Title: The Black Coats
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Author: Colleen Oakes
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication: February 12th 2019
Cover Rating: 4/5
Reading format: Provided ARC(thank you)
The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes is a contemporary novel about a group of women who go against the odds and fight back again people who hurt them. I do want to point out that this book contains sexual assault so TRIGGER WARNING. "We are in the business of righting the wrongs done to women." "...aren't you tired of being afraid in your everyday life, of not walking home alone after dark, of locking your doors, of making sure that your shorts aren't too short lest you attract some unwanted attention?" These 2 quotes are from the same conversation yet they have so much meaning towards what this book is about.
Thea seems to be your average, everyday teenage girl. But she isn't. Her cousin, Natalie was murdered and no justice was ever served. So Thea lives life scared and that is no way to truly live. While she is at school she received a black envelope telling her to go on this sort of scavenger hunt. Each envelope has BC written on it and it isn't until the end of this hunt that Thea is lead to a group of women that call themselves The Black Coats, restorers of justice. This group offers Thea something she can't say no to. They offer her revenge against the person who killed her cousin, but only if she works with the group.
This book is violent. I won't beat around the bush and sugar-coat things. But the violence is normally in retaliation of violence done against someone in the group or someone they care about. It is sad, most of the time you head 'Violence doesn't solve violence' but that is not always the case. The women in this book are tired of sitting back and just accepting whatever wrong is done to them and I can't help but agree with them. But, as with most powerful positions, corruption can happen. No matter how worthy your cause might be, there will always be doubts and someone who wants more.
I have no idea why but some part of me thought this book was going to be historical fiction. Just the thought of a group of women trying to go against wrongs screams HISTORICAL FICTION to me. But this book was present day, contemporary, and, although I would have LOVED this book to be historical fiction, I still loved it just as much.
In the end, I am so glad this book exists. It is very empowering for all females but most importantly our female youth. This book shows that women ARE strong and don't need to continue to accept the things we are put through just because we ARE women. This is another book that will be going on my favorites shelf right next to Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis.
Overall, I gave the book 4.5/5 stars.
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