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Wednesday, September 27, 2017

We All Fall Down | Book Review

We All Fall Down

Written by: Natalie D. Richards
Number of Pages: 368

My Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Published: October 3, 2017
Read in September 2017


Summary According to Goodreads

Theo’s always been impulsive. But telling Paige how he feels? He’s obsessed over that decision. And it’s time. Tonight. At the party on the riverbank, under the old walking bridge, site of so many tales of love and death. 

Paige has had a crush on Theo since they first met, but she knows her feelings are one-sided. She’s trying to move on, to flirt. A party at the river is just what she needs. Except a fight breaks out, and when Paige tries to intervene - Theo’s fist lands in her face. 

All Theo and Paige want to do is forget that fateful night. But strange events keep drawing them back to the bridge. Someone, something is determined to make them remember…and pay for what they each did. 


My Thoughts

I received an ebook copy of this novel to review from NetGalley, but that does not influence my opinion.

This novel was just okay for me. It was a very quick read, but the plot or characters weren't completely engaging. It reads as a young adult contemporary, but tries to delve into some supernatural aspects that I wasn’t a fan of. t gave it three stars, but officially would rate it two and a half because it was overall just meh - I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it.

I feel as though this novel could have been done much better without the supernatural aspects. There was a lot of mental health issues brought up in this novel, but I felt as though everything was over-represented in a way. The readers are constantly reminded of these characters' issues, and it got extremely repetitive and annoying. As some of you probably know, I am diagnosed manic-depressive, meaning I suffer from bi-polar disorder. I take these kinds of novels very seriously, and I was quite disappointed. It was clear that the author did do some research regarding panic attacks and general anxiety disorder, but I think she overrepresented in order to get her point across.

The characters were cute but again, felt like their biggest character trait was their mental disorder. Paige had that she was smart, but she didn't have any drive. Theo really only had his compulsive-aggravated behaviours, and didn't come across as a loveable narrator. Our two main characters relied very heavily on the other, but went through enough growth in the novel to be tolerable and stand on their own.

I appreciated this novel being told from the two perspectives, because I think it added a well-rounded aspect to the story. I still think it was very repetitive and could have been developed a bit more - I would have liked to see more emotion. At no point did I feel attached to the characters, or care if they reconciled their differences - which is quite unlike me. I am a reader who loves to emphasize with characters, and being that these two share similar disorders to my own, I expected to get a lot out of this. Maybe my expectations were too high. The writing was quick to read, but the transitions were not as smooth as I’d expect from an experienced author. 

Overall, this novel let me down. I was beyond excited to receive an e-arc, but the mental health aspects weren’t enough to redeem it for me. I’m glad I picked it up around this time of year, because it definitely has a darker atmosphere that reads well for fall. I would like to give this author another chance because I see a lot of potential in her storytelling, but I’ll have to research which one appeals to me the most. 


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