Title: What Goes Down Author: Natalie K. Martin
Source: From Neverland Blog Tours
Publisher: Self Published
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
(Goodreads|Amazon)
Book Summary:
WHAT GOES DOWN is an emotional, must-read novel of love, loss and second chances. Set in the present day and late 80’s, WHAT GOES DOWN deals with relationships touched by mental illness, and is perfect for fans of Amanda Prowse and Julie Cohen.Book Review:
Seph Powell has all she ever wanted: a close family, loving boyfriend and her dream career. A gifted artist with a highly anticipated exhibition just weeks away, her life seems to be perfect. Until a man she's never met claims to be her real father.
Laurel and Tony Powell are devoted parents. Having worked hard to provide everything for their daughter, they’ve created an enviable, picture-perfect family. Until Laurel's ex-boyfriend, Nico comes back into their lives.
In the summer of 1987, Nico stole Laurel’s heart with promises of adventure and excitement. But when he disappeared without trace, he left her as a single, teenaged parent. Now, twenty-five years later, he’s back and keen to meet the daughter he left behind.
But Nico’s sudden reappearance shows that nothing is quite as it first seems. And as long hidden truths are exposed, everything Seph thought she knew about her life begins to unravel.
When I first heard about What Goes Down, I was really interested in the premise as I knew that it dealt with mental health and often do search for books around this topic. What Goes Down did live up to this notion, being an honest and engaging look at mental health and family.
So I should probably get the negatives out the way first. At times, this book didn't engage me as much as I hoped it would but I feel like this was because it is an adult fiction novel and was about someone who was older than me so I couldn't really relate to there experiences. Saying that this was the only negative to the book that I often found.
The plot still did interest me and I was really excited to see where the story would go as we are literally dropped straight into the story from the first page and therefore need and want to find out what happened. There is also a big twist at the end of the book which I was also really shocked about and I just had to read it faster after that.
The narrative is also told in a past and present narrative juggling her mum's perspective in the 1980s as well as a present-day narrative. I really do think this worked in the story and developed Laurel, Seph's mum character much more as we really do understand why she does what she does throughout the novel. The development of a mother character is not something that is done often in YA so, therefore, I really liked seeing it in this book. Although, not one for the 1980s setting due to the overload of 80s nostalgia in pop culture this did not affect me when reading.
I also really enjoyed Seph as a character and the way that she interacted with her father after they met up and did find her to be quite interested and likeable although she had some bumpy times ahead in the book.
I also did like the honest way that this book dealt with mental health as it was dealt with in a careful way although I personally can not say if the portrayal of Bipolar it might be worth seeing if anyone who has the condition says when and if they read the book.
This may be slightly weird but I really like the dialogue in the book, it never felt forced and was quite natural which is always something nice to see when reading.
The Verdict:
What Goes Down is an interesting and engaging novel that balances the past and present as well as family life to make a good, solid read.
There is also a giveaway running for your chance to win a copy of the book, a stag necklace and a £10 Amazon voucher:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Have you read What Goes Down? Would you like to?
See you soon,
Amy
Comments