Coral has tough and hard to read topics displayed in a somewhat easy to read fairytale.

The writing style, especially if you’re not really paying attention, is a little hard to read. Coral goes back and forth between before and after. And sometimes they combine. Which made the story a little confusing at times. I had to check back and see what chapter I was in.

The entire novel stands as a metaphor for depression and suicide and the way it affects both the people who have it and the people surrounding them. If it sounds like this has been said before on this blog, it’s because it has. When the Stars Lead to You, which was featured a few days ago, also talked primarily about depression and the affects it has on everyone. Honestly, I really enjoyed both books but it seemed as though Coral talked about suicide and the aftereffects rather than depression as a whole.

I actually had to take a step back and stop reading for a little while because the topics discussed in Coral are harsh and truthful and I love that there are more and more books talking about these topics.

Sara Ella was absolutely perfect in this novel. Taking brutal and hard topics and bringing them down to a manageable level is extremely hard to do but this story did it while not being too harsh.

This is my first time reading anything by Sara Ella and it will not be the last – as a matter of fact, I’ve already got some of her other books sitting in my Amazon wish list right now! This book hit me hard. Here is my trigger warning: this book is about depression, suicide, self-harm, anxiety, and mental illness is general. Although it is described as a YA book, it’s a very heavy read and any of those subjects are triggering for you, it may not be the book for you. The author has a beautiful note at the beginning of the book for her readers and this part really stood out to me:

“For the girl who is not okay. For the boy who wonders if it will ever get better. This story is for you. My hope is that Coral’s tale may be a small pinprick of light in your darkness — a reminder that you are seen. You are loved. You are not alone. You are not nothing, my friend. And neither am I.”

I struggle with anxiety and have for several years now. I know how frightening it is to feel like you’re drowning in your own mind — to feel like you’re just bobbing the surface but can’t catch a big enough breath. And I felt all of that come to life in this story. The author depicted the struggle of mental illness in a different way and I thought her analogies and descriptions were great. I had to keep in mind that this was a YA because sometimes these topics in the book did seem a little glossed over or sugar coated, but for the most part it was a heartbreaking and truly remarkable book.

The story is told from three perspectives. Coral, a mermaid, who, after losing her sister to Red Tide (suicide), follows her grandmother to the surface and becomes human. Brooke, a teenager with no one to rely on, who struggles with depression and loves the ocean. And Merrick, a young adult from a rich family who just wants to get away from his father’s grip and help his little sister who has depression and has attempted suicide. All three stories come together as the book goes on and although sometimes it was hard to keep track of timelines, it wasn’t too difficult to keep up. I have seen some reviews who didn’t like the way the different perspectives and timelines felt choppy or confusing; well I actually read on Sara Ella’s instagram page that she did that on purpose to display what anxiety and depression can feel like. I thought that was very innovative and honestly it didn’t bother me much at all, though I could see how some may find it very confusing.

The characters were not super deep or complex, but I think in this story the focus was on mental illness and how it affects those around you. Yes, the characters could have had more going for them, but I feel that it may have drowned out the main message if they had become too complex. I don’t feel they are forgettable by any means, though. In fact, these characters and their stories will stick with me for a while. I was in tears reading this book. The bonds formed by these characters only to be ripped apart and sometimes stitched back together was so real and so raw and just had me in all my feels.

The only thing that I can really say that I didn’t like about the book was how Coral seemed to automatically assimilate to the human world. She grew legs and just assumed a normal human life – well, as normal as it could be for what she was going through mentally. But there was no adjustment period, not one that was explained to the reader anyway. It felt rushed and incomplete. But I did like Coral as a character overall. I also loved the merworld’s depiction of depression and suicide. In the merkingdom, those with depression are said to have the Disease – that being too many emotions, crying, etc. However, only mermaids are susceptible. Mermen are never to be emotional. Those mermaids who end up with the Disease succumb to Red Tide, which is suicide. This is what happened to Coral’s sister before she decided to leave the kingdom.

