The Beautiful Fall
A Book Review - The Beautiful Fall by Hugh Breaky
Thank you to NetGalley, Text Publishing and Hugh Breaky for giving this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I saw another review asking an essential question regarding the Beautiful Fall … Why is no one talking about this book?
I chose it as a 'read now' on NetGalley because I felt pretty defeated from my last terrible pick and was on a mission to not just build my NetGalley resume but not waste my time and life reading bad books. I read the synopsis - I know! Who even am I anymore? I read the few reviews available and decided to give it a go. Less than 24 hours later, here I am.
I devoured this story.
It immediately reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant, so I see a theme where socially inept loners are my thing.
The story grabs you from the first sentence, a letter from Robbie to himself explaining everything. That every 179 days, Robbie experiences a form of amnesia that completely wipes his memory. His key to surviving is this letter that he carries with him everywhere. It explains who he is, where he lives, and a map to get home. Once in his apartment's safety, he gets his meals delivered. Everything, rent included, is on autopay. Past Robbie also leaves current Robbie a task. 83,790 dominos, a job he takes on as if his present life hangs on its completion.
Until bright, attractive Julie enters his world and completely changes everything, he knew to be true about past Robbie.
I am not giving this a five star review because, for a shorter book, the end was completely rushed. There was more than enough time and interest to give it the proper finish it deserved.
I strongly suggest The Beautiful Fall when it is released April 30, 2021. I am hoping it reaches the audience it deserves.
Synopsis:
The Beautiful Fall is a cinematic, page-turning romance. Both an intriguing puzzle and a compulsively readable love story, it will sweep you away.
Every 179 days Robbie forgets everything. He knows this because last time it happened he wrote himself a letter explaining it. The disorientation. The fear. The bizarre circumstances imposed by the rare neurological condition he lives with.
To survive the forgetting—to cope with his recurring loss of identity—Robbie leads a solitary, regimented life. Lives alone. Speaks to no one if he can avoid it. Works to complete a strange herculean task set for him by his former self.
And then, with twelve days left before his next forgetting, Julie invades his life. Young, beautiful—the only woman he can ever remember meeting.
As the hour draws near, Robbie is forced to confront the fact that his past is very different from how he had imagined it. And when Julie reveals her own terrible secret, he must find a way to come to terms with the truth about himself.