Are you a young adult looking for a suspenseful, new mystery novel? Then check out “What’s Coming to Me,” a semi-autobiographical novel by Francesca Padilla released in August. It explores loss, rage and it really means to move forward after grief.

‘What’s Coming to Me’ tells the gritty and emotional story of protagonist Minerva Gutierrez, a brilliant seventeen year-old whose life completely falls apart due to her mother’s serious heart illness. After being kicked out of school, Minerva desperately needs cash and takes a job at an ice cream stand, where not only is she subjected to a mean boss but she witnesses a robbery. Initially, Minerva is afraid, but as the days pass, she thinks the robbers should have inflicted more damage because she so deeply despises her boss and job. Minerva is vengeful, but deep down, she’s scared but doesn’t want people to know it.  

Just when Minerva’s goal of leaving her impoverished seaside town Nautilus seems hopeless, her neighbor CeCe hears a rumor of hidden treasure at the store. CeCe and Minerva work together to find the treasure, but the truths Minerva has been running from start catching up with her. Her mother is dying. She was expelled from high school. She has trouble relating to others. She and her only friend aren’t talking. And she’s stuck in a low-paying, dead end job she hates.

“What’s Coming to Me” realistically and poignantly portrays the journey of grief by showing the vastly different ways we grieve. The author uses Minerva’s raw emotions and the situations she finds herself in to demonstrate the reality that processing grief cannot be avoided. You can’t just leave it like you would a small town. 

However, grief will change over time as you learn to move forward. Through Minerva’s journey, Padilla delivers the hopeful message that it is possible to pick up the missing pieces of your life even if you feel like you’ve lost everything.

Padilla’s writing leaves the reader constantly wanting more. She ends each chapter with intriguing and heartbreaking memories, inner-dialogue and new revelations about Minerva that make her character richer. I enjoyed the slow reveal and peeling the layers of Minerva’s complicated character. 

“What’s Coming to Me”’ is recommended for an YA audience aged 14 and above. It examines mature themes including drug use and portrays the dark realities of fighting for a better life against all odds. It is not for the easily triggered.

 Reading this coming-of-age book as I navigated my own grief and transition helped me understand there is no one way to cope. It serves as an important reminder that we must all be empathetic and open to hearing different sides of a story.

Overall, this was an interesting, bittersweet and thought-provoking novel to read. I rate “What’s Coming to Me” a 9 out of 10. Minerva’s thoughts and grief as depicted in Padilla’s writing style feels painfully real. The pace sometimes felt slow, but dealing with grief can be a slow process, as Padilla beautifully shows us.