Everything You Do Is Wrong

by Amanda Coe

'Do You Know This Girl?'

Harmony's teenage craving for drama is answered when a body is discovered by her aunt Mel on Evensand beach. But the naked, lifeless young woman turns out - problematically - to be alive. Unable to speak or remember where she came from, the woman is named Storm by her nurses.

Surrounded by doctors, psychiatrists and policemen, Storm remains provocatively silent. Harmony is desperate to fill in the gaps in Storm's story, while the responsibility Mel feels for the woman she rescued begins to skew the course of her own settled life. Their efforts to solve the mystery clash with the efforts of rookie constable Mason, assigned to the case and determined to help this damsel he feels to be very much in distress.

Will any of them be able to find out who Storm really is? And what if the distress belongs to everyone but her?

Everything You Do Is Wrong is a compelling exploration of how this enigma sets a family's good and bad intentions crashing into each other, with unforgettable consequences.

Genres: Family, Mystery, Contemporary

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 2017

About the author

Amanda Coe is a screenwriter and filmmaker whose television credits include the British series Shameless. She lives in London with her husband and two children.

Reviews

[Justkeepreading · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is mediocre. I was hoping for something better. When I read the bio. I thought that it sounded really great. But it was just lacking something. The plot just didn't really seem to go anywhere, and the plot twists didn't really do anything for me as I didn't find them surprising. And I found the ending unstatisfying.

Thank you to NetGalley, little brown books and Amanda Coe for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

You can find my review on Amazon on publication date. Under k.e.whittard and on Goodreads from today under Karen whittard.

I voluntarily reviewed this advance reader. For an honest review.

Let me know if you found this better than I did.

Happy reading everyone

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed thoughts on this book. It's well written and easy reading but on the other hand not much happens, it's slow and the storyline is weak.

Three stars as it's not terrible but I wouldn't raved about it either.

[Kath Middleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harmony is a tense fifteen year-old from a strange and unconventional family. Harmony and one of her cousins have the same maths tutor and Harmony has a deep crush on him. Things change for them all when Mel finds a naked girl on the beach during a fierce storm. Mel thinks she’s dead but she is revived, though doesn’t speak. They are all caught up in trying to find out who she is.

I didn’t think, in the first couple of pages, that I was going to get on with this book. It seemed over-written and self-conscious to me. It very soon became a really intriguing story set in an area I know well and perhaps I enjoyed it more for feeling that the setting was as interesting as the characters. I was drawn in to the puzzle of the girl and the inter-relationships of the people. The downside for me was that the ending seemed rushed and not at all satisfying. Shame, as I was keen to love this.

[Babus Ahmed · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the description of this book I expected the main focus to be the mystery behind who Storm is, but the book focused on the people around Storm's story like the woman who found her, Mel and the young PC who wants to investigate her identity. I would have no issue with this approach if the characters were interesting and robust enough to carry the story and if the fact the focus was off Storm, who is the central character in terms of this mystery, felt deliberate and unnatural.

A lot of the story around Mel and her family would be fine if this was a contemporary fiction novel, but as a mystery I found this quite a frustrating read and I found I began to care less and less about the internal monologues of the characters.

Ultimately the focus of the story seemed too far off target so I began to care less about Storm's identity myself and was predictably disappointed by the ending. Not a mystery I cared for, unfortunately.

[Latkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Getting Colder, and I really loved this book. It's a darkly humorous tale of two branches of a dysfunctional family, set in a dead-end coastal town in North Yorkshire. There's a mystery about a girl who's found on the beach and seems to have lost her memory, but that's not really the focus of the story. The characters are well-drawn, from teenager Harmony, who's struggling with her weight and her crush on her maths tutor; to her 'aunt' Mel (sister of her stepdad Stu and long time best friend of her mum Aurora), whose hectic life involves keeping three sons in check; to the policeman Dan, who really wanted to be investigating his first murder case. The writing reminds me of Kate Atkinson and Belinda Bauer, in that it's often about very serious things, but is always funny. I wouldn't call this a crime novel, though. If I had one criticism, it's that it ends rather abruptly, but this is mainly because I wanted to spend some more time with the characters.

