Coral left a lot to be desired. I love fairytales retold, but the characters were too flat, too predictable. I didn't make it to the end of this book.

I might have liked this more if it hadn't been advertised as a The Little Mermaid retelling. I was not a fan of the romance and the three POV's were not my favorite, either. It was all a bit confusing until the end, and while I know that the reader can't be in on all the details the whole time, I feel like it still could've been made a little less confusing. I love a mental health rep book and wish that this would've focused more on that and maybe done away with the romance aspect altogether.

A very very loose The Little Mermaid retelling. Heavy on the suicide and depression, I loved the approach to that and how it came across. It was dark and hard to read at times, but I feel accurate. The three perspectives threw me and the insta-love didn’t work. I wish it would have omitted that altogether (weird coming from me because I LOVE a good romance).

First, I really appreciate what the author is trying to do with Coral. Mental illness needs to be discussed more often, especially in YA, and the way that Coral is set up, with the different POVs and the mermaid aspects is ambitious and has potential. However, I don’t think it was executed well, which is a shame.

There are some problems with the writing here, large and small. First, I never connected with the characters. They seemed entirely defined by the people around them, their surroundings, or their mental illness. The writer left tons of things unexplained throughout the book, with no hints or nudges that it’s a mystery, leaving me to wonder if she just didn’t think about it. For instance, Merrick hates his father, even jumping to the conclusion that his father beat up his little sister readily at one point - why? We don’t really know. Merrick’s POV never refers to some event that happened in the past, hinting that it will be explained, or even show Merrick’s dad being anything worse than a little distant. The characters’ reasons for their actions didn’t really make sense except to move the plot forward. And plot? What plot? I don’t actually care if books are plot-driven or character-driven, but this was neither.

The overall tone of the book is dark, but Coral’s sections earlier on in the book especially doesn’t really match the tone of the writing. It’s like the author was trying to make it fun and whimsical, like the Little Mermaid movie, but it’s just jarring in a novel that’s largely about mental health, suicide, and death. I felt like every page, Coral’s inner monologue would reference something about the sea, i.e.:

“...as graceful as a manta ray's glide”
“The intrusiveness of his gaze wrapped Coral's nerves in jellyfish tentacles.”
“The earthquake inside her bones rivaled a shifting seabed.”

A little heavy-handed. Coral’s POV also referred to her as “the little mermaid” about six times too many. I was most intrigued by the mermaid aspect of the book, so it was disappointing when those sections were the most annoying. Some of my gripes make sense later on in the book, but I still think it’s lazy writing not to flesh out this portion of the book, or at least hint at later revelations about it.

The story kind of gets turned upside down right near the end, and I had a big problem with it. Nothing made sense throughout most of the book about Coral’s life, Brooke’s history, or how their POV’s connect with Merrick. This gets resolved near the end with this dramatic reveal, and I honestly felt cheated by it. I’ve seen books do a plot twist like this well, but it simply made me mad in Coral. It seemed to me that the author just misled readers by changing details so that there’s no way they would guess the twist, which means it came out of nowhere, with no breadcumbs that could be followed from earlier on in the story.

I don’t want to complain about this book forever, so I’ll quickly list the other negatives:
- I didn’t connect with the romance and thought it was unnecessary.
- There were huge sections of the book that jump forward in time or leave out details (to service the twist at the end, I think).
- Side characters that could have been explored and fleshed-out were only given a cursory glance. I would have loved to know more about the grandmother and what exactly happened between her and - - Coral to strain their relationship.
- The mermaid/underwater portion of the book is heavily emphasized (cover and all) but was not really a major part of the novel.

Again, I respect what the author was trying to do here, but I really struggled to even finish this book, much less enjoy it.

I only got to 55% in Coral, please keep in mind that being said, it is nothing wrong with the book itself but an error between my e-reader and the file. It will not continue any further and just makes a white screen past 55%. Therefore, what I have read of Coral, it is standing at a 4/5 stars. With huge potential for a 5/5 stars.

This Little Mermaid retelling is so far out of the box, it takes its own spin on it. The three main POVs we view in this book are all so completely different; Coral, Merrick and Brooke. It goes from one characters POV to the next, and jumps from partial storyline to the next. I love books that travel through this way. You get all three character POVs and then again and again. Each time it goes around I have more questions and more guesses to continue throughout the book.

