The setup breakdown for When It Falls Apart by Catherine Bybee is now available for Apprentices.
Read When It Falls Apart.
Read the When It Falls Apart setup breakdown now.
REVIEW
When It Falls Apart has a warm-and-fuzzy, Hallmark-esque idealism to it. The book showcases what a healthy romantic relationship looks like, as well as what irreparably damaged and actively healing relationships consist of.
Brooke’s struggle to manage her own life and still keep a solid grasp on her father’s well-being is an experience shared by many people around the world. What stands out about Brooke’s connection with her father is that he was never there for her in the same way. Though the tendrils of co-dependency start to creep their way into Brooke’s mind, it’s Luca (the love interest) who helps coax her away from the clutches of that particular condition, as I’d hope any good partner would.
While Brook’s relationship with Luca has the everyday misunderstandings that can happen between two people in love, readers looking for an example of a romance to aspire to will find it in the way that Luca and Brooke support, encourage, and defend one another.
Running sprees aside, Franny (Luca’s daughter from a previous marriage), is well-behaved, kind, and intelligent. She generally does what she’s told and gives Brooke an opportunity to play “Mama.” Brooke hasn’t been able to carry a pregnancy to term in the past, so Franny is her first real chance to take on a parental role (for someone other than her father). Though, at this point in the series, we still don’t know what exactly is going on with Brooke from a reproductive standpoint, the book closes with a “wait and see” hopefulness that leaves the door open for Luca to become a father once again in the near future.
Antonia makes for a deliciously detestable villain. I wouldn’t be surprised if every parent who read about this woman was outraged and disgusted by her behavior as a “mother.”
Luca is the attractive, talented love interest you’d expect from a romance. He loves his family, is a hard worker, would kill for his daughter, and treats Brooke better (within the first week of knowing her!) than her last boyfriend had in years. He’s exactly the kind of man that Brooke deserves after all the strife she’s gone through in her life up to this point.
If you’re looking for a slow-burning, simple, heart-warming read, this book is a great fit!
What is a setup breakdown?
This is a special kind of summary that I create for the books that I read. The breakdown focuses on parsing out the Five Ps of Premise Prep for a particular book. This helps new writers get better acquainted with how the Five Ps look in action. The hope is that, by understanding how they work in other pieces, newbies can start to craft stronger writing themselves by incorporating similar structures in their own work.
Does every book have the Five Ps?
Pretty much!
There are exceptions, such as books of poetry.
However, for the vast majority of categories of writing that I’ve come across, the five Ps can be applied. This includes (but is by no means limited to!):
- Fantasy
- Memoirs
- Textbooks
- Children’s books
- Autobiographies
- Science Fiction
- Cookbooks
- Blog posts
- Reference books
- Legal contracts
- Romance
- White papers
- Mysteries
- Short stories
- Technical manuals
- Erotica
- Self-help books
What are the five Ps?
You can review the lesson on the Five Ps for more detail, but they stand for:
- Person
- Pain
- Prize
- Pitfalls
- Promise
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