This book is an extremely heavy, emotional read. It is also much-needed in this stigmatized world of mental illness and the family members and friends surrounding those who have it. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more of this author’s work.

This a hard review for me to write. Because this was a hard book to read. I know that sounds strange, let me explain.
I probably spent the first 3/4 of this book not enjoying it. At all. I don't like to DNF books, I have to admit I was pretty close. I just found it to be silly and quite frankly, it annoyed me.
First of all, the character of Coral was annoying. I was so excited to be invested in this underwater world, but it was underwhelming. And this whole business of 'Red Mist' was incredibly annoying. Ugh, I couldn't stand to read those words. I get what it was trying to do, but it didn't work. And then suddenly she becomes human and is enrolled in school. Just silly! This is when I was very close to DNFing this book.
The Merrick perspective was more of the same, annoying, predictable. It's hard to read about characters and become invested when you don't like them, right? The only saving grace of book was Brooke. Her character had some depth, some heart. I was intrigued to see what happened with her. It's probably the only reason I kept reading.
So, like I said I didn't like it. I spent the 3/4 wondering how it was going to work. I didn't see how the characters stories would blend together, then the twist came.
I'll be the first to admit I didn't see the it coming. And it finally made everything make sense! It definitely made the book come together as a whole piece of work. But even now, I still don't think it was enough of a twist for me to say I enjoyed the book. I just made it didn't feel like a waste of time reading it. Does a book really have to be bad for so long?
I will say this book has fantastic mental health representation. It really shines a light on depression and anxiety. It's speaks about it in a honest way.
I'm not sure if I'd recommend this book. It's a tough one. Maybe I had different expectations? I don't know.

This beautiful retelling of "The Little Mermaid" broke my heart many times over, but the feelings of hope made me love it even more.

Plot

Content Warnings: Suicide, self-harm, depression, anxiety.

This book is inspired by "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Anderson. This is my all-time favorite fairy tale (and yes, I love the tragic tale more than the Disney movie), so I was intrigued to read the premise of this book. It takes some hard-hitting topics and weaves it into a mermaid story. I thought this was a thoughtful homage to the story, and I loved seeing certain parts of it retold.

I was warned by many reviewers before going into this that the timeline in this book is confusing at times. I would agree, but knowing that the timeline is confusing helped me piece things together a lot better, I think. There are three different chronologies going on in this book, from three different povs. Sometimes they connect. I really loved seeing in the end how everything came together. I thought each pov and timeline was important to the story, and had it been told in complete chronological order, I don't think this book would have been as powerful as it was.

I did have to put this book down several times. It deals with some extremely heavy stuff. This isn't a bad thing at all, but I did have to take breaks, since the emotions and feelings and problems dealt in this book are so real and painful. It was beautifully told, but sometimes hard to read.

Characters

This book, as I mentioned earlier, is told in three povs. Coral is a mermaid who is watching her eldest sister deal with a horrible Disease that makes a mermaid feel strong, intense emotions. This Disease always ends in death, and Coral is terrified that she has the Disease.

Brooke has been placed in a group home therapy for girls who struggle with suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety. She doesn't believe anyone can help her.

After Merrick's sister tries to commit suicide, he believes the one thing that can save his family from falling apart his running away from his controlling father and find his mother, who has gone missing.

None of these characters are all black and white, and that's what I appreciated the most. Sometimes I was frustrated at Coral's naivete, but I loved watching her grow. Brooke scared me at times, but her strength was intense in the end. Merrick is trying so hard to keep his family from falling apart, but he doesn't realize he is part of the problem. Because of their complexity, their faults and weaknesses—their strengths—I related to each of them.

I especially loved how these three came together. It's beautiful and heart-wrenching at times, but mostly beautiful. There is a romance in this book, but it doesn't overpower the themes or the emotions of this book. It was fantastic.

