Scan barcode
librarymouse's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
This was a fast, informative, and enjoyable read. I initial picked up this book for a reading challenge, having enjoyed Juli Berwald's other book Spineless, and wanting to see if I could get to understand my own OCD diagnosis better through understanding that of her daughter. While that isn't what I got out of this book, I still greatly enjoyed it. Framing coral health to the health of the planet, as mental health is to the health of the body, especially in how both have been consistently ignored until they reach near catastrophic extents clarified quite a lot about the coral reefs and what they do for the planet, that I had not been aware of before. That frame made the more scientifically dense sections easy to understand.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
jbmorgan86's review
4.0
More than I ever wanted to know about coral! This was recommended by a Tiktok user. It was a great read. The author gets into the science, economics, politics, and virtually every other aspect of the coral crisis (did you know that 50% of the earth’s coral has died in the past 30 years?). She mixes the information about coral with personal anecdotes about her daughter’s struggle with OCD and about all of the events of 2020 (COVID, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, etc.).
cmunisteri's review
5.0
This book is fantastic. I love the way Juli Berwald writes - she's incredible at explaining complicated things in a way anyone can understand. Sometimes scientific books bore me to tears, even when they're on topics I love, but between the scientific and economic data she includes, the intertwining of her personal story, and fun tidbits of her trips and dives, I was engaged the entire time. The state of coral reefs is typically depressing, but this book left me surprisingly hopeful and I learned WAY more than I thought I would. I'm excited to read Spineless.
taylorlanxon's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.75
I loved her way of engaging, scientific writing meets emotional connection with the topic but I didnt feel like her daughters struggle with OCD tied well into the story.
saralynnburnett's review
5.0
This book is a must-read for any coral fan. Berwald didn’t skimp on the science while somehow making this whole novel so readable I couldn’t put it down—it was propulsive and urgent. While the struggles corals face (due to us, pollution, global warming, etc—Florida has exactly 0 living coral reefs left) are well known, this book wasn’t depressing.
Yes, I was breathless during Berwald’s recounting of global bleaching events, (the largest of which you probably missed because it happened in 2020 and pandemic news drown out the loss of a sizeable portion of the world’s coral reefs), but there is always hope lingering in the corners of these pages. The book was an ode to the many people and organizations out there doing cutting edge work on coral restoration, dedicating their lives to ensuring that the world’s most fascinating ecosystems remain.
Scientists, locals, and coral hobbyists are studying coral adaptability to rising temperatures (and it turns out a reef I’m about to become very familiar with in a few months lining the Red Sea in Egypt is a keystone reef as it has a high temperature tolerance), how to mitigate post-hurricane damage, how a team of special ops veterans goes out in scuba gear after each hurricane to literally glue coral back into place), how the Mars Corp is literally rebuilding reefs in Indonesia, how others go out daily to treat corals affected stony coral tissue loss disease, how governments are creating debt swaps for conservation and blue bonds, how because coral reefs are “invisible” to most being underwater—how people with VR headsets are showing communities what they have under there in order to stop blast fishing and so on.
There are so many examples of hope in here — an absolute MUST READ!
Yes, I was breathless during Berwald’s recounting of global bleaching events, (the largest of which you probably missed because it happened in 2020 and pandemic news drown out the loss of a sizeable portion of the world’s coral reefs), but there is always hope lingering in the corners of these pages. The book was an ode to the many people and organizations out there doing cutting edge work on coral restoration, dedicating their lives to ensuring that the world’s most fascinating ecosystems remain.
Scientists, locals, and coral hobbyists are studying coral adaptability to rising temperatures (and it turns out a reef I’m about to become very familiar with in a few months lining the Red Sea in Egypt is a keystone reef as it has a high temperature tolerance), how to mitigate post-hurricane damage, how a team of special ops veterans goes out in scuba gear after each hurricane to literally glue coral back into place), how the Mars Corp is literally rebuilding reefs in Indonesia, how others go out daily to treat corals affected stony coral tissue loss disease, how governments are creating debt swaps for conservation and blue bonds, how because coral reefs are “invisible” to most being underwater—how people with VR headsets are showing communities what they have under there in order to stop blast fishing and so on.
There are so many examples of hope in here — an absolute MUST READ!