2.5*
I have mixed feelings about Into the Storm. It follows the experiences of a doctor, Enya Pickering, after she gets caught up in a hit and run incident on a remote road outside Dublin on a wet winter night. I’ve enjoyed other Cecilia Ahern novels and Into the Storm delivered some of her trademark features: she creates vivid scenes and scenarios that get you right into her characters’ lives, exploring their emotions, relationships and motivations under difficult circumstances. I hate the term ‘women’s fiction’ but this would fit the bill. It does what it says on the tin, essentially. For this reason, I’d give this 3-4 stars because it does deliver on expectations in many ways, and no doubt many of her avid fans will like this.
As for what pulls my rating down, it’s the story. It felt contrived and rather heavy handed. As I read, I could almost picture the story broken down into index cards pulled out one at a time to construct the narrative, with none of the individual pieces feeling quite convincing. Two threads – the whole tree thing (avoiding spoilers) and her mother’s letters – in particular were just cloying and felt like filler. In short, I observed the story unfold, rather than getting caught up into it.
In my view, fiction lives or dies on suspension of disbelief. It’s the trump card in the pack. This time, it wasn’t played.
My thanks to Netgalley for giving me a free copy of this book. All my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased, regardless of how I acquire the book.
Here’s a book that deals with somewhat similar situations and themes, that I preferred: