I love reimaginings of classic fairy tales. There is so much depth that can be brought out for a reader in a clever adaptation. This story is deep and moving and brave for tackling the issue of mental health within the framework of a beloved tale.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC so that I could provide an honest review.

Thank you Netgally and the author for the free review arc

I really enjoyed this book. It was the first mermaid based book I've read. It takes on a interesting concept with the human emotions.

I really enjoyed Coral. The story was sort of slow for me in the beginning, but it picked up rather quickly and was then 'off to the races', as it were! It's a tightly worded retelling and it really makes you feel for the mermaid. And the mystery of WHY she feels what she does. A good look at emotions and mental illness. I would recommend this book. 4 out of 5 stars.

This book is a fantastic, dark story loosely based on The Little Mermaid.
This quite rightly carries a trigger warning as it's a very heavy subject,.
It deals with emotional trauma and mental illness in todays society in a unique way.

“You are not nothing. And neither am I.”

This is a unique, achingly beautiful tale that I highly recommend.

I appreciate the author tackling a difficult subject and I really wanted to love this book but the writing style was very difficult for me to connect with. I kept setting the book aside thinking I’d try again later and would be engaged. Unfortunately that just didn’t happen. I was confused by the narrator a lot and had to go back and reread several passages.

I have heard many good reviews so while this book just wasn’t for me that doesn’t mean that other readers won’t love it.

Thank you @netgalley for my review copy.

I thought that I was going to love this book. And I really did want to love it, I mean c'mon, a Little Mermaid retelling with mental illness added in. But I just couldn’t get into it. I couldn’t relate to any of the main characters and I couldn’t emotionally attach to them. Well except for Hope. I was confused most of the time and it took me a while to figure out what was going on. There were many times that I had to go back and read parts more than once. I have seen some great reviews for this book, but it just wasn’t for me. I do think Sara Ella did a great job writing characters with mental illness. It gave me a look into the mind of someone with severe depression and illness. I will say I did cry a few times, and I enjoyed the ending. I still recommend this book because I know some will love it.

With a writing style as lyrical as it is heartbreaking, Sara Ella has crafted another fascinatingly unique tale in Coral.

Through a stunningly fresh take on a classical fairy tale, she delves the depths of loss, depression, and just maybe...hope.

To be perfectly honest, I struggled quite a bit with this book.

It was sad. It made me sad. But I think it is also a testament to Sara Ella's incredible talent that I am able to become so entwined in her stories. As I traveled the journeys of Merrick, Coral, Brooke, and the supporting cast that brought this tale to life, I was confronted with difficult topics and questions. I was forced to look within myself more as I grappled with what was presented in these pages.

I adored the characters. They were so unique and their stories so capturing. They were...relatable. Human. The background and settings came to life for me. The story itself caught me up and fascinated me.

But there were some parts of the book I didn't agree with. That I didn't enjoy.

The ending left me reeling, but at the same time, it helped me find a bit of hope as the characters work through lives broken and interrupted by the pain that is depression and all that follows.

The thing that made me most sad for Coral is...I would have liked to see more...God in a story that deals with such loss and pain. He is the great Healer, compassionate, and redeeming. He can take pasts beyond broken and still create incredible futures. So, in a book craving hope, I wanted so much to see more of Him and his faithfulness expressed.

3.5 stars

Content Warnings: This book deals very heavily with suicide, suicidal thoughts, and depression. It is fairly clean, but because of that, I would not recommend this book for younger teens or those with potential triggers.

Note: I received a copy of this book for FREE, and a positive review was not required.

I appreciated the sensitivity the author has for a difficult topic. There’s some intriguing scenes in this book. I don’t want to take anything away from that. I had some problems keeping up with writing style, but that’s on me and not the author. I saw her intent and vision for the story.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

3.5 Stars

CORAL is a story about a girl who is struggling to understand her world and find herself in it. She has faced emotional abuse and death and is trying to dig herself out of a black hole to find the desire to live again. It's an emotional story, but also sweet.