I cannot wait for this book to come out, so I can finish it and know how it ends. I have already pre-ordered it.

Title: Coral
Author: Sara Ella
Pages: 384
Release Date: November 12, 2019
Genre: Young Adult\Fairy Tale Retelling
Series or Stand-Alone: Stand-Alone
Stars: 3.5/5
LGBTQ?: No
Pass the Bechdel Test? (Depiction of Women): Yes
Trigger Warning: Lots of warnings! Thoughts of suicide, attempted suicide, and death by suicide.

I received a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Story: Coral follows three major characters, Coral, Brooke, and Merrick. Coral’s story is a very, very loose retelling of the Little Mermaid, while Brooke and Merrick are two humans whose paths cross after both experience the suicide and attempted suicide of a family member. They continue to meet while both looking for people who might help with their current situations.

When we start, Coral is a little mermaid who loses her older sister to “red tide” and feels increasingly out of place in her father’s palace. Brooke is a young woman checked into a mental health institute and has nothing left to give the world. Merrick comes home from a date to find his little sister has tried to commit suicide. He thinks she would be better away from their father, so he takes her and runs.

I don’t want to give any more away since the story slowly reveals how the characters are related. I wasn’t able to guess how they would interact, if at all. It’s a slow reveal, with most of it not coming together until about two-thirds of the book.

Likes: I think this book took a bold chance by centering the book on mental health issues. It worked most of the time and I became attached to several characters.

Dislikes: I have to admit that I got confused several times about what happened to who, etc. It cleared up more or less, but I think if I read it a second time the timelines would make much more sense. However, I don’t know if I would reread it. I’m glad I read it once, but I’m very picky about what I reread.

Recommendations: I’m hesitant on who to recommend this to. I think those who do not suffer from depression would benefit from reading from the viewpoint of a depressed person. I’m sure this is helpful for some experiencing depression, but each person would have to decide that for themselves. It is central to the entire novel, so I hope this review is able to clarify who may want to give this a chance and who may need to put it aside for now.

First off, I'd like to thank #netgalley, author, and publisher for allowing me to read this earc before actual publish date!

Triggers : suicide

Coral took me a little bit to get into. It was slow at first. This is split into a 3 person book. There is Coral, Brooke, and Marrick.

Coral being a mermaid finds it hard to live with her bratty, high maitenance (in my opinion), older sister Jordan. She also has another older sister named the crowned princess, who is lost and sad. Her prince doesnt want her so she becomes depressed.

Brooke is a young girl in a home that takes care of young adults and kids that have mental issues. She fights depression and wanting to be dead on the daily. She find a friend and roomate named Hope. Hope plays a bigger role in Brokes life than she could ever imagine.

Merrick is a son of a big industry owber. He has to play a part (or so he thinks) for his father. You know the type, rich, handsome, gentalmen. When he comes home from a date and his sister is being taken by ambulance to the hospital for another attempt at suicide Merrick has had enough. On top of his sister's suicide attempt Merricks mother decides to up and leave the family with no inkling of coming back. Merrivk, once his sister is home, decides to take Amaya and go look for his mother.

All of these kids come together in a story that I almost gave up on. I'm glad I read to the end. I can't say much more without spoilers so all I'm going to say was even though it was hard to get into at first I'm glad I stuck with it. It got really good about 60-70% into it.

~ I was given an advance reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review, I'm not associated with the author or publisher in any way and the views expressed are completely unbiased and entirely my own. ~

My rating: 2.5*

I am always intrigued by fairy-tale retellings so was looking forward to this remagining of Hans Christian Anderson's 'The Little Mermaid', but unfortunately this one wasn't for me.

The narrative switches between three POV's, Coral, Brooke and Merrick's and while I enjoyed Coral's perspective for the most part, I found it difficult to engage with the latter two.

This story attempts to explore mental illness, and while this is admirable, I really wish the characters had more to them than that. For me, part of the complexity of navigating mental illness is that it can override your own personality, it doesn't necessarily become your personality.

In terms of writing style, while I understand the ambiguity that the author was aiming for with how the main characters experience the world, I think leaving readers in the dark about certain elements for too long is alienating and doesn't make for an enjoyable reading experience ultimately.

~ Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this title ~

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the electronic Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, listen. I wanted so badly to love this book. In fact, I wanted to love this book so much and was so convinced that I would that I tried to win this arc in multiple giveaways. I requested the arc from the publisher. I even messaged the author and gave her some kind words of encouragement and stated how excited I was to read her book .

Yikes.

Alright, the warning note at the beginning is incredibly sweet and very heartfelt. After reading the author's note I was still excited for this story and I was feeling confident! I was wrong. And QUICKLY realized it.

My interest, along with my heart, sank faster than a rock in the ocean. I hated the writing style. It was written in a way that I just can't describe other than to say...horribly. It was very confusing. I didn't understand the strange aspects with the colors going into chapter one and it frustrated me. I disliked the characters. It's bad when you're telling yourself "Just read the first chapter and maybe it will get better from there . Keep going and see how you feel after chapter one." . ...and then getting so turned off from the writing that you skip ahead to see how long chapter one is and decide another 12 pages is too much. DNF.

I appreciate the mental health awareness. My personal struggle with mental health is one of the things that initially pulled my heart into this novel. Always remember that you are not alone. Even when it feels that way. Please seek help if you feel you need it. You can be helped. I promise you can. Keep your head up and don't sink. Much love, my friends.

I should start by saying I never read the blurbs on the back of books mostly because of spoilers. I choose books based on the author and word of mouth. That being said, I was hoping for a light fun read loosely based on the story of The Little Mermaid. I knew as soon as I read the warning at the beginning of the book, that Coral is not that.

I struggled with this story from the beginning. I felt like I had missed something or was reading too fast because things were kind of confusing and some things weren’t really explained - for example, the Red Tide. I also struggled to get really invested in this story.

While this was not the story for me, I applaud Sara Ella for writing about this subjecting and trying to help those who are suffering from depression.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a complimentary copy of this book.

Coral is a mermaid who struggles to fit in with her family. After a terrible tragedy, Coral fears she has been infected with the Disease whose only symptoms are emotions. Brooke is a teenage girl who struggles with her feelings of depression and anxiety and enters a new group home called Fathoms that is supposed to help her get a second chance. Merrick is the son from a wealthy family, and when his younger sister attempts suicide his mother disappears and his world comes crashing down around him.

I went into this book thinking it was going to be The Little Mermaid retelling, and although parts of the story are close, it is not a retelling of either Disney or Hans Christian Andersen's. That being said, I give Sara Ella so much credit on this story and bringing mental illness to light in a very real and understanding way. Once I started this book and began to get rid of the mindset of this being a retelling, I was hooked. As someone who has struggled with anxiety and depression before, I found Sara Ella's descriptions of anxiety attacks and depression to be extremely accurate. As much as I loved the narrative's being told from Coral, Brooke and Merrick's point of views, I fell in love with a lot of the secondary characters: Amaya, Jake, Grim, Nikki and Hope. Sara's depictions of how suicide survivors "move on" after is heartwrenching and right on the nose. I will say the ending does get a little confusing, and I did have to slow down and reread some pages.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley and Thomas Nelson Publishing for an honest review.

I’m torn about this book!

I’ve not read any of Sara Ella’s work before, but I think she has done an incredible job in writing a book that addresses mental health issues and I really applaud her for the sensitive and heartfelt way she has done this. It’s evident from the writing that she really cares about her subject matter and the potential impact on her readers,

On the whole I liked the book, but it didn’t completely bowl me over. I think in part this is because of the three perspectives. Coral’s section of the story didn’t always ring true IMHO and I found myself puzzling over some of the logistics of her underwater home. The reason for this does become evident later on though. I’d give this a solid three and a half stars and would look out for more from this author as I think she is a great writer.

Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read a digital advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

A really great mermaid story! Highly recommend, the characters were awesome and the story was well paced

This book is a heavy hitter. I went in mostly blind, and I was all over the place emotionally. It was a great read and didn’t shy on what needed to be said.

<i>“No one would ever tell a cancer patient to ‘just get over it.’ Why people think they can tell those with a mental illness as much is baffling.”</i>

Coral is a book about suicide, mental health, depression, anxiety, death. If any of this is hard for you, a trigger, please consider carefully before picking this book to read.

