Literally Leander discussion

Our featured book club pick for November 2019 was The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes. As always, be prepared for this thread to be positively rife with spoilers.

This month, our prompt questions were once again written by a staff member. Don't feel pressured to answer these at all if you don't want to. We'd love to hear anything you have to say about this book, whether it be an observation, a question, or comments and criticism.

1. The novel is set in Austin, Texas. Did you find that Oakes did a good job of describing Austin? Or was the setting inconsequential to the plot?

2. The goal of the Black Coats is the “administer justice, true justice.” How would you define justice?

3. How would you describe the Black Coats organization? Do you think it’s possible for such a large organization to exist, yet still be hidden from the public? What about their highly secretive Monarchs team?

4. As Team Banner begins training together, Thea says, “There is a strange magic to this particular group… We are healing ourselves.” Do you think the members of Team Banner share a special bond? Is their transition from strangers to friends believable?

5. What, if any, is the symbolism of the black coat?

6. What were your thoughts on the ending of this book? Is there anything you would’ve done differently?

This is the first time I'm actually posting to discussion within a few weeks of completing the book (I know!) and I'm a little at a loss of what to write about.

I found The Black Coats wholly intriguing. The group was so enigmatic, and while I don't particularly think it was realistic, I personally feel like there is a deep message about the the current state of the law, and the stigma that comes with reporting assaults. When I was in college, I took psychology and criminology classes, and one thing both reiterated time and again was that people, for whatever reason, sometimes don't feel safe reporting when they've been assaulted. It could be that they think they will be blamed for a heinous act taken against them, it could be because they're scared of what happens after their attacker is released, it could be because they feel, for whatever reason, that they deserved it (and, honestly, they never do deserve it.) And then there are the stories where people have reported crimes, and their attackers have walked free. Of course, there is the vice versa: incorrectly accused of a crime they didn't commit. In reality, solving a crime is not nearly as easy as CSI made it out to be. Even then, they don't really spend a lot of time ruminating on the healing process of surviving an attack of any kind.

1. The novel is set in Austin, Texas. Did you find that Oakes did a good job of describing Austin? Or was the setting inconsequential to the plot?
While particularly interesting for Austinites, unfortunately I didn't think that the setting of the Lone Star's capital was all that important to the story itself. The only thing mildly related was when Thea fears, for a moment, that if she was caught during "Balancings," she'd be a black girl in Texas; that, however, is a true comment in much of the United States, and not city-specific. Otherwise, the true feeling of Texas was lost with this novel.

2. The goal of the Black Coats is the “administer justice, true justice.” How would you define justice?
This is one of those impossible questions. The literal definition of justice is "just behavior or treatment," and that doesn't do anything to answer the question. It all falls on a human sense of morality, which is hardly a standard of measurement; it fluctuates too much from one person to another. It's one of those gray words that we can't really describe. For instance, have you ever tried to describe the color red without using the word? What about time? It exists on a nonphysical plane of being, and therefore is open to interpretation. It's something that, no matter how hard we try, I don't think we'll ever be able to truly understand.

However, at one point, Thea is questioned about the line between justice and vengeance. Where justice can be seen as something that exists in order to punish wrong-doers, while also falling on the "right" side of the line, while vengeance is something that doesn't seem to take morality into play. It's an eye-for-an-eye world in terms of vengeance.

3. How would you describe the Black Coats organization? Do you think it’s possible for such a large organization to exist, yet still be hidden from the public? What about their highly secretive Monarchs team?
It seems unrealistic from the stance of a regular person, one of 7 billion plus. Though there are large and secretive organizations out there--government agencies like the CIA, criminal rings like the mafia. The Black Coats are an organization that grooms women into future government roles, like judges and police and FBI agents, and has a strong hold through bribery and other illegal and nefarious means.

6. What were your thoughts on the ending of this book? Is there anything you would’ve done differently?
I gave this book a 3.5 rating (rounded up to four since GR doesn't do half stars) and the one of the main reasons it wasn't higher was because of the ending. I didn't feel like it fit the rest of the story. The Black Coats has a sense of thrill throughout the entire thing, but it became all about kidnapping and assassinations and just felt too big for the plot it began with.

I have a question of my own this time: What did you think about the third person narrative?

I personally thought it would've been better if told from Thea's first person narrative. I felt like I didn't get to connect with Thea as thoroughly as I wanted to, which in turn made her connections feel a little dull. The friendships were okay but felt a little stereotypical (Thea becomes a confidante for the mean girl, while being the motherly type towards the weak link.) Thea's romance with Drew wasn't terrible but it didn't have as much chemistry as I wanted, especially with them confessing their profound love that they would give their lives for.

1. The novel is set in Austin, Texas. Did you find that Oakes did a good job of describing Austin? Or was the setting inconsequential to the plot?
I was initially excited that the novel was set in Austin, Texas. I rarely find books that take place in my hometown. However, I was disappointed by how Austin was described. Oakes would mention that the girls went somewhere outside of Austin and I would try to figure out which town they were in based on the scenery, which proved to be impossible. There was also a scene which described the girls visiting a college in Austin that definitely was not UT, and I was trying to figure out if it was St. Edward's or Huston–Tillotson University.

4. As Team Banner begins training together, Thea says, “There is a strange magic to this particular group… We are healing ourselves.” Do you think the members of Team Banner share a special bond? Is their transition from strangers to friends believable?
I do not know if Team Banner shares a special bond. They did what was required of them to remain in the Black Coats. The Black Coats thrived on collectivism. "Turning five separate girls into one functioning Team Banner made the days bleed together into an insane mix of running, martial arts, and lectures." Right after Thea said the quote about the strange magic, some of the girls were willing to throw each other under the bus by deciding who among them was the weakest team member. I did find their transition from strangers to friends believable because of all the time they spent together and the experiences they shared.

5. What, if any, is the symbolism of the black coat?
I looked up what black coats often symbolize in dreams to answer this question. (Even though I have a degree in English, I still struggle with symbolism.) Black represents darkness and hiding. A black coat, in particular, symbolizes a new start or transformation. After the murder of her cousin Natalie, Thea wants to exact vengeance of Natalie's murderer. The black coat symbolizes how Thea wanted to change as a result of Natalie's death. The color black represents that she was not aware of the true identity of Natalie's murderer. "Thea would never be the person that she was before Natalie died, but perhaps she could become someone better. Someone powerful. A Black Coat."