The characters in this story were each unique and likable. I liked Coral from the beginning. I also really liked Merrick, Maya, Nigel or "Grim," and Jake. The story itself has plenty of twists and turns. It also has heartbreak in so many different forms: loss, abuse, suicide, abandonment, bullying. Then there is hope. Hope brought by a loving grandmother, by friends (even when Brooke doesn't want to let them in), family, and even in a sweet romance. The relationship between "Hope" and Brooke, and the romance with Merrick were my favorite parts of this story.

There were a few things that didn't quite work for me in this book. I thought the transitions in the story felt a little abrupt. I don't like it when I can't trust the narrator and this was one of those types of stories. Not all is at it seems and isn't explained until almost the end. There were several things I figured out early on, but I couldn't always trust the story because things were presented inconsistently. For some readers this may not be an issue for them, but for me it was a bit jarring. I also felt some of the counseling parts were a little too much and should have been weaved through the story better instead of feeling like I was sitting through a counseling session.

In the end, was it what I wished for? Overall, this is an enjoyable story. It's also a difficult one as these characters wade through depression and face some pretty tough things in their lives. It's a story that I think many teens could benefit from and give them a perspective on those who suffer from depression or have their own issues to work through. In this way, it is a poignant tale and a unique reimagining of The Little Mermaid.

Content: Some emotional abuse, bullying, references to suicide, and innuendo.
Source: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through the Fantastic Flying Book Club, which did not require a positive review. All opinions are my own.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

3.5-4 stars. I thought this was an easy read that tackled a tough subject matter. I had some suspicions on how things may play out but I was surprised by one of the character revelations at the end. The transition to the revelation was a bit confusing in parts and I found myself having to re-read some parts to fully understand it.

I am so ridiculously confused about how I feel about Coral.

On one hand I loved the journey of one of the characters through their mental health journey. It was a moving narrative that could have been a beautiful contemporary novel. Alas from the beginning this character was portrayed as a mermaid which seemed like a fantastical plot device that is mostly ignored after around 15%.

I really enjoyed the character of Merrick because he felt like the only fully fleshed out persona of the MC's. He is confused and sweet and thinks hes doing the right thing. I love misguided youth so this guy is right down my alley.

Brooke's character felt exactly like that, a character. I really did not like her nor did i attempt to understand her for she feels unfinished. Ultimately her presence has caused me to reduce the rating because although she could be a great addition to the cast, her tale was vague and caused me endless confusion throughout.

OVerall it wasn't a 'bad' novel per se, it just felt unfinished and like it had a crisis of identity with its mish mash of contemporary and fantasy

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
PLOT: I really enjoyed the idea of this story. The idea plays off of Hans Christian Anderson's "The Little Mermaid", only not quite. The hint to The Little Mermaid is what piqued my interest in reading this story. I was not disappointed, I was enthralled. Many fairy tales that we know today have been rewritten so that there is a happy ending or to show that things always work out for the hero/heroine. This story, Coral, may have you trying to figure things out all the way to the ending.
Of course there is a love story, most all fiction books have that element. Unlike fairy tales of the modern era, the girl doesn't immediately throw herself at the boy. I appreciate that. There is a lot of mental health enlightenment in the story and I feel like this can be a good book to open up discussion. I would not just throw this book at my teen and say enjoy. The story emphasizes the truth that mental illness is a disease.
While the main character of the story works through rejection and abandonment, she is also afraid to trust anyone. She experiences shocking tragedy and is sent away to live with somebody else. While she is going through the struggles she becomes mistrusting and one could even say bitter. She pushes everyone that does care away, finding herself Then just as things are looking better, tragedy strikes again. Will she get her fairy tale ending? Will she succumb to depression and anxiety?
Coral - a mermaid that just doesn't quite fit in with her family, or perhaps it's with the society her family is a part of. On top of that, it appears she may very well be infected with the dreaded... Disease. This disease looks like emotions to humans, but to a mermaid can be fatal.
Brooke - a girl that lives in a group therapy home. She is fighting depression and anxiety while attempting to push everyone around her away.
Merrick - seemingly the guy that has it made, but he rebels against the expected. He believes he knows what is really going on in his family, but does he? Perhaps meeting a girl that isn't so much unlike him will open his eyes.
WRITING STYLE: Once it is understood how the story is going the only issue I had disappeared, but to lay it out there... The story is written in first person point of view but from the perspective of three different viewpoints. It is clearly marked as to whose view, I just don't prefer the style. In this instance it does not take away from the story.

