Coral by Sara Ella
YA Contemporary. 384 Pages. 5 Stars
Synopsis:
There is more than one way to drown.
Coral has always been different, standing out from her mermaid sisters in a society where blending in is key. Worse yet, she fears she has been afflicted with the dreaded Disease, said to be carried by humans—emotions. Can she face the darkness long enough to surface in the light?
Above the sea, Brooke has nothing left to give. Depression and anxiety have left her feeling isolated. Forgotten. The only thing she can rely on is the numbness she finds within the cool and comforting ocean waves. If only she weren’t stuck at Fathoms—a new group therapy home that promises a second chance at life. But what’s the point of living if her soul is destined to bleed?
Merrick may be San Francisco’s golden boy, but he wants nothing more than to escape his controlling father. When his younger sister’s suicide attempt sends Merrick to his breaking point, escape becomes the only option. If he can find their mom, everything will be made right again—right?
When their worlds collide, all three will do whatever it takes to survive, and Coral might even catch a prince in the process. But what—and who—must they leave behind for life to finally begin?
Taking a new twist on Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved—yet tragic—fairy tale, Coral explores mental health from multiple perspectives, questioning what it means to be human in a world where humanity often seems lost.
My Review:
This book has been on my to-read list for forever it seems. As an avid fairytale fan–and obsessive lover of mermaids–I absolutely had this book on my radar. And, thanks to my friend who agreed to buddy read it with me before Realm Makers next month, I finally decided to just do it.
So, originally I thought this was a little mermaid retelling. It’s not. It’s a reimagining. For those of you who are die hard fairytale nerds like me, just know that going in. I kept trying to figure out how the pieces all fit until I finally realized it was inspired by, not a retelling of. That said, I didn’t enjoy it any less for the reimagining. In fact, I’m really glad Sara Ella approached the book the way she did in regards to the original tale. She made it all her own.
In fact, there were only a very few elements that made me think of the original tale, and all of those I saw in the first handful of chapters. As the book progresses, it very much becomes its own tale. One that is deep, and in some places dark, though with this undercurrent of sorting through the dark places in our lives. There are some heavy topics in this one, thematically, and even a few scenes that directly deal with difficult pieces of our broken lives. Sara posts a trigger warning in the front of the book. The story deals deeply with mental health struggles and several topics such as suicide, unwanted advances, depression, and so on. But Sara handles each of these with the utmost care. She weaves a story that shows how difficult it is to face those struggles. She acknowledges the pain and grief and just…the struggle in such a real, tender way. It was honestly a beautiful thing to watch unfold.
I do have to point out, though, that it was hard to get into. The first several chapters made my head hurt and I wondered once or twice if the read was worth the literal headache. The pov and tense switches were difficult to hop in and out of, particularly Coral’s perspective. Her opening two or three chapters (but especially that first one) was just confusing. I really struggled to wrap my head around what I was seeing. The colors/sounds really made it difficult, and sadly, it didn’t really seem to be super relevant to the story. A neat worldbuilding tidbit, but it never went past the first few chapters (except a brief mention toward the end again). As pretty as it all sounded, it really made visualizing the chapter and following the events something to muddle through. The colors/sounds honestly seemed about as deep as the mermaid world went, which was kind of sad. There were hints of culture and a world under the sea I wanted to know more about, but I quickly realized that was not at all the focus of the book.
I did, however, really enjoy the other perspectives. First Merrick and then Brooke won me over. Merrick was almost an instantaneous click for me. I definitely related to him and his plotline was the one that captivated me most, until partway through where Brooke’s line amped up and I was invested in both pretty heavily. Coral took a little longer for me to come around to, but eventually I did. Admittedly, I pieced together the puzzle pretty early on and realized what was happening. But I can’t say I was disappointed by it. I second-guessed myself a few times and Sara did a really neat job of bringing all the pieces together in the end. It was enjoyable to watch.
The story has quaint small town vibes with the strongest of undertows that will suck you in. I very much enjoyed the read, and I would recommend it. But with the caveat that you read the trigger warning and know what you’re getting into. I think the book touches some much ignored areas in our lives in a truly beautiful way, and I think it can bring a wider understanding to those who haven’t dealt with these specific issues. But I also believe that we have all dealt with broken shards in this shattered world. Please be sure that you are in a healthy place before reading this, that you are able to dive into deep, dark places and not get swallowed up by them. The book shows the hope and light that comes from a long, persistent struggle. But it doesn’t pull punches.
Content: no language. Very little romance, though there are threads of the brokenhearted and allusions to scumbags with no boundaries. There is some violence, especially thematically, and even one particularly tense scene with a suicide attempt (though someone walks in on it, so the book doesn’t actually ever show the attempt). As mentioned, there is a lot of dark broken relationships and mental places. Please be aware before you decide to read this one. I’d recommend late teens or possibly mid-teens with parental knowledge (both in a healthy headspace and with full understanding of what you’re going into).