Overall

This book is intense in so many ways, and so so powerful. I would recommend to anyone who wants to delve deeper into these hard topics. I will be on the lookout for more of this author's work.

I want to point out that at the beginning of the e-ARC for this, there was a note highlighting the issues discussed, and possible triggers for readers. I’m a firm believer that trigger warnings are important as before reading the note at the beginning I didn’t actually realise this book focused on depression and suicide. Reading this book without that warning would have been a trigger for me so thank you to the author for including this in the proof copy.

So, the beginning of the story confused me a little, although that could have just been me overthinking it. I can’t explain without spoiling it but if you read/have read this book you will know what I mean. That being said, I thought the back and forth between characters was really good and I really enjoyed getting to know them. I also liked how the characters were linked – again I can’t say any more without spoilers. This review is going to be harder than I thought.
We have Coral; she loses her oldest sister to the Disease which means, as mermaids they have human feelings and it ends up destroying them in what they call Red Tide. Coral is also beginning to show signs of the disease and tries to hide it from her father and other older sister Jordan. When she fails to hide it, she then joins her grandmother on land and has to adapt to being a human, with human feelings. Next we have Brooke; she has been sent to a facility called Fathoms Ranch to try to help her with a treatment plan to manage her anxiety and depression. Finally we have Merrick; he has a strained relationship with his father who pushes and pushes, then when his sister attempts suicide and their mother runs away, he takes his sister away from their father and tries to help her himself by finding their mother.
This book deals and focuses around mental health and I think it’s been written really well. There are a few parts in particular that really stuck with me and I feel they’re important things for people to remember. I’ve taken out character names so I don’t spoil anything but wanted to still include them because the second one especially really got to me.

“I prefer to say ‘die by suicide’. ‘Commit’ implies on purpose. In your right mind. Suicide is the result of an illness. I don’t believe anyone really chooses it in the end.”

"Depression is an illness. It is a disease. Those on the outside sometimes brush it off as a choice. A simple change in mood or outlook. 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."

Oh my word, Sara Ella knows how to write. Her prose is beautiful, lyrical, and pulls at heartstrings. She handled the difficult aspects of this novel with tenderness and care. All that being said, this story is very triggering to those struggling with depression, anxiety, or suicide.
To lighten the mood, there were many quips and quotes from other people or books that made me smile.
However, the middle and ending when the characters' stories met left me so confused. The beginning of the novel had slow pacing and then the middle happened with a BANG. Everything was revealed so quickly and I couldn't keep up.
All this said I am divided over what to think about this book. There were definite strengths and weaknesses in this story. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy fairytale retellings and who don't mind diving into deeper issues.
Rating: 3 Stars
Content: 1 Star due to triggering subjects

*I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher/FFBC. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.

Favorite Quotes

They didn't respond to things the same way Coral did. Soon she learned they didn't see or hear the same as she. Her world produced the brightest, most brilliant shades of turquoise and aqua and sapphire blue, all mixed with harmonies she couldn't begin to describe. Blues composed the prettiest sounds. Soft but full of life. Soothing but awakening too.

I am not nothing.

I helped you because that's what you do when someone is in trouble. We're both human. Both worth saving.
She resists at first, but I lock my eyes on hers. "You are not nothing," I say. "And neither am I."
My heart takes flight with the first lyric. I sing of drowning and sending floods. My own flood releases through the song, and soon I'm closing my eyes and getting lost in the melody. Hope joins in and we find our harmony. It. Is. Glorious.

She doesn't let me in, but I sit and lean against the barrier for a while. I slip my fingers under the crack so she knows I'm here. She's never given up on me. Not when I pushed her away or tried to throw life to the sea. So I stay. I choose this. Now. I choose after. I can only have faith that she will too.

"I know enough to tell you that love isn't cruel or controlling. I know that true love is patient and gracious and understanding. It's the kind of love that accepts you, tears and wounds and brokenness.

