Review: Into The Storm


For those who like their YA reads studded with action and prickling with peril, Into The Storm is your next unputdownable read. Like Hayley Lawrence's first novel, Into The Wild, this tale is unashamedly rugged in nature and refreshingly wild. 

Teens Silas and Eve couldn't be more different yet are linked by the same overriding emotions; unfathomable grief and the urge to live by brushing shoulders with death in order to erase past mistakes and shortcomings. Both share an almost obsessive addiction to adrenalin, with a continuous pull towards the wilds of nature, albeit for different reasons. Silas is the son and sole heir to revered mountaineering legend and tycoon, Will Black while Eve is the estranged daughter of an off-the-grid family entrapped in their own cocoon of loss. 

Following the tragic death of his father on a far-flung mountainside, Silas spirals into an abyss of despair. Alone, questioning, empty. Miles away, Eve fights her own demons and the smothering protectiveness of her father after the loss of her younger sister. Framed almost as a dare, Eve proposes an expedition for the two of them into the wilds of western Tasmania; a trek about as far away and removed from each of their current swamps of misery as they can get. Trouble is the way is fraught with risk; sheer vertical climbs, Antarctic conditions, unpredictable storms, all shaped by the fractious relationship shared by these two broken teenagers. 

Despite the impossibility of the trek, they set off, barely prepared but respectful enough of Nature to make cautious contentious progress because to achieve this milestone will enable them both to escape the ache of reality, or so they believe. At least for Eve who is determined to reach that place of solace or die trying. 

Close encounters, unimaginable fatigue, and immense physical and mental strain take their toll which is compounded by a severe polar blast. It's nightmare stuff that will have readers on their edge of their seats, curled up tensely in bed, page turning madly to see how this impossible quest turns out thanks to Lawerence's deft use of dual perspectives. Silas and Eve's pain feels real and raw as each faces the challenges of nature whilst simultaneously carrying a carousel of grief on their backs. 

Tension is masterfully maintained through multiple moments of suspense whilst allowing us only momentarily at least, to catch our collective breaths within episodes of deep emotional reflection. I love how Silas and Eve, despite their share intimate need to survive are not portrayed as a couple who will ultimately fall for each other. Whether this happens or not is delayed through necessity and nature and a wilderness of conflicting elements that makes this book such a gripping read. 

The feeling of being 'alone' in such unforgiving circumstances is intoxicating and addictive in its own right. Maybe not enough to want to make this hazardous journey myself, well, all right maybe just a little. But there is pull enough to keep you heading in to the storm until the very last page. Sensitive, scary, and soaring with emotion (I may have wept a bit), Into The Storm is throbbing with quiet beauty and searing climaxes that comes with my full recommendation and absolutely zero warnings about what lies ahead. Also suitable for middle grade readers. 

Title: Into The Storm
Author: Hayley Lawrence
Publisher: Scholastic Australia, $19.99
Publication Date: 1 June 2026
Format:  Paperback
ISBN:  9781761727931
For ages: 11+
Type: Middle Grade Fiction, Young Adult Fiction

Buy the Book: Boomerang Books

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