I really wanted to love this. I mean, this is basically a darker version of Anne of Green Gables. Henceforth why I was greatly intrigued. But ultimately, the execution is where this book really didn't work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I am sorry to say I did not like this book and will not be purchasing it for the library. It just isn't well written and talks down to the audience as sometimes happens when adults write for teen audiences.

2.5/5 stars, rounded to 3
This book was okay. It wasn't something I was jumping up and down over, but not something I entirely hated. THE COMING STORM's greatest strength is it's sense of place. The setting of 1950 Prince Edward Island lent a superb sense of atmosphere to this book, which is what I really enjoyed the most. I did enjoy the incorporation of Celtic myth and thought that the overrarching mystery was one that kept me interested. I liked Beet and thought that all of the characters were as unique as the book's premise. My big issue was pacing. So much of this book moves so slow, and while there is a subtlety that I liked about this one, the slow flow of the plot was a killer. So as much as I liked the fantastical and atmospheric elements, the execution of the pacing left much to be desired.

The Coming Storm has been at the top of my list when it comes to 2021 releases. I still can't explain how happy I am to have been given the chance to read and review this book. So, without further delays let's get to the review.
The world building, characters and descriptions were amazing. I liked that everything happened at the right time and that nothing was rushed. We got to move through the world as steady as possible. I don't want to reveal too much information about the plot, but there is action and magic.
Full review to come on my YouTube channel.

I read a bunch of reviews that described The Coming Storm with Anne of Green Gables, ad it's honestly the best matchup. The slow pacing, whimsical setting descriptions, and large cast of characters are reminiscent of the style of Anne of Green Gables with its own twist of magic and additional folklore. It's a good read with a younger voice but the slow pacing can be a bit off-putting in the beginning.

I started The Coming Storm by Regina M. Hansen not knowing what to expect. I had read only a brief, enigmatic description of the plot and seen an image of the gorgeous cover art. Reading the opening scene soon assured me of Hansen’s talent. She accomplishes a great deal quickly without making the prose or plot too caught up in exposition. She introduces her protagonist and one of many narrators, Beet MacNeill, as well as some of her family while executing major plot points that will reverberate throughout the book. Hansen clearly knew her story intimately and had planned its opening with exceptional care.
This attention to detail and elegant construction of plot remains consistent throughout the novel. The story progresses along two timelines, one moving forward in time in 1950 and one moving ever further back in time, even to pre-historic human history. While in the 1950 timeline Hansen switches between established character narrators, in the past timeline many of the narrators are tangentially connected to her primary characters or even one-off characters we never encounter again after their narration concludes. Hansen handles these techniques admirably, keeping the focus of the past timeline more on plot events and establishing a pattern of supernatural occurrences than on the narrators themselves. Hansen clearly trusts the intelligence of her readers in order to be able to connect the dots between the pattern established in the past and ongoing events in the 1950 timeline. My one complaint about these timelines was that were one or two too many repetitions in the past timeline that did not contribute much to the supernatural mythology with which Hansen was working because the events had already been depicted several times.
In addition to the well-planned structure, I loved Hansen’s ability to blend her historical setting of Prince Edward Island with the mythology of the sea and the Scotch heritage of some of the island’s inhabitants. So many YA novels are either realism or fantasy that The Coming Storm’s use of both genres felt fresh and innovative.
Finally, Hansen’s writing style and characters offer ample reading incentive of their own. The characters of Beet’s world are a delight. They range from her supernatural-story loving best friend (how convenient for a posse attempting to fight demonic influences 😊), the town’s otherworldly librarian, and a boy visiting from Boston for the summer. What’s more, Beet’s love of music and the sea are expressed through gorgeous prose describing these passions.
If your last literary visit to Prince Edward Island was reading Anne of Green Gables or one of its sequels, it’s time to return and see it afresh through The Coming Storm.

I loved the setting and the atmosphere of this book. It was a little hard for me to get into. The voice felt very much middle grade for me, which would be fine, but it was listed as YA so I wasn't expecting a MG voice. Content wise it seemed like an upper MG, too, though there were elements that I feel would have been to difficult to follow for most MG readers. The back and forth between timelines was intriguing but it sometimes left me a bit confused. Pacing wise this book was slower than I like, which was disappointing. I felt like the pitch for it was off..."Music, myth, and horror blend in this romantic, atmospheric fantasy debut about a teen girl who must fight a powerful evil that’s invaded her Prince Edward Island home—perfect for fans of An Enchantment of Ravens." doesn't feel at all like what this book was for me when I read it. There was barely any romance, and if felt much more magical realism than fantasy. And while it had some creepy moments I didn't find it to be horror in tone, unless maybe it would count as horror for MG readers. Overall there were a few interesting twists and turns, and the location was beautifully described, but it wasn't as gripping as I hoped.

