the reader was an avid fly fisher then I believe they may enjoy reading about the different flies and the fly fishing techniques that the novice anglers might not necessarily understand nor care about. Also, while the dialogue between the characters provides excellent insight into their thoughts and emotions, it can be overwhelming. I thought the dialogue in this novel was excessive; there is lots of dialogue that seemed superfluous to the story line and just added extra wordage.

The readers that this novel will most likely appeal to are those that are looking for a "feel good" story with strong women as characters that value the importance of lifelong friendship. Also, this novel will especially appeal to women who enjoy fly fishing since a vast portion of the novel discusses its techniques. The novel does use profanity and while it is an appropriate vice to create the characters, if any reader is offended by such language I would caution them from reading this book.

Overall, The Reel Sisters is a wonderfully written story that will engage its readers with its thorough character development. As an added bonus, readers will unavoidably learn a thing or two about fly fishing.

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The Reel Sisters
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I don’t have much of an interest in fly fishing, but I like that this story is about strong friendships between women. The great editing is another plus. I’ll have to keep this one in mind. Thanks for the review!

I personally didn't mind the fly fishing sections all that much, despite not having a clue about fly fishing prior to reading this novel, but I can see how it might be off-putting to some readers. Indeed, the book does have quite a bit of "fluff" that could be trimmed down, as you pointed out with some of the dialogue. Thanks for the informative review!

I read this book also, and- like you- found numerous moments to laugh and to cry. I loved reading of this eclectic sisterhood of the five friends. Great review!

Thanks a lot for the enthralling review. I have not read much about fly fishing but I am not sure that it would not detract from the overall enjoyment of the book. Glad to read that the characters were relatable.

Kibetious wrote: ↑14 Aug 2019, 11:49 Thanks a lot for the enthralling review. I have not read much about fly fishing but I am not sure that it would not detract from the overall enjoyment of the book. Glad to read that the characters were relatable.

I didn't know there was even something called fly fishing before I read this book. It is interesting though, especially how each girl has a different way of enjoying fly fishing and all that comes with it.