A leaf flutters to my lap. I examine its gradient hues -- a sunset of oranges, yellows, and reds bursting between each vein. Winter nears and colder days lie ahead. The world will dull, and the days will seem bleak. But I won't forget the warmth of summer.

That's the beauty of life, isn't it? Every day is a new page, waiting to be written.

We stay in the place. I take in his summer scent and he holds my gaze, challenging me to keep the intense stare without looking away from fear of what he might see. I match his stare with everything inside me, unafraid for the first time to let him look into who I am.

I really couldn't get on with this book and ended up DNF-ing it. The different stories felt very disconnected and I didn't find any of them particularly pulling me in. I could almost see myself getting into the story of Coral the mermaid, but then as soon as I began getting into it, the story would switch to other completely unrelated characters, and I lost interest in the whole thing unfortunately.

Overall, I enjoyed Coral, by Sara Ella. Though, to be honest, I was a bit annoyed for about half the book that names were not given for many of the characters, and terms like “the disease” and “red tide” were not defined until later. However, the story and characters were engaging enough that I wanted to see how it all ended up. I also felt a bit jerked around between the different time lines POVs. In the end it was all beautifully wrapped up and revealed and I enjoyed getting to the end. Sara Ella has a beautiful writing style. I enjoyed Sara’s characters and am eager to read more stories from her.

As she says in her forward, this book might be triggering to those who have dealt with mental illness and suicide. For those of us who are largely unfamiliar with the struggles of those dealing with depression, it was an enlightening read and has given me more insight into those who do suffer.

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

This is my first book by this author, and not what I was expecting. While it was based on Hans Christian Anderson's, The Little Mermaid, Sara definitely made it her own and I especially loved that about it. I also knew the warnings, Sara is very clear about trigger warnings from the beginning, and that they needed to be adhered if reading, Coral. It dealt with so much, I loved the characters and following their struggles. Coral was raw, beautiful, and amazing. LOVED IT!

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

Coral follows three different teenagers whose lives have been impacted by trauma. Coral, a mermaid, watched her sister suffer from the Red Tide. Brooke just moved into Fathoms Ranch, a rehabilitation center. And Merrick’s sister recently attempted suicide. Their lives gradually intertwine, bringing light to the important topic of mental health in young adult literature.

The writing in Coral is beautiful. With the use of so many, short, yet incredibly descriptive sentences, it reads more like poetry than prose. I thought this was incredibly powerful for Coral’s point of view as it fits perfectly with the fairy tale genre.

Despite the beautiful writing, I did struggle with the plot and pacing of the book, especially with character development and clarity. There are three points of view and while the storylines do come together, it felt very disjointed. I had a really hard time connecting to any of the characters for most of the beginning of the book and I think this was because there were so many separate things going on at that point.

Overall, I do think Coral is an extremely important novel. Readers need to know that this book addresses some pretty hard-hitting topics like suicide, but that it is handled in such a realistic way that it brings more attention to a topic that is usually avoided.

This book is gorgeous! After reading the description, I was extremely excited to read this. This title does have a trigger warning as it discusses many difficult topics within mental health. I love that the author took a fairy tale idea and applied real life experiences with it to bring awareness to a topic that many don’t like discussing.

Although I liked this book, I didn’t love it. It was very difficult for me to switch between characters. I would get into each section and then it would switch to another character. This may be a personal preference as I don’t typically care for books that change view points so much.

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

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

I was very excited going into this book because I love the original story of The Little Mermaid and love fairytale re-tellings so this sounded like a great story. The cover immediately drew me in and the synopsis sounded great.

Let me first start off by saying my pros for this book. I loved all of the characters for their own individual reasons, they were all well developed and I loved how each chapter was told from a different character’s perspective.

I also loved the storyline of this book, it immediately intrigued me and the author has a whimsical, lyrical way of writing that I really enjoyed. It is a little harder to read but I found by slowing down my reading speed I was able to fully understand everything and appreciate the story more.

