God but Hollie's unlikeable. Stuffed to bursting with daddy issues, hating on her mother at every step, fighting back against the least suggestion of discipline, comeuppance or punishment – you'd not exactly prioritise picking her out of a flood situation. Which does kind of make the whole book awkward here – seeing as you can tell from the preamble (and about the second page if you skipped the preamble) that there is going to be a flood situation.

Unlikeable Hollie, fit lad Rex (!) and nerdy girl Parker are an unlikely trio for a joint learning project at school, which Parker seems delighted at – the newly reinforced sea wall flood defences for the town. Hollie's mum works at the firm behind it, so she has an in for them to go to HQ, gen up, and so on. That "so on" includes trespassing in the research department, and two of them nearly dying. But what it does help do, is spark a light in Unlikeable Hollie's mind, that we could see gathering kindling on about the third page – that all is not as it seems…

I was sure to like this – a more than accomplished thriller writer, something different to my usual… And yet this was a big let-down – the writing was repetitive, in ramming into our throats from Parker, the company, the narration, that the sea wall was for this purpose etc, amongst many other things that ended up being told to us three times. So much of it was, as I said, completely guessable – you certainly don't need to have the premonitions of one character that are added to proceedings here in a slightly ungainly way. And even if you like your characters to be realistic there is no way I wanted to be stuck here wondering just how influential the anti-authority side of Unlikeable Hollie might get to be amongst target readers. I wanted to be stuck here, mind ringing from some great entertainment instead.

The second half is, as you can all foretell with this in your hands, a different beast – more of an action story as opposed to a building conspiracy thriller. But even then things aren't perfect, with redemptive thoughts entering Hollie's mind a touch heavily. All told, then, not the best introduction to this author I could have had, and that's saying it mildly – and in no world should my local libraries have this down as a teen read.

Sophie McKenzie is a very popular author with older pupils at my primary school. Secret Sister and Girl, Missing being particular favourites. Therefore I wanted to read this to be able to talk to them about it and recommend it if I enjoyed it myself. I would say that at the start I wasn't sure if it would be my type of book as the 'storm wall' didn't greatly interest me but I persevered because I have also enjoyed many of her books and I'm glad I did because it got so much better as it went on. I think pupils will like all the action in the book and I think they will be rooting for the main character who is going through a traumatic time at home and struggling with friendships at school too. It's action-packed!

3⭐️

The premise of the book is quite interesting: our main character uncovers a lie about the company who has funded and built a new sea wall to help protect her town against sea storms and tries to get the truth to come to light.

Unfortunately, I think the writing is a little too young for me and the characters were very childish (if I was 14, I would have enjoyed this a lot more but I’m 30!).

I think if you’re a preteen, it would be a fun read with some mystery and suspense.

When Hollie and Parker begin their project on sea wall defences, the last thing they expect is to uncover a tangled web of secrets and lies that puts them all in danger. But that is exactly what happens.

Hollie is already struggling with her parents splitting up, and has major anger issues. She isn't always kind to those around her, including her best friend and her mother.

So when she finds an invoice that indicates that there may have been some cutting of corners in the building of a new, state of the art sea wall built for the coastal town of Salthaven, she is furious not to be believed.

Luckily Hollie has Parker and their new friend Rex to back her up a she figures out what's going on. Sophie McKenzie does it again with this entertaining and fast paced story! It gets 3.5 stars.

Storm of Lies by Sophie McKenzie is a really thrilling and fast paced adventure story set in the coastal town of Salthaven where a state of the art new sea wall has been built to protect the town from the effects of climate change. However, when carrying out a school project our main character Hollie discovers an invoice that shows the wall has been built using sub-standard steel, meaning the town is at risk should there be a storm. Nobody believes her though and so when a storm warning is issued, it is up to Hollie to try to get people to listen to her.

Hollie is a really complex character, often angry at the world and taking it out on the people around her, especially her best friend Parker and her Mum. As the story goes on though you get to understand her more and find out more about why she feels the way she does. I loved the contrast in characters between Hollie and Parker and introducing a new friend Rex added an extra element of interest.

The weather and climate aspects were really interesting and covered in good detail - I liked the balance of science and storytelling in the story.

A great book - would definitely recommend this for confident middle grade readers and YA readers.

Admittedly, this is the first book by Sophie McKenzie that I have read. I like it instantly more because of her depiction of the pain felt by the protagonist after her parents split. That makes the character sound so much more real. The story is rather fast-paced. Just like the comments from another reviewer, I too would have loved to see other characters taking a more active part in the story.

Storm of Lies is written by Sophie McKenzie, one of the best children’s writers of the thriller genre around. This is no different--when the latter half of the story builds to a crescendo Sophie McKenzie's great writing pulls it through. I do think it is one of the weaker stories she's written, however. And ultimately, I can't really picture many younger people being all too gripped by the first half of the story. Hollie, the main protagonist, seems relatable enough (as the girl who uncovers the truth no adult dares to ponder), but she comes across a little bulldozer-y. (Like, why is she so invested in this school project? She's a bit overkill at times, as the story needs her to be. The story gives too much credence to her snoopery.). I expected more from her companions, Parker and Rex too. But Storm of Lies is still a fairly solid story that showcases the greed and corruption of society.