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry why is an aunt describing her 16 niece’s breasts as “large and braless with their pendulous gravity and wayward pointing nipples”????? PENDULOUS

Also wtf are blowjob lips pls can we get over these sexualised writing descriptions of every woman ever in a fucking book. it’s 2021.

[Kathryn]

I was initially drawn to this by the premise of someone being washed up on the beach, neither they nor anyone else knowing who they were, and how that would affect the local community. Sadly, it seemed to want to sidestep much of this and only left me frustrated by its rambling scenes which went nowhere and extremely disappointed with the eventual payoff when it came. I thought some of the characters were interesting but these alone weren't enough to redeem it. Not for me.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me a while to get into but once I did I loved it! Although, I didn't much like the sections from the policeman's point of view. I have spread my dreams under your feet, tread lightly for you tread on my dreams.

[Carol Peace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Lindsay Cawte · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok, not particularly gripping and i didn’t really get the point of the story. Lost of subplots which didn’t add anything and the ending didn’t really answer any questions. Felt I had wasted my time reading it

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The theme tune to accompany this book was "High Hopes" as that was exactly what I had. The plot, the cover and the authors previous writing credentials all had enough pizazz and oompph to make me feel that this was going to be a cracker. The title proved right in this instance - everything I did was indeed wrong.I was left feeling rather disappointed. The twists were not that twisty, the plot was a bit too rambling and the ending was slightly meh, for want of a better word. All the hallmarks of a corker but let down in the delivery. Thanks to Little Brown and NetGalley for the advanced copy and the chance to be an ungrateful sod by giving an honest but unflattering review

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seemed to promise so much but in the end left me disappointed. It started off well, I was drawn in by the mystery of Storm and was intrigued to see where the story went. There is no doubt that the author can write and I enjoyed parts of it but it just didn't seem to go anywhere and the ending left me very underwhelmed. It would be difficult to categorise it because so much of the storyline isn't what you think it is. I like twists and turns in a novel but they have to make sense and for me I ended up asking myself what the point was.
I liked the book more when it concentrated on the relationships between the characters.
My thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown for this copy.

[Kelly (purplebookstand) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything You Do is Wrong

Everything You Do is Wrong is an interesting read but I do feel it lacked that je ne sais pas! It was quite slow paced and so it didn't really grab me like I had hoped it would!

It would make a great holiday read as it's an easy read that doesn't take a lot of thinking about. Three stars from purplebookstand.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

My detailed review will be added closer to the publication date.

[Sian Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has one of (if not the) lowest ratings among books I’ve read, and I truly believe that it doesn’t deserve these low ratings. It’s not the most incredible or mindblowing book, but it’s not bad, not bad at all.

Everything You Do Is Wrong felt to me like it was written like a meandering TV show, moving between the characters and their own small predicaments. After seeing that the author wrote for Shameless, I think I understand this more. While I’ve never actually sat down and watched Shameless, I know the vibes of it, and I can draw the similarities here.

The storyline wasn’t enthralling, but it kept me reading. I liked the way it moved between characters with a little deeper insight into each one every time.

While the book is about a girl who is found almost dead on a beach, it’s not really about that - if that makes sense. It’s about the characters and the wider world they live in.

That world, by the way, was very interesting to me as it’s the area I live and grew up in - in fact, I was a bit shocked at one point to find the actual small town I live in mentioned in passing, I’ve never just stumbled across it in a book before! It’s set in North Yorkshire, but in a dead-end coastal town near Whitby. It’s a view of North Yorkshire that many don’t often see.

The characters are all a little odd - Harmony, a teenage girl from an unconventional home-schooled background; her aunt, Mel, who’s trying to do everything for everyone and finds the girl on the beach; the police officer who’s following the case; and a few more minor characters who crop up with their own storylines here and there.

As others have said in reviews before, the ending is kind of unsatisfying. While the mystery of the girl is wrapped up, it’s a bit anticlimactic, and the rest is just a bit meh. But then again, I didn’t see this as an issue because it felt like the rest of the book - real. The whole book felt like an accurate portrayal of real life through the eyes of a variety of characters, and lives aren’t just wrapped up with a nice bow at the end of it.

