Review: We Did It Anyway


We're all guilty. Spurred by an impulse too intense to ignore. Rationale and logic shoved to the backseat in favour of letting impetuousness drive. Despite knowing better, validation for such behaviours is often reduced to a dismissive, all encompassing, we did it anyway, which is the haunting underlying premise of Carla Salmon's latest young teen novel, We Did It Anyway.

Hot on the heels of our first encounter with the youths of the coastal Red Sands community, this racy adventure focuses on other erstwhile members of the friendship circle; Alex, Otto and Jasper. The spotlight doesn't just rest on the boys however with Luna and best mate, Milly, firmly lending narrative nouse and balance.

Set on the rugged island of Talmar, the group gather to partake in an Easter holiday life-saving club training camp. Opinions oscillate wildly about this; the boys are all up for a bit of freedom. Luna is less convinced about the camping vibe but with the twins' dad there to supervise what could possibly go wrong. Turns out, plenty. 

A change of plans, a risqué encounter, and a shocking near-death event catapults the guileless boys into a catastrophic series of encounters and events, not least of which is trying to outrun suspected gold smugglers hot on their heels. Alex is the reason for the close-up attention he and his mates are now subjected to. What follows is a serpentine scuttle around the island in haphazard hope of reuniting with the group and ... surviving.

Throw in a mysterious teen island girl, a family history generations old, injuries that will make your tummy turn and a sprinkling of teen infatuation and you have a heady mix of intrigue and enigma. 

We Did It Anyway rarely pauses for breath but that only heightens the tension and stokes the suspense. Salmon's adroit capture of the contemporary teen swirls convincingly alongside the fundamentals of a rollicking Nancy Drew mystery (that's relic speak for a darn good mystery!). I was also reminded of the Famous Five partly because of the semi-isolated landscape and lack of helpful adult intervention. What better way to ramp up the desperation levels of Gen Zs than to remove their connectivity!

As a kid, I devoured mystery thrillers. To savour the same compulsion from this 2026 tale brings similar satisfaction. You feel you are on the same endless loops of frustration and near misses as the kids on this quest to make it to safety. It's fun, sassy and of high enough octane to propel interest till the end.

We Did It Anyway works for advanced middle grade readers from 11-years or so with a thirst for fast-paced, action orientated, character forward stories whilst sitting comfortably with older teens who relish thought-provoking, jeopardy enhanced tales that offer subtle insight into the complexity of teenagerhood. And even if mysteries are not quite your thing? Go on, read it anyway!

Bonus extra - here's my review of Carla's debut novel, We Saw What You Started.

Title: We Did It Anyway
Author: Carla Salmon
Publisher: Pan Macmillan, $19.99
Publication Date: 30 June 2026
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781761567919
For ages: 11+
Type: Middle Grade / YA Fiction

Buy the Book:   Pan Macmillan Australia       

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I've got a dream

Image
Almost a decade of moons ago, I made a serendipitous discovery that forever altered the spin of my world. Falling pregnant after so many years of waiting and yearning was nothing short of miraculous (for me) and a life event definitely worth waxing lyrical about. But did I? Sadly, not as much I as wanted to. There are those who find it hard to exist without sharing the contents of their dinner plates with the rest of  the world, then there are others who worry that a beautifully executed birthday cake photo shared on social media will somehow demean the starving populations of the world. I oscillate between the two but tend towards the latter, always fretting over how others will take good news in light of their own current situations and struggles, thus resorting to a severe downplaying of my own good fortune. The pregnancy of my first child should have been a joyous occasion - it was a joyous pregnancy after all - but I was acutely conscious at the time of another family me...
Read more

Review: Gone To The Woods

Image
Regrettably, Gary Paulsen was a bit of an unknown to me until discovering this transcending story about his childhood. A multi-award winning author of young adult fiction, Paulsen reveals how his ability to smith words developed as a consequence of his remarkable upbringing, or more accurately, lack thereof. Paulsen was, not literally an orphan, but he was a lost child. Gone to the Woods begins with one such journey adrift an ocean of salacious events thanks to his mother and her penchant for supplementing her hourly wage at local Chicago clubs. At just five years of age, Paulsen is dumped upon a train bound for a relatives’ farm in north Minnesota not far from the Canadian border. It proves to be his temporary salvation and a place he acquires the art of patience, a deep respect for nature and an appreciation of what genuine kindness tastes like. Edy’s motherly compassion and Sig’s reticent guidance nurture the abandoned boy until a sense of who he is begins to emerge. It’s bone...
Read more

Review: Detention

Image
Tristan Bancks signed my copy of Detention with a note hoping it kept me turning pages . This book lived up to that promise and then some. Packed with page-turning tension and relentless drama, this is one middle grade novel that may cause a few kids to miss their dinner call. Yet despite the raw gritty urgency that suffuses nearly every page and the elevated sense of dread and desperation that keeps your heart in top gear, the pace is never too manic nor too hectic to enjoy the energising mix of edgy excitement and sincere emotion Bancks does so well. Dan is an inner suburban boy living on the outer perimeters of life. He’s classified as trailer park trash because of his permanent residence at the social-economically deprived Midgenba caravan park. It’s a title that comes with an ineradicable smear of hopeless. Deep down though, Dan’s a good kid, a caring kid. The type of kid who’ll risk his own face to save a vicious dying dog, which he does one day after finding Rosco tied ...
Read more