Synopsis:
The coral reef rose from the seas, spreading across the land with incredible speed.
A rapidly evolving invasive species.
It transformed the landscape. Mutated every living creature of the surface world.
We never suspected it had a plan.
My Edition:
E-Arc provided by the publisher
My Thoughts:
Do you have climate anxiety?
Do you live on planet Earth?
Since I imagine that the answer to both of those deeply interconnected questions is a resounding “yes,” I’ll jump right in. Reef Mind is going to take your climate anxiety and slap you across the face with it. It’s going to be challenging, but you’re going to love it. You’re going to ask Hazel Zorn to please give you just a little bit more of this deeply distressing, strangely beautiful story.
It’s only 161 pages, but it reads like a fully fleshed out novel. It’s scary, it’s disturbing, and if you’re like me, you kinda find yourself rooting for the coral.
Reef Mind opens on the line, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with you. I’ve never been good with children, but I have to do something. You’re my fault, after all, every monstrous bit. I wonder how long it would take to break your tiny neck.” The rest of the book feels a lot like that first bit – like you’re constantly on edge. Constantly trying to grasp just what in the hell is going on right now, and how we get out of it (we know how we got here, after all).
Rating:
What a great and delightfully distressing story. And as should be apparent, a cautionary tale about the absolute shit way we treat the planet that is forced to house us. Maybe we should try to be a little less crappy, huh? Just a thought?
Reef Mind
By: Hazel Zorn
Tenebrous Press
Published: September 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781959790419
Paperback, E-book
161 Pages