As I said, this book isn’t going to blow you away, but I enjoyed reading it nonetheless.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for an ARC of this book.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting and unusual book, full of some wonderful imagery and description and some really clever little insights into people, places and situations that give the writing authenticity.
I found the descriptions of Evensand particularly well done and very evocative of a typical British seaside town out of season. The rain and the wind and the depressing greyness of it all came over very well. And little things like Harmony sneakily eating a KitKat in the library added to that.
I found it easy to warm to Harmony – while there were aspects to her character that verged on the stereotypical in places, her confusion and unhappiness came over clearly. I felt the hints around an eating disorder should have been more detailed - if she was suffering form something like this, it would have been a bigger aspect of her life, and if she was ‘playing’ with the idea for the sake of drama, then that too should have been developed.
I liked Mel a lot too, and it was nice to have a more realistic middle-aged woman in a novel. Too often they are either old before their time or impossibly perfect for their age – Mel was Mel, authentic, believable, kind and warm but with her own jealousies, and regrets.
I liked the subplot around Storm, the girl on the beach, and thought that the revelation as to how and why she as there was very unusual and made a refreshing change form the usual conclusions to these scenarios. It was a clever idea.
This is a slow burner – don’t expect fast-paced drama and lots of twists and turns. And there are places where I felt things could have been developed a bit further – Mel’s relationship with her husband and sons, Mason’s past, what compels the protagonists in the story behind Storm to do what they do, for example. But there’s some fabulous writing here. I really enjoyed it.

[CC · Rating 1 out of 5]

Everything You Do Is Wrong starts out with a secret about a girl named Storm, found lying on a beach in a small town. How did she get there, and why can't she speak? The mystery is interesting, and draws in the reader. I believe that had the book continued on this path, it would have been a good one, but it doesn't. Instead we run a sort of gauntlet for 256 pages of wildly unhappy people. A harried housewife questioning her life, her clinically depressed best friend, a failed rock star, a teenager with an all consuming crush plus an eating disorder. A book about unhappy people can be a good thing, but at times I felt this was a test of endurance because it was like wading through treacle with not much movement for most of the time and then suddenly the air went out of the plot like a deflated balloon. The narrative with Storm and her secret came to such a screamingly dissatisfying conclusion that I didn't really want to finish, but I pressed on and was rewarded with an odd plot twist that came out of nowhere. I really felt the end of this book was written for pure shock value alone, but it didn't even manage to be that.

I wish that the author had perhaps simplified her ideas, because this seems like a book with far too many of them. I can't figure out what, if anything, she has to say about any subject at all. Plus, there were so many characters that readers are stuck either with cripplingly disappointing conclusions, or often none at all. Lottie, who seemed like she had some interesting backstory lurking at the beginning of the book, went to the loo somewhere towards the middle bit and was never seen again. There are so many odd dead ends and strange choices that I just found this book too frustrating to enjoy.

[Megan Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Harmony's teenage craving for drama is granted when a body is discovered by her aunt Mel on Evensand beach. The naked, lifeless young woman shockingly turns out to be alive. Unable to speak she is named Storm by the nurses. Harmony is desperate to fill the gaps left by Storm and the responsibility Mel feels for the woman begins to alter the course of her life. Their efforts to solve the mystery clash with rookie constable Mason. Will any of them be able to find out who Storm really is?
This novel has to be one of the worst novels I have ever read. I hate to write it but it is true. 
The way this is written is incredibly stilted, with multiple sentences that do not make sense, it really took me a long time to get used to the writing style and I had to re-read a lot of sentences which slowed me down and frustrated me. Once I got used to the baffling way of writing, I did understand a bit more what Coe was trying to do with the novel and it made a tiny, tiny bit more sense. But nowhere near enough to save the novel.
Moving on to the plot itself and again it is the most baffling plot I have read in a lot of places. It took me a long time to get into it as yet again Coe has a bizarre way of revealing things which in no way aided the read. Then just when I was reading a section that gripped me, it was ruined by the beyond ridiculous ending, which, quite frankly made the whole novel pointless. 
I really do not have anything positive to say about this novel apart from the small section that intrigued me. The characters are annoying and whiny and the plot is absurd. I really really do not recommend this novel. 

