The Wave: The heart-stopping novel everyone will be talking about in 2020

I picked this book up as an Amazon Kindle bargain and I'm very glad I did as I devoured it in one morning stuck on the sofa with my unwell daughter.A volcano is about to erupt in La Palma which will create a huge tsunami that is heading direct for the West Coast of England, with Cornwall being directly in the line of fire. Government resources are directed elsewhere, to more populated areas, so the inhabitants of the peninsula are left to flee to higher ground with little help.Poppy realises very quickly that she is unlikely to escape and so decides to embrace her fate, putting out a post on Facebook inviting similarly minded people to join her at her favourite beach to await their fate. Immediately another local joins her surfing and they are gradually joined by five more people, some reluctantly, to share their last few hours together.What follows is a compelling story with a narrative structure that many won't, I suspect, enjoy, as we have seven POV characters whose stories overlap and we bounce around the beach seeing the story play out through each character's eyes. I found the author's ability to give each character a strong narrative voice meant that the repetition of some elements kept the story moving on quickly.This is a book that will make you think about what you would do in a similar position. Who would you long to be with? Who would you contact and what would you say to them? Would you be able to try to right past wrongs? What I found really refreshing was the flaws in the characters and that, even when faced with certain death, they weren't surrounded by people who were prepared to offer them a blank slate.This is a very human story, with typical reactions, with a lot to say about how events unfold against the backdrop of social media and grief, the people who can't forgive, and the people who make a connection to a tragedy all about them. It left me breathless at times and I couldn't put my Kindle down until I'd finished it. Highly recommended.

I’ll say that I read this in the first few weeks of lockdown so it was probably my fault for reading something so ‘end of days’ during a stressful time!The wave is a really unique book with such an interesting concept and the writing was great, switching between the characters and revealing things about them gradually. I did feel there was a lot of the same moments covered from different perspectives which was interesting but also slowed the pace a bit.It shows a group of people faced with their own mortality and taking the chance to make amends and give their life meaning before the end.There was a real sense of dread and panic throughout the book which was really visceral as a reader. However there was a lot centred around the main characters big secret and it felt a little bit of a letdown when it was revealed.I would recommend this book to others and would definitely look at what other books the author has written.

The volcano, Cumbre Vieja in The Canary Islands, is about to collapse which will send a vast tsunami wiping out Cornwall. The warning has come too late to evacuate, although people try to flee, so Poppy sends a Facebook message out inviting people to spend the last night on the beach. Yan is the first to go to her, followed by retiree Margaret. James picks up hitchhiker Nikki and does a u-turn when they see the hopeless traffic jams, as do Harry and Shelley who have booked a boat that has gone when they get to it. The little group bonds as they all tell their stories, especially James and Nikki who fall in love. This was a really well told story and I would have been captivated if it weren't for the copious spelling and grammar mistakes. So many! Considering in the acknowledgements there were several proofreaders and editors it seemed as if the author didn't even re-read it. It was very distracting. Also annoying were the overlapping scenes told from different points of view, which were unnecessary on the most part and overdone, so I skip read those bits. Another gripe was the fact that all their phones and iPad stayed charged despite a lot of use and they had a good enough signal to Skype and Facebook. I can't even Skype from my own house sometimes. If it had been a horror story there would have been no signal or no battery. A very good story that makes you think though.

I am in two minds about this book. I decided to give it 3 stars because the actual plot was unusual and well researched. What annoyed me though was the repetition when the characters changed their thoughts on their individual situations, although to be fair this was kept to a miminum. But the constant typographical errors ( can no one find a decent proof reader these days ? ) became very annoying. And pease please Virginia, if you insist on using the word " focused" dozens of times, learn how to spell it. One s. Not two. Unless you are Australian ? A very amateur mistake unworthy of a decent published author. However, the ending was excellent. I was waiting for the helicopter and thank goodness it didn't make an appearance !