Unfortunately, sometimes good decisions can have bad consequences and Lucy is about to discover that breaking up with Carl is going to be a lot more trouble than she could ever have anticipated.
Readers of Kate McCaffrey’s previous novel Destroying Avalon won’t be surprised to discover that she is once again posing a series of interesting and challenging ethical questions within a fast moving, emotionally intense story.
On the night Lucy breaks up with Carl, he crashes his car, breaking his best friend’s neck and leaving himself in a coma. For Lucy, this is the start of a rapidly intensifying series of questions and doubts about the role she has played in Carl’s accident, his erratic behaviour leading up to their break-up, and the best way for her to deal with the emotional decisions that need to be made.
Crashing Down features a series of ethical and emotional dilemmas. These focus primarily on Lucy but the experiences and emotions of Lucy and Carl’s families and friends also contribute to create a complex network of issues, ideas and perspectives.
Despite the complexity and intensity of the issues faced by Lucy, Crashing Down is a very easy book to read. I did struggle with one character, one of Lucy’s friends whose jumbled words and inappropriate comments did serve a purpose within the text but also became irritatingly inane at times, but I was generally very impressed with the way the characters worked within the story to offer a diversity of viewpoints on the issues raised.
Not a book for those looking for a light-hearted beach read, Crashing Down is instead a very engaging and challenging novel for those looking for a book that will make them think, with a storyline that will linger and continue to raise questions long after the final page is read.
There are teachers’ notes available for this novel.
Title: Crashing Down
Author: Kate McCaffrey
Publisher: Fremantle Press, $19.99 RRP
Publication Date: August 2014
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781922089854
For ages: 14+
Type: Young Adult
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