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A review by isaacreads
Black Coral by Andrew Mayne
3.0
I am morally conflicted about reading this book. On one hand, fuck cops, and not in a fake white liberal way, in a empathetic way, where I am truely angry and deeply saddened by police brutality. On the other hand, supernatural thrillers scare me too much, and I am in the mood to be SPOOKED, like heart pounding page gripping spooked, and I have always had a deep love for crime thrillers. I donated the books amount to a therapy fund for black woman to counteract the unwilling support I’m showing for the police institution
The book doesn’t address the black lives matter movement in any capacity. If the publishers are reading this review, I highly suggest having a page in the front of the book listing charity’s to donate to, or donating a part of the books profits to the cause. These problems don’t go away simply because you look away.
The only way in which this book comes marginally close to dealing with the black lives matter movement is through the portrayal of how the main character, Sloan McPherson, learns to see suspects as human. There is a heavy emphasis on the underlying humanity of the suspects, which Sloan learns to recognize throughout the book.
Characters 2/5
Sloan McPherson is a mixed bag. She is written by a man, and although it is clear that he researched life as a woman, there is one big area in which it absolutely misses the mark. She is “not like other girls”, I mean she straight up says “i was more into spear fishing than Saterdays at galleria mall”. The other area in which his depiction of womanhood fell short is his depiction of Sloan as a woman in a male dominated industry. There is one incident of sexism, and it is handled very poorly, when she talks to her superior later, he calls her response a tantrum, and she then agrees with him.
Despite the fact that he very much missed these major marks, there are other areas in which I felt he did very well. Yes, she fulfills the “not like other girls ” trope through her rejection of femininity, but it was amazing to see is how her masculinity affected areas of her character that are normally held sacred by writers. So often masculine woman in media melt into soft, conventional, feminine woman through the love of a man, and motherhood, however in Black Coral, the ways that she engages with her boyfriend and daughter is distinctly masculine.
Pacing 4/5
This book grabbed my attention between its alligator teeth and refused to let it go. I mean, seriously, in my note pad of things to mention in this review I wrote the following “GRIPPING AND CLEAR TENSE MOMENTS” “THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME” “AAAAAA ITS SO FUCKING GRIPPING I CAN’T”. You never wonder about stake in a action scene. The odds, and dangers are incredibly clear and so terrifying that my heart would like overtime pay for how quickly it had to beat. Despite having such amazing moments of action, I found the balance between action and more investigative, slower paced parts of the book to be perfect, it gave you enough pay off at the right time.
My only complaint in terms of pacing is that the suspense was disrupted by info dumps, especially ones that allude to the first book, some of the references where well integrated, others felt like being smacked in the face with a clump of seaweed while you were napping on a gently rocking boat
Immersion 5/5
This isn’t normally I category consider when I review books, but immersion is essential in a scary book, and honestly? He could not have done a better job submerging me into this crime ridden Miami. Despite never having been to Miami, or really been involved in marine life at all, I could feel the cold sliminess of the mucky waters, I could taste the salt in the air, and feel the grimyness of the trailer park settle into my skin.
Writing Style 3/5
He has a very strong personal voice that really comes through in this novel, its dry, sarcastic, and fast paced. It worked incredibly well for the action and investigative scenes, often adding to the sense of bewilderment and fear. However, I found with the more emotional, person orientated, conversations the writing style detracted from the emotions. It felt quite jarring to hear the dialogue between a mother and her daughter be written with the same tone of voice that a dead body is described in.
I personally really enjoyed this book, it was the perfect book to curl up with while there was a thunderstorm outside and a plethora of dogs on my bed.
3+4+5+2/4= 3.5 stars,
The book doesn’t address the black lives matter movement in any capacity. If the publishers are reading this review, I highly suggest having a page in the front of the book listing charity’s to donate to, or donating a part of the books profits to the cause. These problems don’t go away simply because you look away.
The only way in which this book comes marginally close to dealing with the black lives matter movement is through the portrayal of how the main character, Sloan McPherson, learns to see suspects as human. There is a heavy emphasis on the underlying humanity of the suspects, which Sloan learns to recognize throughout the book.
Characters 2/5
Sloan McPherson is a mixed bag. She is written by a man, and although it is clear that he researched life as a woman, there is one big area in which it absolutely misses the mark. She is “not like other girls”, I mean she straight up says “i was more into spear fishing than Saterdays at galleria mall”. The other area in which his depiction of womanhood fell short is his depiction of Sloan as a woman in a male dominated industry. There is one incident of sexism, and it is handled very poorly, when she talks to her superior later, he calls her response a tantrum, and she then agrees with him.
Despite the fact that he very much missed these major marks, there are other areas in which I felt he did very well. Yes, she fulfills the “not like other girls ” trope through her rejection of femininity, but it was amazing to see is how her masculinity affected areas of her character that are normally held sacred by writers. So often masculine woman in media melt into soft, conventional, feminine woman through the love of a man, and motherhood, however in Black Coral, the ways that she engages with her boyfriend and daughter is distinctly masculine.
Pacing 4/5
This book grabbed my attention between its alligator teeth and refused to let it go. I mean, seriously, in my note pad of things to mention in this review I wrote the following “GRIPPING AND CLEAR TENSE MOMENTS” “THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME” “AAAAAA ITS SO FUCKING GRIPPING I CAN’T”. You never wonder about stake in a action scene. The odds, and dangers are incredibly clear and so terrifying that my heart would like overtime pay for how quickly it had to beat. Despite having such amazing moments of action, I found the balance between action and more investigative, slower paced parts of the book to be perfect, it gave you enough pay off at the right time.
My only complaint in terms of pacing is that the suspense was disrupted by info dumps, especially ones that allude to the first book, some of the references where well integrated, others felt like being smacked in the face with a clump of seaweed while you were napping on a gently rocking boat
Immersion 5/5
This isn’t normally I category consider when I review books, but immersion is essential in a scary book, and honestly? He could not have done a better job submerging me into this crime ridden Miami. Despite never having been to Miami, or really been involved in marine life at all, I could feel the cold sliminess of the mucky waters, I could taste the salt in the air, and feel the grimyness of the trailer park settle into my skin.
Writing Style 3/5
He has a very strong personal voice that really comes through in this novel, its dry, sarcastic, and fast paced. It worked incredibly well for the action and investigative scenes, often adding to the sense of bewilderment and fear. However, I found with the more emotional, person orientated, conversations the writing style detracted from the emotions. It felt quite jarring to hear the dialogue between a mother and her daughter be written with the same tone of voice that a dead body is described in.
I personally really enjoyed this book, it was the perfect book to curl up with while there was a thunderstorm outside and a plethora of dogs on my bed.
3+4+5+2/4= 3.5 stars,