5 Stars from me
How do I even begin to do this book justice?
I absolutely adore the way that Amanda Jennings writes, I have loved all of her books and, although I expected The Storm to be good, I was utterly blown away by this one.
An author like no other, Amanda creates characters that feel so real it is as if you are truly following their lives rather than reading a novel. She has a way of verbalising emotions that hits home, an example:
‘Cam visited. Once. He sat on the chair in my room holding the mug of tea that my mother made him. We didn’t talk. Instead we sat in silence and stared at nothing, our tentacles of guilt wriggling outwards, knotting together, snarling up at the space between us.’
If that doesn’t sum up the gut wrenching feeling of a moment going wrong, of that disconnect that you can only feel with someone you love then I don’t know what does. I hope that after writing that little paragraph she danced around the room and high-fived the dog safe in the knowledge that she is a genius.
The story is a different take on the subject of coercive control, it is also a love story, it also celebrates family bonds, the emotional trauma of the relationships with ones children and ones parents, and sea fishing in Cornwall… How can one person be so adept and skilled when writing about all of these somewhat varied subjects?
My favourite character was the son, Alex, what a top lad. Nathan, awful obviously, but I couldn’t help but feel a teensy bit sorry for him too. Cam and Hannah – ahhh I actually have a tonne I could say about Hannah’s marriage, about ‘that night’, about the decisions made but I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone else.
Do yourself a favour and read The Storm to find out.
Huge thanks to NetGalley, HQ Stories and the gorgeous Amanda Jennings for the chance to read an advance copy of this breathtaking story.
Blurb: Hannah and Nathan appear to have the perfect marriage.
A beautiful Cornish house with heritage, a son, a dog. Every evening, Hannah awaits her husband’s return, with a home-cooked meal, soothing conversation and, ultimately, sex. But Nathan control Hannah’s every move – counting her change from her shopping, checking her receipts, the mileage on the car. And Hannah seems happy to let him, being a prisoner in a gilded cage.
Because Hannah has a secret. She dreams of someone else, someone who once made her heart sing… But that was a long time ago, before everything went wrong. And ever since that night on the docks, when blood splashed in the rain, Hannah has been paying the price, keeping Nathan happy, keeping the peace…
But her past is going to catch up with her…
Set against the brutal backdrop of a Cornish fishing port in the 90s, where trips to sea were long and heartbreaking, fraught with danger and horrific accidents, this is devastating exploration of the power of coercive control…
Read and Rated 
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