Overall I enjoyed the book. I did find myself having to face some of my own emotions and feelings while reading it. It is a good tool to use to reach out and to educate about mental health issues.

Imagine mermaids are Vulcans from Star Trek in that they don't feel emotions, that's basically the premise of Coral. The story deals with depression and mental illness very well in my opinion. It was a beautiful story, but it was just too slow of a pace for me to become fully absorbed in it.

While this didn't quite hit the mark for me personally there is a lot I loved here: the concept of this style of retelling, the multiple perspectives and – most of all – the way that the author handles mental health and trauma in a sincere, empathetic way. Coral is a very unique and potent reading experience. While I struggled to be fully immersed by the writing and characters myself, there is so much potential there and I can see this being a deeply important book to others who can relate to the topics it covers.

I received a E-ARC of this book from NetGalley.com. I really enjoyed this retelling. I thought that it was such a different take on The Little Mermaid and it included such important topics. You get to see Coral grow and turn into something new and I thought that it was just amazing. I loved the characters and how all of their stories connected in many ways. I hope to read more from this author in the future. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

I thought this book was a good look at mental health and the way each person handles grief. I ended up give this story a 3 star because I struggled to follow the point of view shifts.

**3.5-stars**

Coral, through the platform of a Little Mermaid reimagining, follows three perspectives through their struggles with mental illness.

Coral: A little mermaid who lost her oldest sister to Red Tide, a condition that mirrors depression.

Estranged and misunderstood by the rest of her family, Coral sets out to find the Prince she blames for her older sister's demise.

Merrick: A young man whose controlling father is definitely the villain of his story.

After his little sister attempts suicide, and their mother runs off, unable to cope, he blames his father for the entire situation.

When his father announces that he is planning to send his sister, Amaya, to a residential treatment program, Merrick disagrees. He thinks she should be with family and essentially kidnaps her to avoid her going into treatment.

Brooke: The most mysterious of the perspectives, Brooke is struggling with depression and anxiety and currently residing in a treatment center. She is the most challenging to decipher.

As a reader, you can tell all three perspectives are related somehow, as the storylines begin to run parallel but you don't know exactly how.

Once all is revealed, it makes sense and is a very heavy story to take in.

While I understand how important the topics tackled in this book are, I personally had a hard time connecting with the story.

The writing is strong and I know for the right person, read at the right time, this book could mean so, so much.

For me, the perspectives began to run into one another and I just never felt fully engrossed in the story. With this being said, I am still glad that I read this.

I think it is a completely unique way of exploring very serious mental health issues.

I urge you to read the author, Sara Ella's, review for this book as she includes a full list of trigger warnings. I definitely think that is important for this one.

Tread cautiously if you are at all worried that something may be harmful to your mental state.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Thomas Nelson, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I do consider this a heart-breakingly beautiful tale and appreciate the opportunity to provide my opinion.

First thing I loved about this book is the fact it gives you an actual understanding of mental health and a gritty look at how hard it can be to recover from the dark places it can take you.
But it all so shows no matter how dark it may seem to be there is always a light at the end of that dark road if you look for it.
This story and the characters are so relatable(via the fins)and it was such an amazing read with such good characters I loved every page and am so glad that the author shed a light on such a taboo topic.

Coral by Sara Ella is a unique novel that was complex and thought provoking . I have never read a novel that I was still thinking about weeks later. At the beginning I was tempted to stop reading it because it was about a mermaid and seemed a bit ridiculous. It is fortunate that I read further. The plot became crystal clear to me and the topics of family dysfunction, friendship, depression, suicide, and the state of mental health care we’re all woven into the story . This book is well worth the reader’s time and energy. Sara Ella is a very creative and talented author.

A very interesting concept that somehow lost me. I liked the overall theme but the execution didn't work for me.