The Reel Sisters focuses on friendships made through fly-fishing. The novel teaches many lessons about friendships, kindness, love and giving. Michelle Cummings has a passion for flyfishing and acknowledges that her’soul-sisters’ are the basis of the book. The title Reel could be interpreted as’soul.’

Every year, a group consisting of women fly-fishers of different backgrounds gets together to escape. Fly fishing is their main activity on vacation. The group stays in a cabin that Rose and her late husband built. Rose is now the leader of the group and the wiser older person. The group’s mutual commitment and similarity of thought means that they support each other outside of fly-fishing, as well as navigating life together.

The novel takes place in Colorado. Each character is given a first-person narrative by the author, which makes them all equal characters except for Rose. Rose, who is over 60 years old, is presented as an elder woman with wisdom and a lot of experience. Sophie (above forty) is a farmer who runs a greenhouse business and empowers others. Veronica (30) has a husband and is a business leader. Amanda (23) has two children and is married to a military man. Melody is a blogger and photographer. The novel is paced so well. The story has no definitive ending because it depicts each woman’s lifestyle. However, there is an unexpected twist at the end that the readers will enjoy. I was saddened by the story and left confused. I was still saddened and confused by the decision, but felt it was the right one.

The story was so real. The story felt unrealistic at times, especially when the character narrated his or her own death. The author wrote down the character’s last thoughts, which I found to be off as I wanted the novel’s feel of authenticity to remain constant throughout. The novel’s sections are 1, 2, 3, then all the way up to 10. Each section begins with a fly fishing quote from a different author. Each quote is specific to the lesson or ending that will be taught by the characters in the respective section. The author also wants the reader to be able to relate with the characters by using their experiences. Fly fishing has many lessons in life. Fly fishing is a good example of using the skills and knowledge you have acquired. For you to catch fish, however, you must have the confidence to focus on your task and to trust yourself. Amanda missed her husband after he had been deployed. Sophie was struggling with loneliness. Sophie and Amanda both focused on their problems and were unable to catch fish. The more they worked on changing their attitudes, the better their chances of catching a fish. The author’s lessons were so clear and I was able to grasp them.

The story was clear and concise, despite the fact that there were many events and experiences. The book kept me interested and was easy to understand. The author educated readers about entomology as well as its role and importance in flyfishing. Fly fishing is impossible without a good understanding of entomology. Even though I lack the technical know-how to fly fish and my imagination is limited, I still learned a lot about tying flies, reeling and using those that are appropriate for the season. The novel is full of wit, humor and profanity. More than 10 words like “sh*t” and “f**k”, were used in the novel. I didn’t like that, because these words are not appropriate for the book’s tone and they’re also unrelated to what is being said. The book was free of errors. The Reel Sisters is a great book for women regardless of their demographic. Michelle Cummings gave a wealth information about where women and fly fishermen can find the resources they need.

dylanwest

Dylan West is a 33-year-old education blogger and traveler. He has a degree in education from the University of Texas and has been blogging about education since 2009.