This is the first book I have read by the author and I thought it was a good, solid read. The fact that the author brings about teenage mental health issues was probably one of my favorite parts of all as it made the characters seem real (the portrayal of these issues was realistic). However, I found it to be quite different than I had imaged after reading the blurb.

When I went into this novel, I thought it would be something more supernatural and scary, but it really wasn't. There was some mystery, but not enough to keep me intrigued. There was a romance, but it took a lot of getting used to for me as a read especially considering the things they had to overcome.

Nonetheless, it's a solid read and I think many young adult readers will really enjoy this one. It just wasn't a favorite for me. I will still take a chance on the author again in the future though as I think she is pretty solid in her writing ability.

This book was good in the weirdest of ways. I would have never guessed what was going on in any of this novel, but it was so incredibly hard to put down. This was absolutely great and I hope more people get to read this and know about it!

Please note: I received a copy of WE ALL FALL DOWN from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Five stars and here’s why:

Natalie D. Richards wrote a psychological thriller/romantic suspense YA story that kept me riveted to my chair. I simply dropped everything until I finished the entire book. The pacing is fabulous, the plot unique, the hero and heroine believable – their voices are spot on for this genre, and the supernatural element gave me chills whenever I least expected it. Well played, Ms. Richards. Well played.

Paige and Theo share a childhood friendship that borders on co-dependency much to the dismay of their families. The story delves deep into the teenage angst of first love and combines it with both teens battling his and her own mental health issues of ADHD, ODD, and anxiety. Ms. Richards did her homework and the result is a very believable story about two teens living with some very big challenges. In a nutshell: after a horrifying event on the town’s “haunted bridge” rips their friendship to shreds, an unexpected incident with the “haunted bridge” is the catalyst to bring them back together. This story blew me away. It's told in alternating POV’s and it’s phenomenal. Highly recommend!

I received an ARC of We All Fall Down, by Natalie Richards, from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

What if your every emotion suddenly became personified? What if those emotions were tied to the worst moment in your life, and also to the person you love the most?

We All Fall Down takes a deeper look at what it feels like to be overwhelmed by the symptoms of ODD, ADHD, and Anxiety. Paige and Theo are connected by love, but they're also co-dependent on each other. An unfortunate incident on a "haunted bridge" separates them for a time, but later acts as the catalyst that brings them together.

The story that follows is one of how the two come to cope with the damage left behind while also learning to move forward in a healthy way.

I felt the story was sensitive to the conditions of ODD, ADHD, and Anxiety. However, I also felt it was too long and I often found myself wanting to skip to the end of some
Of the more drawn out chapters.

Theo and Paige seemed far too attached to be healthy and it was often difficult to note the line, but that also seemed difficult for the characters as well.

I'm not sure if this book was meant to delve into the supernatural or just give metaphorical meaning to the inner struggle of those whose story it told, but the use of the bridge seemed unnecessary--a bit overplayed.

It was a decent read and held my interest for the most part.

Watching the beautiful friendship unravel was very hard for me to watch. I have son, like Theo and to see him struggling over the accident and watching him take all the blame over an issue that could have been prevented was heartbreaking. We All Fall Down was not at all what I was expecting - when your characters have mental illness you do not expect the "ghost" to be real.

A predictable, yet chilling, story of two young adults overcoming their demons — literally. I was expecting more *spoopy* stuff to happen over the course of this book, but I was not disappointed (a lot. See rating above). The cover and description make it sound like they’re battling demons the entire book but they battle some *actual* demons and then their own demons. As someone who feeds their demons pretty often, I really loved how Natalie tied in their mental disorders and the actual spoopy demons that try to kill them. This story follows Theo and Paige’s lives as they struggle through a strained friendship and then the predictability starts. Troubled young man meets troubled young woman, but together they make sense. I finished this book in roughly a day because it was just the right amount of teenage angst and a really great metaphor for overcoming your demons. If you’re looking to find a book that has a great moral that will stick to ya, We All Fall Down is a great read that you won’t be able to put down (or fall down. Get it?).

Natalie D. Richards is one of my favorite authors when I want a good thriller or suspense. This book did not disappoint. I really thought it was fantastic. Theo and Paige were lifelong friends until one terrible night that changed everything. Both characters were dealing with not only the aftermath of the terrible night, but mental illness as well which contributed to how the characters dealt with the situation. The portrayal of anxiety and ADHD in this book was very believable and you could not help but empathize with both characters. I really enjoyed the alternating perspectives because you really got into what each character was going through. This book kept me on my toes and had me guessing what was going to happen right until the end!

Paige and Theo have been best friends for years. Both of them harbor secret crushes on each other, and Theo has decided that tonight is the night to let Paige know. As the two head off to a party, Theo formulates his plan. Unfortunately, thinking that nothing would ever happen, Paige has chosen tonight to try to get over Theo. Theo watches as she flirts with one of their classmates, a jerk who knows that Paige has anxiety and a fear of heights and still badgers her to climb up an old, rickety bridge.

Theo’s been drinking, and he can’t take it anymore. He tries to punch this guy but ends up missing and hits Paige instead. There’s blood. Sirens. Screaming. Crying. Paige’s life changes in that moment. Theo’s life is destroyed as he’s carted off in handcuffs. They don’t see each other for months. When they run into each other over the summer, strange, inexplicable things -- tied to memories of that awful night -- start happening.

First things first, this book has such a spooky vibe and I loved it. Even the parts of the story before anything really happens, while Paige and Theo are just getting ready to go to this party, have this sort of uncomfortable undercurrent. Everything is fine, but you can just tell that something horrible is going to happen. As the story progresses, the author shifts the mood of the story while still maintaining that weird vibe. I was impressed.

And now my second point. Theo. He broke my heart so many times and just thinking about him now is enough to make me want to cry. This poor kid just wanted to tell his best friend how he felt and he ended up punching her in the face. It would be funny if it wasn’t so awful. Theo clearly feels terrible. He never meant to do it and would never have done it on purpose. Honestly, he was trying to help Paige by getting her away from a guy that was dragging her up a bridge even though she gets panic attacks from her fear of heights. I just wanted Theo to be okay.

As for Paige, I liked her, but not as much as Theo. Paige frustrated me a lot because she so often wavered between “it wasn’t his fault” and “he’s obviously trying to ruin my life.” I appreciated the way her anxiety was presented because it was very realistic and not at all overdone, but I didn’t like the way that she kept blaming Theo for everything that went wrong in her life.

I thought that the haunting was very well done. It was just spooky enough without being over-the-top and I couldn’t wait to find out what was causing it. Having finished the book, I’m still a little unclear on how exactly it worked, but I’m more or less satisfied with the ending.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to call this book compulsively readable. I picked it up with the intention of reading a few chapters, and before I knew it, I’d read over 100 pages. Twice. I finished it in less than 24 hours because I just had to know what happened next. This was my first book by Natalie D. Richards and, if this is what her books are like, it will not be my last.

I needed to take a break from what I was reading and was excited to come across this book until I downloaded it and found it was told in alternating perspectives. This is the type of book that I was wanting to take a break from and is my least favorite writing style because these types of books never flow well. The constant going back and forth between characters is not only annoying, but it ruins the flow of the story. I find myself forcing myself to finish these types of books.

While the idea for this book is something I know I would enjoy, the writing style is not. Had I known it was written this way, I would have not requested it at this time. In the DNF pile for now. I'm sure I will come back to this one at a later date.