I requested this for consideration for Book Riot's All the Books podcast for its release date. After sampling several books out this week, I decided to go with a different book for my review.

17-year-old minerva gutierrez is overwhelmed by her mom’s hospitalization. dealing with her predatory boss, minerva dreams of escaping her dead-end hometown. when an armed robbery stirs up rumors of hidden money, min teams up with her neighbor cece to find it and get revenge on her boss. if she can navigate obstacles and confront painful truths, she might finally find a way out. this poignant and thrilling contemporary ya novel explores themes of grief, anger, and fighting for what you deserve.

i left this book feeling deeply emotional, intimately knowing the pain of caring for a sick parent and the uncertainty of the future. as a teacher, i have students who face similar struggles to minerva. this novel captures a reality many teens endure, dealing with trauma and poverty. i’ve seen reviews that mention the lack of consequences for the characters’ substance abuse, but that’s the harsh truth for many kids in these situations. they are so marginalized that their struggles often go unnoticed.

This is one of those young adult novels that, while fun in the moment, I know is going to be one that I quickly forget. When I was gathering my thoughts to write this review, I thought to myself, "this is the one where she works at the ice cream store, right?" And while I was right, that is really the only thing I remember about this book. Granted, I should have written my review much closer to when I finished the book - that's on me. I think this book will resonate with the right readers, but I clearly wasn't that reader.

I had high hopes for this one, but i couldn't shake the feeling that the mc could have been developed better. There was a lot of potential for this to be a really great story with a lot of heart. This was a strong debut in my opinion and I'm interested to see how this authors style develops.

This was a very wholesome story all together. Though the characters were interesting, I found it hard to connect with Minerva and thought some parts dragged on too long.
Probably not for everyone but I liked the theme of grief a lot.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

3.5/5 stars
I was really excited for this YA debut, especially after reading the authors note at the beginning. While I think the ideas and intent and concepts are outstanding, the reading experience suffers from what I can best describe as a
"mushy" presentation of events. It was hard to really get a handle on what was going on and what was important about what was going on, and sometimes the dialogue was hard to follow. I did like the characters and their dynamics overall, but I wished their development and the story's development had been more spread out - the first half is lots of repetitive happenings and speculation and the second half is all the action. I'm excited to see what this authors writes next.

I gave this a three out of five stars. I thought this was an okay book but I think it could be so much better.

This was an enjoyable read! I appreciated how it touched on grief and navigating life with a parent who is terminally ill. The mystery plotline was fun, but it did feel disjointed at times. I had trouble getting into the book at first but really enjoyed it once I switched to the audiobook, which is narrated by Frankie Corzo.

I'll be recommending this a lot at my library! I think it'll be a hit with fans of Sarah Everett or Ashley Herring Blake.

This book was pretty good. For a debut, it was fairly well written, is plot-driven and fits well in its genre. The pace varied, at times to its own detriment (ie oscillating between too fast and too slow). I liked that it focused in on some important themes like sexism and employment equity, but I didn't love how it drifted away from that at times. Overall, a decent book and I look forward to seeing what the author comes up with in the future! Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

Loved this book. Thought it would be for ya only but the story really takes you in. Loved the Minerva character. Has many aspects incuded and is a recommendation. Thanks to netgalley for providing me a copy of this book.

This book was good, a pretty solid debut. There were times where I felt the story was moving along too slow, but then other times where it felt very rushed, so I think the pacing needed to be measured better. It's a very rough read, the MC deals with a lot of heavy issues and self-destructive behaviors. While I didn't connect with those parts of her (and honestly, found her a tad annoying at times) I can see how she can connect with others who may react the same way she does. Overall, a decent read.

this is a solid ya contemporary book that is fairly plot driven as it opens with a 'bang' ! sadly i found the writing style a bit too green for my taste but i would definitely recommend it to younger readers as it explores topical issues with realism and empathy.

If I could say one word about this book, it would be powerful. I loved the narrator’s voice and what the book was trying to say. It spoke on themes of racism, sexism, classism, and privilege. What true justice looks like. I think this is a powerful book for teenagers to read.
4 out of 5 :stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Solid intent here, with the interplay between power and privilege, the difference between justice and right. It's very reflective and the justifications the characters give don't always make sense. Plus the pacing is a bit slow the tension lacking.

A great exploration of grief and anger. I'm a bit biased when it comes to contemporary YAs because I love them but What's Coming to Me was definitely such a realistic contemporary YA and I have no doubt that its existence will be cherished by many (especially BIPOCs) who can relate to its story.

I was lucky enough to hear this author speak at the ALA conference and to get a physical ARC as well as a digital one for this amazing book. There are definitely some deep topics here (grief, armed robbery, harassment) but the voices of the characters make all of that feel so real it is hard not to get pulled into their world for better or worse. Minerva hates her job but she needs it to help support herself and her mom who suffers from chronic illness and is back in the hospital. When the store gets robbed and she learns of possible money to be found she wonders if this might answer all her problems. It reminded me a bit (a stretch I know) of On My Block when they were looking for the RollerWorld money. A great read with a great voice that I am excited to bring into my classroom.

Rating: 4.5 rounded up

Padilla’s author note really set the tone for reading this book. Learning about anticipatory grief through Minerva’s character put a completely different lens on grief. A lot of the destructive behaviors like underage drinking, drug use, fighting, etc., that she engaged in weren’t a part of my own grief process when I lost my own mother a couple years ago. However, it is understandable considering Minerva is much younger and has been dealing with the fact that her mom was dying for years.

The romance with Min’s coworker Eli from Duke’s Ice Creamery was ok but I could have done without it. I much more enjoyed the scenes with CeCe and Mary. Those relationships felt more authentic while reading.

Any BIPOC teens and adults who grew up poor and always struggling financially will relate to Minerva and her motivations for going after the treasure and wanting to get out of Nautilus. A quote that really resonated with me is, “They say money isn’t everything, but that’s for people who have never worried about how they’re going to sleep, or drive to work, or buy a f***ing piece of fruit.” Usually people don’t understand this unless it is part of their lives experience. Padilla’s depictions of poverty and deprivation were well done.

What’s Coming to Me is essentially about grief in all its various forms, growing up in poverty and being BIPOC as well as being angry about the way in which systems and structures in society are put in place to keep you down. I enjoyed this one because Padilla’s witty writing style made a book with tough topics not feel so heavy to read.

Thank you NetGalley and Soho Press for an eARC of What’s Coming To Me in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC digital edition.

Unfortunately, I was unable to read this in the time allotted. It remains on my “to be read” list for the future.

Min is having a shitty summer. She's got a job that doesn't pay enough, where her boss is a creep. She's having trouble at school, her mom's been in the hospital, and the dude she's crushing on may or may not hate her. Oh, and then the ice cream shop she works at gets robbed. WTF.

The cover of this novel caught my eye first, and the book jacket made me request it. While I do read a lot of YA books, I don't typically read thrillers, because I have a hard enough time sleeping at night. But this wasn't a bump in the night haunted house kind of book. It's a novel about a teen, trying to find herself, but getting caught in the pull of her hometown, a place she can't escape. And how doing something wrong might be the way to get out. But also, dealing with a secret that she won't talk about. Because if she says anything, it'll be real. And she's avoiding that for as long as possible. 4 out of 5 stars.

I was provided an ARC copy of this book through Netgalley. My thanks to the publisher and the author for providing it to me.