One afternoon whilst in pottery class Thea Soloman notices a black envelope address to her. Inside is instructions that lead her to another envelope and then another and eventually to a house called Mademoiselle Corday in the middle of the woods. Upon entering there are more messages and a big bloke to get past if she wants to learn why she has been invited.

The place is the home of The Black Coats, a secret organisation that passes out balancings (judgements) on men who have gotten away with crimes. There are two different types of balancings, non-violent and violent, but they must never kill.

The Black Coats is an all-women team and they recruit girls to join who have had a trauma in the past and who want retribution. But everything within the organisation might not be as cool as it first seems, secrets from within can’t stay hidden forever and it is up to Thea how she handles the information and the consequences that might follow.

I really enjoyed The Black Coats. The writing flowed so easily and the plot was certainly enjoyable. There was lots of excitement within the pages as well as some amazing characters, especially the girls in Thea’s team called Team Banner; Louise, Bea, Casey, and Mirabelle who all had their unique personalities and personal traumas.

Thea is the leader of Team Banner and she is stronger than she will ever realise. Her cousin Natalie was murdered less than a year ago and her grief had her not wanting to be part of society or take part in the sports she use to enjoy but with every day working with the girl’s and training, Thea got stronger and more confident and the grief hurt a little less.

The book was told in the third person and split into two sections. The first section focuses on the girls training and becoming fully-fledged Black Coats as well as Thea’s relationship with Drew Porter from her high school. The second part is where most of the action and a big reveal is set. It is also where I made the connection between the cover and the story.

The Black Coats is a truly fabulous book that deals with a lot of issues facing teenagers today as well as the wider picture of whether vigilante behaviour is acceptable and is an eye for an eye really how the world should work?

I read the book in just a couple of sittings. It is a book I looked forward to reading again the second I put it down and one I couldn’t wait to finish and yet didn’t want it to end.

Colleen Oakes is the bestselling author of books for both teens and adults, including The Black Coats, Queen of Hearts Series, and The Wendy Darling Saga. She lives in North Denver with her husband and son. When not writing or plotting new books, Colleen can be found swimming, traveling or immersing herself in nerdy pop culture.

She currently at work on her third YA fairytale series, a YA thriller and a fantasy collaboration.

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