Reviews - The Storm We Made

1.61k reviews for:

The Storm We Made is told by a Cecily and her three children, Cecily mainly in the past and her children during WW2 when Japan occupied Malaysia. In the thirties, Cecily helps a Japanese spy gather intel believing the Japanese will be better rulers than the British. But when the Japanese invade, her son is taken to a work camp and her youngest daughter disappears.

What I liked: I really liked this one. I felt like I learned a lot about how brutal life could be in Malaysia during that time period.

The characters are complex and often make decisions that have you questioning their motives and reasoning. On one hand, you get Cecily wanting a better life but on the other, you’re left wondering if she’s being swindled. Not to mention, she’s often not likable.

What didn’t work for me: This is picking but Cecily ‘releases a breath she didn’t realize she was holding’ multiple times. It bugged me.

I think the character’s actions may make it hard for some readers to connect.

Who should read it: This book can be difficult to read and sad, the ending isn’t your typical happy ever after so readers looking for that might be disappointed. It’s a powerful story about a topic, I wasn’t familiar.

ailiscr32's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

laynereadsrbtr's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A difficult but powerful story from a perspective I have not encountered. I can’t say I enjoyed the story because it drives home the steep costs of war, colonialism, and xenophobia. But it is extremely compelling; raw and gritty. And more importantly fights against the tide of those stories that seek to romanticize conflict and rewrite history.

jess_the_book_junkie's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

emilyschnitker's review against another edition

4.0

informative fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jjsbookcase's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

natalieba's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional informative slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I ended up doing a combination of reading this on the page and listening to the audiobook, which I got from my library. The audiobook is well-narrated by Samantha Tan. The novel is told in dual timelines and tells a WWII story I was unfamiliar with - British-colonized Malaya in 1935 and the same area during the Japanese occupation at the end of WWII.

Much of the story is raw and almost hard to read - torture abounds and the author doesn’t shy away from drawing a detailed picture of what life was like for Malayans during the Japanese occupation. The family at the heart of the story has lived for years alongside trauma, pain, and terror, and it is impossible to read this story with any sense of hope - only the hope for survival. And is that even worth seeking out when so much has been destroyed? It was truly bleak.

I appreciate learning more about this (for me) uncovered aspect of WWII, knowing that these kinds of stories are no doubt happening in war-torn places today. But, despite claiming to touch on ‘pain and triumph’ (according to the publisher’s blurb), this novel seemed to only focus on pounding home the malicious, dark side of humanity. The blurb goes on to call the novel a ‘dazzling saga about the horrors of war’ and I don’t know how in the world the word ‘dazzling’ could be used to describe such a thing as war (or this book).

Content Warnings