Another Way to Fall by Amanda Brooke

What would you do if you could write the story of your life?

After battling a brain tumour twenty-nine year old Emma thinks she is in the clear, but her world comes crashing down around her when she is told her fight was in vain, and there is nothing more the doctors can do.

Realising that she won’t now have time to achieve the things she dreamed of, Emma decides to write her perfect life in a story. She imagines all the things she would have done, the places she would have seen, the husband she would have shared her life with and the family they would have raised. And, mysteriously, as she writes her story, she starts to notice that some of her dreams seem to be coming true.

Now with a real love in her life, and her fading hope burning brighter, reality and fiction start to become blurred. As she writes their life-long love story Emma dares to believe that anything is possible, but can she really change her fate?

Review:

Where do I even begin to review this beautiful book? I went through so many different emotions whilst reading this, and was drawn in again and again. I must mention that the cover for this is also beautiful and it depicts the story that you find inside perfectly.

When Emma finds out that her tumour has come back and her time is limited, you know that this is going to be a heartbreaking story. 

The story that Emma writes as her life as she wishes it to be, brings a lightness and happiness to her real life, heartbreaking story. Like Emma I wanted to plunge myself into that happy world with her. It is how we know her life should have been and not the cruel fate she was given. I liked the split between her fictional world and her real world, and I too started to believe her fictional world was real.

Emma is a truly inspirational character. She has been dealt the worst possible blow and yet the strength and bravery she shows towards others is amazing. Underneath she may be scared, but she doesn't let this show. The surrounding characters are also incredible people. Emma does get frustrated with her Mum as she is a little oppressive, but you can completely understand why. She wants desperately to help her daughter as much as she can and any Mother would be the same if their daughter was going through this. Emma has an amazing support network of friends and family and we also see how cancer doesn't only touch one person, it touches everyone around them. Without them, we know that Emma would have struggled, and these are the ones that stick by her even when Emma tries to push them away so that they will not get hurt.

Although this story is incredibly sad at times and it definitely brought tears to my eyes, it is also a story about hope. Emma could have just resigned herself to her fate and done nothing in her final months, but she didn't. She made the most out of those final moments of her life and it makes you realise that if Emma can accomplish what she does, despite what she is going through, then anyone can.

Amanda Brooke has written one of those novels that will stay with you for a very long time. I do not think my review has done this incredible book justice! Just take away this: you must read it!

9/10