Now we get to my cons; I didn’t really understand this story. Quite a few times while reading this book I had to second guess myself and almost had to reread large chunks of it due to how confused I was. What you originally think is three main characters in this book is actually only two but if you’re not paying close attention to what’s going on, you really don’t understand how two of the characters are the same.

Another problem I had was how much this story jumped ahead without really giving you any warning. All of a sudden we’re months ahead in the story without finding out the details or why it skipped ahead so far. That was another thing that really threw me off when reading and I thought I had missed something.

I know the author tried to make it all a big plot twist at the end but I feel it fell a little short. I might just be too used to reading thriller novels but it was a very anticlimactic plot twist for me.

The only other con about this book for me was I felt like it could have been shorter. There was a lot of information thrown in that I didn’t feel was entirely necessary.

This still was a pretty good book overall and I commend the author for writing about the touchy subjects she did and bringing light to so many illnesses but this just wasn’t a great book for me. The cover is very deceiving as it doesn’t deal much with underwater sea life so I feel like that will throw a lot of readers off.

This was a bit of a disappointment as the premise sound really good and i thought i would enjoy it as much as i have done other mermaid books. There were a few too many characters for me to follow and there was not enough to tell them apart for me. I would read more by that author as i liked the writing style for the most part.

This is a dark fantasy in the truest sense of the genre.- combining the depths of humanity with the imaginative fantastical elements. I enjoyed the world building, character development and heart sickening feelings this book evoked. Not for everyone, as the warnings suggest. All in all, I found the book interesting and thoughtful.

I had so many high hopes for Coral by Sara Ella and I feel like I need to say that before I continue with my review. I did end up finishing this book but it was a constant struggle to do so. This is a definitely a book you have to read from start to finish to get the full story. For me the ending did redeem itself slightly after discovering the MAJOR plot twist but I still think the whole story just fell flat. I was expecting a dark and twisty take on The Little Mermaid like the tale Hans Christian Andersen built and although I saw the connections Ella drew on, it just didn’t have the same feel to it. This was a contemporary novel masquerading as a fairy tale and I just don’t think it worked.

I am glad that I was able to read this book and I want to thank Netgalley and the publishers at Thomas Nelson for giving me this opportunity to read an early copy.

The writing was excellent and the amount of planning that must have gone into this book is impressive. It was a complex story but unfortunately for me I couldn’t appreciate it fully. The very structure confused me to the point where I couldn’t enjoy the story because I was too busy worrying I didn’t know who was who or what was going on. It took a little too much thinking for me to understand it and I like my reads to be a little more straight forward than this one was.

I also didn’t like all the suicide talk and how much it played into the story. It’s heavily incorporated into the theme of the novel and it is very emotionally charged. There will be times where Ella describes the acts and consequences of suicide so just be mindful of those triggers before digging into Coral. I also think the use of the term ‘Red Tide’ was strange and the whole phrasing just seemed off. I also disliked the use of ‘disease’ when they talked about having emotions and how that makes a person weak. The idea that only women could be affected by that was an off putting idea that was hard to wrap my head around. I know it went with the story but for me I just thought it was weird phrasing that is too easily misconstrued.

I do think she did an amazing job on the romance between her main character (MC) and Merrick. I especially loved Merrick and he definitely was a Prince in my opinion. I also like her clever use of colour symbolism to create moods, tones and description. I found it a poetically different way to describe and evoke emotions and she executed it with perfection. The associations and connections she made were brilliant and reasonably justified.

In all I can only give this book 3 stars because despite the romance and the writing, this plot just didn’t hit the mark in terms of readability and concept. It was too hard to follow and I think it strayed too far from its inspiration of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for an ARC of this book! Release date - November 12, 2019

I think this was a beautiful book. It’s pretty unusual to find a YA book that solely focuses on mental illness and suicide despite the fact that it’s more and more common in the world today. I think Sara Ella came up with a truly clever and unique storyline. I absolutely LOVED the concept. While the beginning is a bit disjointed, with the three perspectives that didn’t seem to have anything to do with each other, once I realized what was really going on I had to just stop and marvel at the beautiful cleverness of it.