This is by far one of the hardest books to rate/review. Coral presents some very important subjects. I can see how it is a good book to read, it makes you think about your own life, your feelings. Dig deeper into yourself and truly think "am I okay?". This is a hard subject to talk about. Being depressed myself and have gone through the journey Coral did, I know what it's like. How important it is to have someone truly see you, to know that you are not find even if you keep smiling and telling everyone you are. Please seek for help if you ever struggle with your mental health, have suicidal thoughts, anything. You are <i>not</i> nothing. You are everything and worth so much more than you think.

Anyway, back to the book Coral. I went in thinking I'm reading a retelling of the little mermaid. And in some level I guess that's what this is but then again it's nothing like it.
The story started out great but then there appeared more povs. Not just Coral but two more. Merrick and Brooke. And if I'm being completely honest, this drew me off hard. I got so confused about everything. Who is this? Why are we reading of them?

Coral and Merrick's povs are written in third person and past tense. Brooke on the other hand is written in first person and in present. It was so hard to try and keep track of every new turn of their stories, every new character. And just when you thought you figured it out, something new popped up and threw you off the trail and you were back to the beginning.
At some level I understand it now but then again I don't. They all have something in common and there are bits and pieces you just need to put together to figure it out. In the end I did. And when that time came, there still manage to pop up something new which again threw me off and I thought this all was just some fantasy and Coral would end something like there's yet another new character who had made this all up about their life and made up bunch of different personalities for themselve.

All in all I think this is an okay book about some really serious and important subjects. But I can't help but think that it could have been made in some easier and less confusing way.

This was a really tough book to read having struggled with depression my whole life. There is a trigger warning but I thought I could handle it. This book is so much more than a mermaid story or a retelling. This book was deep and profound. An amazing story of depression and the effects it can have while also being a cool twist on the mermaid tale.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I almost dnf this book but I am so glad I did.

The writing is gorgeous and tackles a really difficult subject in a compassionate way.

Once I got past the very confusing start, I fell in love with the characters.

This was a very difficult book to read. Not so much because it covered difficult topics like suicide and losing family but it was just written in a very strange way. It is hard to discuss the strangeness without spoilers but I will do my best.

Coral is about Coral, a mermaid who has the disease (the disease is feelings). Her father is cruel and her sister is sick too. None of this really matters much because she is yeeted out of the mermaid life nearly at the beginning of the book and it stops being relevant. There is a reason in canon why she’s a mermaid, but I don’t think it justifies it. On it’s own without the other POVs Coral’s story is terrible and inconsistent. She takes no time to get used to human life. The mermaid world is very underdeveloped and it just really doesn’t fit with the other narratives. It should have been left out entirely and only mentioned in passing.

Brooke and Merrick also each have their own narrative. With so much jumping around I felt it difficult to actually connect with any of the characters. Brooke’s narrative is purposefully super vague which makes it a bit dull to read and makes Brooke feel empty as a character. Merrick’s narrative is the most enjoyable and I really wish the book had just focused on his struggles with Amaya, his mother and father.

This is a book with a twist, and the entire story is sacrificed to achieve it. It’s definitely hinted at enough that you sort of know before it’s revealed, but when it IS revealed all you can think is that the book would have worked better if it didn’t try so hard to surprise you.

The multiple POVs really cause the story to suffer rather than prop it up. Both Coral and Brooke feel like thin excuses for characters. Coral toes the “manic pixie dream girl” storyline. Merrick has the best plot but even then his character is sort of bland. I really wish there had been time to really flesh one of the characters out instead of jumping from POV to POV.

I will say that the subject of suicide and depression was handled beautiful. The book is also incredibly quotable. It’s clear that Ella put a lot of effort into understanding her own and others’ experiences with depression. She wrote a book that could be uplifting to them. Show them that recovery is HARD but can be done. This is the one thing she does incredibly well.

It’s clear that when writing the twist and the mental health awareness message took priority over any plot or characters. The pacing is SLOW and the characters are paper thin. I admire what Ella was trying to do, and I think she could have been really successful…but Coral as a whole just wasn’t.

I love mermaids. I love fantasy. I did not love this book. I just couldn't get into it. I did not finish it.

I'll be honest and say I did not finish Coral. I tried, but I just couldn't get into it. I wanted to like the mermaid aspect, but there was something about the language of it that I couldn't get past. This book may be great for people who enjoy that kind of fantasy element, but I am not one of those people.