Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Everyone brings their secrets to the island…”

At this point, I don’t even think Tina Baker needs any sort of introduction. She’s just fabulous. Her books are incredible. And What We Did In The Storm did not let me down in the slightest! It’s her fourth novel, and each book sets the bar higher and higher. I am absolutely delighted to be sharing my review for this dark and compelling thriller. You need to read it!

About the book

On the beautiful and windswept island of Tresco, two worlds live side by side. The wealthy visitors come by helicopter to stay at their lavish time-share properties. The estate staff travel by boat, and work all hours to keep them happy, to keep the money flowing in.

But while the blue skies and savage waves make the island seem a wild paradise, under the surface the inhabitants are concealing more than they dare reveal. The truths about their marriages, their love affairs, and what they do in the darkness while their neighbours are sleeping.

As black clouds come rolling in and a storm hits the island, truths and rumours begin to tumble out, wreaking terrible damage. In the midst of the tempest, two women are attacked and one goes missing. The secrets of this fragile community can no longer be hidden if it hopes to survive. The islanders must finally reveal what they did in the storm, no matter the cost.

The beginning

God, I haven’t loved a remote setting so much since I read Lisa King’s Blue Haven! I instantly loved the weirdly alluring feel the island of Tresco gave me and it piqued my curiosity straight away. We learn that the wealthy travel there to bask in their timeshare properties, the staff of the estate do their utmost to keep them happy, and most importantly, to keep them returning. The whole system had me intrigued and it surprised me how clearly I could see this place in my mind thanks to the stunning descriptions. There was already something strange and almost darkening about the tone and the whole atmosphere, but I suppose that’s nothing new for our Queen T (seasoned T.B. readers will get it!) The present and future narrative, before an impending storm and afterwards was so brilliantly meticulous. It was horrifying to see what was to come, but it also built up so much excitement for me. It was perfectly organised, a setting that builds so many questions and tension, and it had so much potential.

“The sun today is relentlessly jolly, the birds and the harbour master delightfully chirpy, but two women have been attacked and another is still missing. Hardly wholesome.”

I’ll admit that this book – despite its cleverness in everything I read so far – took me longer to get into than the rest of the author’s books. I put this down to the slow burn feel and large cast of characters we’re introduced to straight away which took a bit of time to get organised in my mind. But over time, I began to piece together who everyone was and the roles they played, and as usual, everything was so brilliantly and expertly mapped out. I started to dislike characters who had strange, suspcious thoughts, and I became obsessed with the what ifs. Kit and Hannah soon became a very interesting pair to follow and I wondered how the impending storm would alter their lives, and everyone else’s. None of the characters were particularly likeable so far, but in a book like this, it’s what you want! Tina’s description of Tresco and everyone in it felt like such a deep and thorough introduction, and it would certainly be a hugely important part of whatever came next. And boy, were we in for a treat!

The middle

Characters begin to clash, there was so much gossip going on and the drama was simply delicious. Beatrice, Kit’s mother, is one of those characters you dislike but also love because of how perfectly developed they are. Her disapproval of her son shacking up with a barmaid when there were more suitable women (in her eyes), namely her goddaughter, Charlotte, felt like the start of something bigger. It felt like all this was building up to be a metaphorical storm alongside the actual storm which felt so incredibly clever to me. Rumours swirl, relationships change, anger ensues. There’s a lot going on here, but each chapter, no matter how seemingly irrelevant at the time, really helps us to piece together the cracks in this community of people and makes you mull over the lengths people could go to get revenge… The story was quickly getting darker and more disturbing as time passed and I loved every single glorious sentence.

“Only three days ago, strangers walked here – volunteers grimly tramping onwards in the driving rain, searching the coastline, peering into the water, snooping into caves and crevices; hoping they would not be the ones to discover a battered corpse.”

I loved Tina’s subtle mentions of the changing weather and the impending storm. A passing comment about the wind picking up and the tiny needles of rain was enough to build up so much excitement. The anger from multiple characters was perfectly written to lead us up to a single moment, and even though these characters weren’t the nicest people on earth, I still felt a little nervous for the outcome. We know people are going to be attacked. We know someone will end up missing. Some scenes may be difficult to get through for some, so do bear this in mind, but as always, Tina’s words could send a room of a million people into stunned silence. So powerful, so captivating, so horrifying. The short, sharp chapters also work so well and always gives me the ‘one more chapter’ feel. It became such an addictive read, the second half of the book quickly becoming so deep and complex with so much to question. I needed to know whether this missing person would ever be found and to know exactly who it was…

The end

It’s finally revealed which characters were attacked and which character was the one missing, and all the way through the search and the investigation, I felt so involved, so gripped and so desperate for answers. There was one particular character I really wanted to know the whereabouts of, someone I believed to be crucial in knowing whether or not this missing person could be saved. Or would it be too late? I loved hearing from all the different characters in turn and working out if they had anything to hide. They all had their own secrets, things they didn’t want to mention to the police. They didn’t want trouble for themselves. They didn’t want anyone to suspect them. Some even wanted to deal with things in their own way. It was so well written, so clever and kept me guessing all the way till the end. The order of everything and how it all fell into place felt so good.

“But she couldn’t believe what she saw, Impossible. It was a scene sent to punish her for her own wicked thoughts, the torment of the devil, a dumb show, a morality play. It wasn’t real. It can’t have been.”

I loved how there were so many little twists, so many secrets revealed that were so unexpected and kept me hanging onto every word. The biggest reveal and how everything came together was just genius. The description was horrific (in the best possible way) and all the small details made everything feel scarily real. I was floored by the whole ending, the actions from different characters making me feel so much unexpected emotion (even for characters I wasn’t even keen on at the start.) The development of everything was incredibly thorough and has been penned to perfection. If you already love Tina’s books, this is a must! And if you’re new to this author, I strongly suggest you add her entire works to your TBR piles. Dark thrillers do not get any better than this! Book hangover incoming, I can feel it…

Overall thoughts

What We Did In The Storm is such a meticulously written thriller laced with beautiful descriptions, a large cast of complex characters, and a dark, chilling atmosphere from start to finish. It’s a big character driven book with a plot that will constantly keep you guessing. I loved Tina’s take on the island of Tresco and the community of people who have so much to hide, the secrets revealed towards the end are still on my mind and don’t think they’ll ever leave! It’s dark, it’s disturbing in some places and completely horrific in others, but it’s addictive, unforgettable and so so clever. Another perfect read from Tina B!

Huge thanks to the author, Tina Baker and the wonderful team at Viper Books for my ARC! You can grab your own copy of What We Did In The Storm now on Amazon or wherever you buy your books. Make sure you’re following the author on Twitter/X and Instagram for more updates!

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