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fifteen year old Hannah’s Auntie Mel discovers an apparently lifeless, naked young woman on a beach in North Yorkshire. In fact the young woman survived her ordeal but is unable to either speak or to remember who she is: the nurses call her Storm. Facing personal problems of their own, both Hannah and Mel welcome the distraction and become focused on trying to solve the mystery of who Storm is and where she came from. Mason, a rookie constable, is involved in investigating the case and, seeing Storm as a “damsel in distress”, goes out of his way to find out what happened to her. It quickly becomes clear that nothing about the case is straightforward and that all their respective, uncoordinated attempts to solve the mystery are bound to lead to clashes between the main characters.
The synopsis of this story sounded promising, as did the promise of “mordant wit and dazzling style”. However, whatever wit there was in the writing passed me by – and I certainly didn’t feel “dazzled” at any point in my reading. I thought there was a lack of focus in the writing, that there was little surprising in any of the plot twists and turns, and that none of the characters (perhaps with the exception of Hannah) felt convincing. There were times when I found the author’s syntax so strange that I was forced to re-read sentences in order to make sense of what I was reading. Apart from being frustrating, this certainly interrupted any tension which I might otherwise have been able to feel as the story developed. I also found myself becoming irritated by what I regarded as unnecessarily crude language which, in my opinion, I did nothing to enhance the story.
Sadly, this novel, my first of 2018, was a real disappointment and, as I write this brief review, I find myself wondering why on earth I wasted time waiting for it to get better! I have never been one to make New Year resolutions (they’re too easily broken!) but reading this book has made me resolve not to spend time on books which aren’t engaging my interest – there are too many good books out there!

[Nick Masters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly I want to stay that I thought the storyline was pretty good, and the ending was played out brilliantly. I loved the late reveal and the way we were left on a cliff edge in the dying moments, being asked numerous questions as the story looped full circle once again.

Having said that I did have to battle through the early parts of the book where it felt the author had all the right words and all the right intentions, but just couldn't seem to put them into coherent segments. There were other times were it felt like a Thesaurus was used too often and other times where the sentences just felt absurd. The statement 'once the girl was called as life extinct' comes to mind. Who says that? Surely the standard 'time of death' could have been used, even if the two phrases are interchangeable.

I enjoyed the short curt sentences at times, snapshots into characters minds. But again it wasn't always effective and could have been improved upon. I felt I just glossed over them sometimes as they didn’t seem to have enough relevance.

All in all a lot of potential, but definitely some fine tuning required.

As a note, I loved the quote that was used a few times in the book;
“A secret isn’t the same as a lie. A lie is what a secret gives birth to, when it mates with speech”

Thanks NetGalley for a review copy

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately I found it really hard to get into. The story felt very disjointed and almost rushed, and I found that it was hard to connect with the characters & plot.

One aspect of this book that I really did not like, was the attempts Harmony makes from the start of the book to basically have an eating disorder in order to lose weight. Personally I don’t think that writing about the attempts a teenage girl will try to take - like laxatives - in order to give herself an eating disorder, is appropriate.

I know the author has included this to add to Harmony’s character, but I don’t enjoy reading something that highlights how young girls (and women) in today’s society, feel like they have to lose weight etc to be “good enough”.

Only 2 stars from me for this book I’m sorry to say!

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Creed · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose this book just because of the title- thought it would be a typical sort of thriller, and it was good up until a point. Not often I say this but there was way too much focus on the characters and their back stories, and the plot just sort of... stopped. Aurora was uninteresting and infuriating, Stu was dull, Mel was stereotypical in every way, and Mason was stupid. The whole Lottie thing was unnecessary, the "twist" was the most anticlimactic thing I've ever read, and in the last 30 pages I was skipping every other sentence. The book went on past its end point.

