#Review - The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes #YALit #Thriller

Series: Standalone
Format:Hardcover, 400 pages
Release Date: February 12th 2019
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Genre: Young Adult / Law & Crime

Perfect for fans of Moxie and The Female of the Species, this contemporary YA novel is about a secret society of girls who get revenge on the guys who hurt them. Both cathartic and thrilling, this is the story we need now.

ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE, IF YOU HURT US, WE’RE COMING FOR YOU.

The deeply secretive Black Coats have been exacting vengeance on men who have hurt girls and women for years.

Thea, whose cousin Natalie’s killer went free, has just received an invitation to join their Balancings—acts of revenge meant to teach a lesson. Justice for Natalie has never felt so close.

But as the Balancings escalate in brutality, Thea’s clear-cut mission begins to unravel, and she must decide just how far she is willing to go for justice.

Because when the line between justice and revenge is paper thin, it’s hard not to get cut.
This book is for every unwanted touch, comment, or gaze…for every time you wished you could fight back but couldn’t. Powerful, thrilling, and deeply resonant, readers will experience their own vicarious satisfaction each time the Black Coats get revenge.

 

The Black Coats, by author Colleen Oakes, is inspired by a black coat sitting on the road in Nebraska, grief at the death of a beloved friend and the authors fascination with vigilante justice. It is a story about a group of women who take the law into their own hands and seek vengeance against those, mostly men, who have wronged a woman in ways that include murder, and rape. It's a story about the necessity of speaking up when horrible crimes are done to you, or your family, and not staying quiet.

It's a story about women saying "enough" with their fists and their words, and a secretive matriarchal society that loves both mason jars and brass knuckles. The story is about a girl named Thea who has spent the past 6 months grieving for her best friend and cousin Natalie who was murdered. Thea is truly heart broken and driven by the idea that this group of women called The Black Coats, will give her what she has wanted since Natalie's killer seemingly walked free. 

The Black Coats have chosen to take justice into their own hands and seek out retribution against those who have caused them so much pain and suffering. As Thea joins a group within the Black Coats called Banner, she and her teammates must work together in order to mete out what the author is calling "Balancings." But, as Thea works with her team consisting of Casey, Louise, Mirabella & Bea, she has to figure out  if she is on a quest for justice or vengeance, and if she doesn't know which, maybe The Black Coats don't either.

The Black Coats is a story about recognizing the difference between vigilantism and justice, about seeing through what we have been taught, and about realizing who we really are. The Black Coats exposes this raw part of ourselves. When we question if justice has been served, and when we feel cheated of fairness. And it asks us, truly and honestly, what we might do if we were confronted with a way to right the wrong. 

In the age of the #MeToo movement, books like these tell the reader they can't lose focus on abuse towards women just because it might feel uncomfortable. It manages to empower women to think outside of the box but hopefully, doesn't actually encourage anyone to take the law into their own hands. Regardless of your feelings, we are still a nation that states you are INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY, not Guilty until proven innocent.

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