Written by Teralyn Mitchell
The line between justice and vengeance is thin and it’s easy to cross it. That is what Colleen Oakes explored in her new novel, The Black Coats. Thea Soloman is dealing with grief after losing her cousin and best friend, Natalie six months prior to the start of the story. Natalie’s killer was never brought to justice so when the Black Coats—a secret society who exact vengeance on men who hurt girls and women—send her an invitation to join, she does without a second thought. This is just what she needs to start living her life again and become excited about something for the first time since losing her cousin.
Thea is willing to lie to her parents and the new guy in her life so that she can train with the other members of her team. She feels good and like she’s doing the right thing especially when she and her team are assigned their first Balancing—acts of revenge against men who wronged women. Each member has to participate in Balancings before they can collect an Inheritance, which is a Balancing of their own against the person who hurt them or someone they love.
Thea is fine with it at first even if she feels uneasy sometimes. All she has to do is remind herself what these men have done but of course things start to get a little murky when Thea and her team go to carry out an Inheritance for one of their team members which isn’t as it seem. Things go from bad to worse from there and Thea learns that no matter how much justice or vengeance you dole out, it won’t bring back a loved one or change what happened to you. You will still hurt and have to deal with what you went through.
I loved Thea from the very beginning. She was stronger than she ever believed, a leader, and so compassionate. She wanted to do the right thing and she wanted to get justice for her cousin. Thea was still deep in grief when the Black Coats approached her about joining and all they had to do was offer the chance to get justice for Natalie for her to agree to join, just to be doing something. But she was a thinker and smart so she learned that there was something sinister about this group and slowly realized that she wasn’t willing to cross that thin line between justice and vengeance. I also loved that Thea was mixed-race. I liked the diversity in The Black Coats; it was done perfectly and felt authentic. I liked the members of Thea’s team and her boyfriend. They added humanity to the story and kept it from being too bleak and dark. Drew, Thea’s boyfriend, was more understanding than I thought he would be and her team became more than just that; they became her friends, her sisters and important to her. Thea was a character I could root for even when she was doing things I didn’t agree with. She was relatable and her actions were all understandable.
Colleen Oakes did an amazing job writing this book that touched on so many hard subjects. She made strong but flawed characters who you couldn’t help but root for and admire. She created a cast of characters that played well off one another and that was diverse and relatable. The pacing of the story was also perfect. Nothing happened too fast or too slow. She kept the reader guessing as to what was really going on and did not dive right into the girls doing crimes disguised as justice. She also did not leave the readers hanging in any way. I loved how the story ended and how things escalated but were resolved. I have to say one of the best things I liked about the ending was that Oakes did not let the characters escape from their ordeal perfectly unharmed. There were lingering scars—mental and physical—that they will always have to deal with.
The Black Coats was in amazing and top read of 2019. I enjoyed reading this masterful, action-packed YA novel that dealt with heavy topics and were quite bleak and hard to read at times but there was still some lightness in it that made this book great. This was an amazing read that sucked me in from the first page and kept me engrossed until the end.
The Black Coats is available on Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Roses are read, violets are blue, if you hurt us, we’re coming for you.
The deeply secretive Black Coats have been exacting vengeance on men who hurt girls and women for years. And Thea has just received an invitation to join them. This is the opportunity she’s been waiting for to finally get justice for her cousin Natalie, whose killer went free.
Thea dives head first into the group, training every day with other girls whose stories rival hers. Together they carry out Balancings—acts of revenge guaranteed to teach a lesson. With every predator threatened, every blackmailer exposed, and every date rapist punished, Thea can feel herself getting closer to avenging Natalie’s death.
But then the Balancings begin to escalate in brutality, and Thea discovers that the Black Coats are not all they seem to be. Thea must confront just how far she’s willing to go for justice—and what kind of justice Natalie, and Thea herself, deserve. Because when the line between justice and revenge is razor thin, it’s hard not to get cut.