Writing was ok, Harmony was a good enough character, and "Storm" was interesting for a bit, save for the fact that there were literally no developments in the entire book, and then a joke of an answer is just sort of dropped in like it's no big deal. 1.5, only for potential and because I had low expectations going in. Interested to see what others thought.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a young woman is mysteriously found naked on a beach in the UK, the local police force and local characters - Mel, who rescued her, and Harmony, a teenager - get involved to figure out where she came from and what happened to her. I really felt that the portrayal of a northern British coastal town was very accurate and authentic, having spent a lot of time on the coast in British tourist resorts off season.

Unfortunately, although I loved the setting, the descriptions and the imagery, the bleak depression and the weight of the troubles these people have endured, the plot didn't really go anywhere. I wasn't really hooked, the twists seemed fairly predictable and the ending just made me frown and close the book. The focus is really on the people and not on the mystery, but the characters just weren't enough to carry it and the slow pacing left me feeling bored and ultimately unsatisfied.

[Grace J Reviewerlady · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice enough read, but I wanted more. I’m not quite certain if that was down to me, but I thought the blurb was slightly misleading.

This story, to me, was about an extended family with a few dysfunctional members. The missing girl didn’t really impact on me at all in that I could have seen all the family events having taken place without the discovery of the body.

I enjoyed this novel – but not as much as I expected to. If this has been a tv drama, my other half would have turned to me at the end and said ‘and that’s it??’. I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed. If it has been listed as a family drama my satisfaction level would have been much higher.

Amanda Coe does a good job as a writer, I have no complaints there. I would just like a more open synopsis so I knew what to expect.

I received an arc via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, original and unbiased review.

[Alison Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this story to be a confused muddle from the start. There were so many characters introduced that I struggled to have a sense of any of them. And I didn't like any of then enough to care what happened to them. I found the writing style equally confusing with direct speech and indirect in the same paragraph. There were some unusual and interesting descriptions but these were at odds with the use of slang in places and sentences that simply weren't sentences. I was left wondering what it was all about really and the ending was deeply unsatisfying. All in all this proved to be a disappointing read for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything you do is wrong is a book I found a little disappointing .It started very well with the girls body (Storm) being found on the beach ,she is alive but not speaking and the story spends a lot of time in trying to find out who she is through various characters .which I found interesting .When we do find out who she is and why she was on the beach it was rather random and to me didn't make much sense .I thought after that revelation the story seemed to just ramble on and the ending seemed rushed and didn't end as I had hoped .

[Jayne Burnett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Net Galley & Little Brown Uk for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review. This story for me was lacking something, I didn’t particularly like any of the characters although I did feel sorry for Harmony and her rather unconventional family set up, no one really to parent her apartment from her aunt Mel. The plot never really seemed to go anywhere, although the mystery surrounding Storm was solved The ending was abrupt and rather unsatisfactory. For me this was a disappointing read.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed the book, I liked the atmosphere the author created and being familiar with some of the locations made it easy to imagine.

The opening chapter from Harmony's point of view really drew me in but after that it felt as though the story never really got going and the twist was an interesting idea but a bit of an anticlimax.

As other have said, a good light summer read of a book that doesn't require too much concentration.

[Neil Hannaford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um not sure really. I got this book as the intro interested me, mysterious girl washes up on a beach and changes the lives of people who find her!!! However it seemed to be more about the girl Harmony and her broken family relationships, than the mystery girl. The mail characters were interesting enough and kept me reading until the end. The ending was not great again it built up to be let down. Overall an ok read without the pizzazz it promised.

[Paul Allard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Various characters are involved in a mystery in North Yorkshire
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A young woman is found alive and naked on a beach in North Yorkshire and the local policeman and various characters get involved in trying to find out who she is and where she is from.
This is not so much a mystery novel but one about the inter-action between Mel (who found the body), her children, her sister's family, PC Mason and a few other assorted characters. It has few male characters, concentrating on the female ones, and is a novel aimed at the female readership. Quite interesting but not really my type of book: I was disapppointed.