Review – A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall by Andy Abramowitz (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Humor
Length: 392 pages
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Release Date: January 1, 2020
ASIN: B07PR9PSK5
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Free Kindle eBook through First Reads
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Davis Winger has it all. A respected engineer who designs roller coasters in theme parks across the country, he is deeply in love with his wife and has a beautiful young daughter and a happy home. Until an accident strikes on one of his rides. Nothing fatal—except to his career. And to his marriage, when a betrayal from his past inadvertently comes to light. In one cosmically bad day, Davis loses it all.
His sister, Molly, is at a crossroads herself. She’s coasting through a dire relationship with an incompatible man-child. And she’s a journalist whose deeply personal columns about mothers and daughters are forcing her to confront the truth about her own mother, who abandoned Molly and Davis years ago and disappeared.
For these two siblings, it’s just a matter of bracing themselves for one turbulent summer in this redemptive and painfully funny family drama about making the best of the sharp turns in life—those we choose to take and those beyond our control.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this as a free Kindle First Reads ebook with my Amazon Prime membership.
Story (4/5): This was a well done contemporary fiction about two siblings. The brother, Davis, is a rollercoaster designer who has been put on paid leave because of an accident that happened on a ride he designed. Right after this happens, his wife finds out that during the project he slept with another woman. He’s now living on his own in an apartment trying to pull his family and career back together.
The sister, Molly, is a journalist at a small time paper, living a comfortable but empty feeling life. She gets the chance to start a new project that is near and dear to her heart and as it gains success, she gains confidence. Both siblings continue to suffer from the way their mother abandoned them at a young age.
The story is well written, humorous, and heartfelt. I enjoyed some of the information on engineering rides and enjoyed these characters’ stories. There’s a lot in here about family and abandonment.
Characters (4/5): I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed both characters. I expected to hate Davis after finding out he cheated on his wife, however Abramowitz does an excellent job of making him a somewhat sympathetic character that you feel for. Abramowitz does a very good job at showing how a basically good person can make a one time thoughtless decision (or even a non-decision) that destroys everything. I related to Molly a lot better and enjoyed reading her parts a bit more. Both characters show how much of an impact having a parent leave can have on a person’s life.
Setting (4/5): The setting was fine but not the point of the story. Davis travels around a bit but this is mostly a character driven story with some intriguing plot elements going on in the background.
Writing Style (4/5): This was easy to read and engaging. Abramowitz alternates POV between Davis and Molly and it worked really well for this story. The characters and their lives were well portrayed and there was humor throughout to lighten things up. The story was written in a very entertaining way, while still providing a lot of food for thought.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this, even though it is a bit outside of what I would normally read. It was an engaging and entertaining story and the characterization was amazing. I loved watching both characters navigate through their day to day calamities and successes. I also really enjoyed that there was some interesting information on ride engineering and journalism in here as well. While I probably won’t go seeking out more books by Arbamowitz, if I see one pop up somewhere in the future I will probably check it out.