However I found it hard to rate this one. I loved the concept and storyline enough to pretty much give this 5 stars. But I don’t know if it was because I had an ARC or if the writing style really wasn’t up to par, but I found it very YA and choppy. I’m actually interested enough to check out a finished version, because if it’s just because I had an early version or not-finished-editing ARC, I’d definitely up my rating to 4 stars.

Truly a sad and beautiful concept. Definitely glad I gave this book a shot.

Let me say that without the author's trigger warning for this novel, I would have been taken off guard even more. I have been on a mermaid binge trying to find at least one book that I actually like and can follow. Coral was not an exception. I really thought this novel was being sold as a mermaid piece, but that light quickly dies after the first few chapters. Note to anyone wanting to read: this novel is a great read for those who enjoy more realistic fiction instead of fantasy. While this fact did factor into my review, the main reason for my low starred review was the writing itself. I was hoping for more setting and world-building but instead was left with trivial dialogue just for the sake of dialogue. For example, on one page a character checks out another character's body then admonishes himself for sounding a sexist. This was unnecessary and seemed more like a ploy for the reader to like the character rather than any character building. That being said, this novel does develop a good conversation about mental health and mental health stigmas. Even though the whole changing POVs (especially with characters that are not even real) is confusing, parts of this text would be great to use in a classroom when discussing mental health.

Who doesn't love the Mermaid Universe? I went into this knowing nothing more than that. This book tackles a lot: suicide, self-harm, emotional abuse, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, PTSD, and consent issues.
This book isn't the Ariel retelling that I thought it would be. At least, I was happy to see most of these topics handled very well. The portrayal of mental illness treatment centers, for example, was completely accurate.
For Coral (a merperson), her society treats all emotions as diseases, and she and her sister struggle against those beliefs. Merrick's sister attempts suicide/his mother leaves home, and while he is searching for his Mom, he finds Coral. Brooke is a human with depression that is in therapy. The chapters alternate somewhat, and the original Little Mermaid story is loosely included in the plot as well.
This is a heavy book, as all the characters are brought together by one mental illness or another. I think the plot is executed well, but it won't be a re-read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC for me to review. All opinions are my own in this review
I want to start off by thanking the author and publisher for a clear trigger warning page before this story begins. The trigger warning is for suicide, self-harm, emotional abuse, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, PTSD, and unwanted advances.
With that trigger warning in place, I was able to pace myself with this story, and take my time ensuring that my mental health was still in check throughout the read. This book obviously deals with some heavy topics, and can lead the reader to feel some discomfort whilst reading it.
But all in all, I thought this book was wonderful. I think it is important, and will save lives. It's not perfect. There are some things within the plot that could have been ironed out a bit more. These characters did genuinely feel real to me. I felt their pain and heartache as I read. If you were hoping for a fluffy read, this is far from it.
The journey these characters go on I found to be relatable in a way that was accessible. I felt part of their story, and I think that was the important part to me.
I'm trying so hard not to spoil things, because I think the less you know about the plot, the more you can enjoy. Yes, please pay attention to those triggers. If you can handle it, please give this book a try.

This book is so beautiful and haunting. It's told from three different perspectives: Merrick, a rich boy trying to do what's best for his baby sister; Brooke, a girl who feels she has nothing at all to live for; and Coral, a mermaid with synesthesia who becomes human to exact revenge on the human who broke her sister's heart.

I applaud Ella on her use of trigger warnings, as the book openly discusses anxiety, depression, treatment centers, and suicide. But it's never for shock value. It all serves a purpose in the story. I especially adored the parts that paid homage to The Little Mermaid, both the original version and the Disney one.

I highly recommend this story!