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valetparkering's review against another edition
4.0
Good reminder that climate justice and social justice are a part of the same struggle
sarahheidmann's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
cylz's review against another edition
informative
3.5
Lots of great information in this book and I recommend it to discerning readers who can approach it with a critical eye and can intuitively tell when to skip ahead.
That's because mixed in with the great info is a lot of unnecessary detail that has been mentioned in other reviews. I fortunately knew going in that I would be skipping all the parts about the author's daughter, which aren't relevant at all to the subject matter. At the beginning they're sparse but near the end of the book they pick up dramatically.
The last quarter or fifth of the book loses the plot. There are some nice nuggets, but you can otherwise skim and not miss much, and you'll know when you get to this section, which starts about when COVID derails the author's trip to Australia.
The daughter parts were easy to skip but the author also inserts herself way too much into the science narrative, as well. At times it reads as a kind of travelogue, but sadly not a very adventurous or interesting one. Huge chunks about where she met whom for coffee and the food they ordered, and going on and on about many side details that don't matter could have been struck. Riverhead Books apparently doesn't believe in or isn't giving the funding by their overlords at Penguin to support editors.
I'm also critical of the author's submission to market solutions and her heavy focus on the efforts of corporate foundations and individual supposedly-benevolent billionaires. She says everyone and every sector, including corporations, governments and non-profits, should be part of the solution, but she seemed to make a research and narrative choice to most heavily focus on the formermost.
Despite all that, this was a great survey of the different problems facing coral throughout the world and various solutions being studied and employed to help restore them and make them more resilient. I recommend with asterisks.
That's because mixed in with the great info is a lot of unnecessary detail that has been mentioned in other reviews. I fortunately knew going in that I would be skipping all the parts about the author's daughter, which aren't relevant at all to the subject matter. At the beginning they're sparse but near the end of the book they pick up dramatically.
The last quarter or fifth of the book loses the plot. There are some nice nuggets, but you can otherwise skim and not miss much, and you'll know when you get to this section, which starts about when COVID derails the author's trip to Australia.
The daughter parts were easy to skip but the author also inserts herself way too much into the science narrative, as well. At times it reads as a kind of travelogue, but sadly not a very adventurous or interesting one. Huge chunks about where she met whom for coffee and the food they ordered, and going on and on about many side details that don't matter could have been struck. Riverhead Books apparently doesn't believe in or isn't giving the funding by their overlords at Penguin to support editors.
I'm also critical of the author's submission to market solutions and her heavy focus on the efforts of corporate foundations and individual supposedly-benevolent billionaires. She says everyone and every sector, including corporations, governments and non-profits, should be part of the solution, but she seemed to make a research and narrative choice to most heavily focus on the formermost.
Despite all that, this was a great survey of the different problems facing coral throughout the world and various solutions being studied and employed to help restore them and make them more resilient. I recommend with asterisks.
soccer91's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
Great balance of informative science about corals and the current systems/experiments currently undergoing to help them survive.
anishaaa's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
3.5
Super informative. I love a book about nature and climate change that takes on a slightly hopeful tone.
I enjoyed the snippets of the author's life and daughter sprinkled throughout, thought the last second on COVID seemed tacked on at the end.
I enjoyed the snippets of the author's life and daughter sprinkled throughout, thought the last second on COVID seemed tacked on at the end.
gracekatreads's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
2.0
This book should really be three books—it’s clunky and not edited down well; more than being about coral reefs, it’s about solutions for bleaching in a very “neoliberalism will save us!” way.
grimja's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
kathrynreading's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Like her first book Spineless, Juli takes you on a fantastic journey through the science of corals and reefs but also introduces you to the amazing people doing the work to understand and protect corals. Juli had a way of making you feel like you are right there and every chapter is full of excitement and discovery.
Intertwined is the story of her daughter Isy’s OCD. All the sections on Isy are from Juli’s POV and Isy has given permission for them to be in the book. From interviews and articles I read with Juli post publication Isy seems to be thriving. This was important for me to know going in as Juli’s initial descriptions of Isy’s OCD are very visceral. I needed to know that Isy was going to get the help she needed. I don’t consider this a spoiler. I appreciate how Juli ties together mental health, social inequality, racism and the reef together.
This is a fabulous book. If you haven’t read Juli’s book Spineless which is on jellyfish I recommend you do; it’s just as excellent.
Intertwined is the story of her daughter Isy’s OCD. All the sections on Isy are from Juli’s POV and Isy has given permission for them to be in the book. From interviews and articles I read with Juli post publication Isy seems to be thriving. This was important for me to know going in as Juli’s initial descriptions of Isy’s OCD are very visceral. I needed to know that Isy was going to get the help she needed. I don’t consider this a spoiler. I appreciate how Juli ties together mental health, social inequality, racism and the reef together.
This is a fabulous book. If you haven’t read Juli’s book Spineless which is on jellyfish I recommend you do; it’s just as excellent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Animal death
Minor: Racism and Medical content