I found this book hard to get into, slow moving, and with several confusing leaps between the stories' presents and pasts. I thought the beginning was especially difficult to trudge through and the end could have easily been left out. There was no clear ending wrapped up in a bow, with questions answered the way I would normally expect. The middle section was this book's redeeming quality, for me.

Fun usually isn't a word I'd use to describe a book about suicidal thoughts, but 'A Long Way Down' has a lot more to it than any brief summary could convey. The characters feel real; they're funny, and troubled, and flawed in very believable ways. Their banter sounds like true conversation, and I had a great time traveling with them from the roof of Topper's House and beyond.