The Coming Storm was a read that differs from typical books that I pick up. The description enticed me and made me decide to try something new, and I'm glad that I did. While the beginning was slow and made me unsure, I became pleasantly surprised as it went on. Definitely took some getting used to the world and Beet's way of leading the story, however, I loved her relationships with her family and friends.

The relationships between the characters were my favorite part of this story. They flowed naturally and felt genuine, not forced. To me personally, characters are the most important part of a story, which is why I was particularly pleased by the ones in The Coming Storm.

Overall, a different but good read. Would recommend to anyone looking for a unique coming of age ghost story!

The cover and blurb were gorgeous and I wish I could love this book. Unfortunately this book's writing style wasn't for me. It's very folklore-y, in the sense that it is a slow and winding story with lots of descriptions that had me wondering where the tangent was going and what the point was. Some people like that style of writing, but I just couldn't shovel through it. After the beautiful cover, I was also expecting the violin to be more involved than it ended up being, which was another disappointment for me.

Since what I didn't like was mostly stylistic, I do think this could be a book that others enjoy. Just be wary as it is a very slow and meandering book.

Well, this book was not quite what I expected, and now I’m trying to figure out what I was expecting 😂 I suppose I thought this would be more of a romance, and it had some elements of romance, but definitely not the focus in this story. It made me think of Anne of Green Gables so much, with a horror/supernatural twist to it.

In this story, we follow Beatrice(or Beet as everyone calls her) whose cousin suddenly dies while at sea one day and leaves behind his wife and child with Beet and her family. They live what I understood to be a small town where people love to gossip. After her cousin dies, his mother dies about a year later. Then a mysterious woman comes to town claiming to be Gerry’s mother’s niece, and yet there’s something familiar about her, and also very strange and unnerving. And Beet is determined to find out what, and gets the help of others to find out what’s really going on and who Marina Shaw really is.

Beatrice is a fantastic character! She’s so tough, feisty and independent. She reminds me so much of Anne from Anne of Green Gables and then her mother is similar to Marilla, and her father is similar to Matthew. Then she has her best friend Jeanine who is a huge fan of ghost stories. They also live in Canada in a small town filled with people who love to gossip and get into each other’s business. And this may be partially why I liked the book so much because it reminded me of Anne of Green Gables, which I love so much, but has this interesting haunting horror twist to it. This story was eerie and spooky, but not over the top. It had the right amount for the story to still have lighthearted elements to it, like when the town got together and danced to jigs that locals played with their instruments. And then it had the right amount of romance in it, especially with how young they are.

There are also quite a few different POVs, and quite a bit of going back into the past and back to the present, which I disliked and enjoyed at the same time. I enjoyed it because those POVs needed to be in there to bring everything together, and to explain certain events in the story and why they came to be. I also disliked them because I had to pay attention to the names and timelines so that I wouldn’t get confused about who we were reading about or what timeline we were in.

This was a great story! I mean, if you love Anne of Green Gables, then I think you’ll enjoy this book too, especially if you love horror elements to your books. Thank you to Simon and Schuster, Regina M. Hanson and Netgalley for a free e-arc copy of The Coming Storm for an honest review.

Will post review on Goodreads, Amazon, and others closer to publication date.

This was a lovely story. I would personally classify it as an YA historical fantasy novel, with a vibe of folklore and fairy tales elements.

It is a dark and busy night, when Gerry appears in front of our protagonist Beet, he is drenched and playing an odd melody. At the same time, Gerry's girlfriend gives birth, while he is found dead.
Beet has a feeling that her death was not an accident, Marina Shaw has come to town, she claims to be a distant relative from Gerry, but Beet doesn't trust her, the sea is changing, the waves behave strangely, it seems that the storms are approaching, also a melodious voice can be heard over the waves and it seems to be able to hypnotize those who listen to it.

The pacing can feel slow, it has an air of mystery that hooks, it is atmospheric and descriptive, you discover things little by little, together with the characters, because Beet is not alone, her friends and some members of the town wants answers too. I liked the protagonists and villain; the protagonists are nice and charismatic (Not perfect, but real.) and the villain reminded me of villains that we can find in fairy tales.

The use of magic through music, I found it beautiful, unique, and very appropriate, the violin on the seashore, its perfect.

Overall, it's a charming story; the location was enchanting, the descriptions were very vivid, you can almost feel that you are in Nova Scotia, and feel the sea breeze or overhear a voice that invites you to enter into the waves.


Review dates: Goodreads, B&N, Amazon: 01 Jun 2021

*Thank you to Simon and Schuster , Regina M. Hanson and Netgalley for giving me an EARC of "The Coming Storm" in exchange for anow honest review*

This was an interesting read. It took me a little bit to get used to Beet's way of speaking, but once I did, it was an immersive read. I liked the use of music as a way to fight evil.