With strong women and even stronger bonds between them, this story puts in perspective how seldom we see portrayals like this.

While The Reel Sisters by Michelle Cummings could be described as that one book about a bunch of women who enjoy getting together and fly fishing, it is so much more than that. Written from the perspective of each of the five “Reel Sisters,” there is definitely fishing, but there is also a lot of story in between as well. The characters of Sophie, Rose, Amanda, Veronica, and Melody share a unique bond within the novel that transcends just a love for the same sport.

Popular media so often portrays women as unable to get along because of “catfighting.” It was extremely refreshing to read about women from vastly different backgrounds who actually get along. Even when the women do argue within the book, the characters never lose sight of the value that their relationships with one another holds. The characters in The Reel Sisters felt so real that I did research to make sure that the novel was actually fictional. The stories of these women and the relationship between them felt so tangible that I became invested in their lives as a reader. Be prepared to laugh, cry, and possibly even cry from laughing with these women.

I genuinely enjoyed reading this book from the very first pages as we are introduced through the perspective of Sophie. The humor, often irreverent, infusing that first chapter definitely had me interested in reading further. I also never realized how many analogies one could make between the art of fishing and the art of succeeding at life until I read this book.

However, a few issues did prevent me from giving this novel the highest possible rating. Sophie, the character that the reader is first introduced to, does not stay entirely consistent from beginning to end. The pacing of the story is also a bit sporadic. It hops back and forth in time and moves incredibly fast at the end compared to the rest of the novel. In addition, there were enough errors in the text to detract somewhat from the quality.

Because The Reel Sisters was such a joy to read, I still found the novel well worth the time spent despite the errors and pacing issues. I do not recommend this novel to people who do not want to read anything with a healthy amount of descriptions of fishing or a plot based on the strong bonds between female friends. If you do enjoy strong female characters and are looking for a slice-of-life story with a huge helping of humor, I will borrow the words of the author and say: “what are you wading for!”

The Reel Sisters by Michelle Cummings is available to buy on Amazon or you can visit the author’s website to find out more about this and their other works.

Verdict:

READABLE