The Forgetting Room is like the adult's version of a pop-up book, and I enjoyed every second of it!! 🤪
Yes, what drew me towards this book is its extremely unique and mysterious design. As the reader flips through the pages, they will discover paintings, scrapbook pictures, cryptic messages, and strange symbols...
It is a story that takes place in Spain (quite possibly one of the only stories I have read where it has 😅), and it is about a young man traveling over to Spain to acquire his deceased grandfather's estate. However, holes begin to appear, and the man works fervently to solve the mystery his grandfather left behind.
The plot for the novel is quite strange, but basically... The protagonist, Hurtago, learns of his grandfather's passing, Rafael. Hurtago travels to Spain to collect his inheritance. However, upon arriving, he receives "the mottled contained the letter A, painted in the unusual way that Rafael had always reserved exclusively for me." In it, Hurtago finds clues in regards to his grandfather Rafael's mystery...
"I was left with the word DUENDE. ... found an old Oxford dictionary in the living room. Duende: evil spirit; inspiration."
It is not until Hurtago has a dream that he starts to understand... In the dream, a childhood rival of Rafael's approaches his grandfather during their 20s... "'I got to thinking about the time when we were boys in the schoolyard 'bull-fighting.' ... I was meant to kill you, but you ducked under my sword and knocked me to the ground and stood over me."
They arrive at a bridged gorge, where the rival attempts to kill him (for real, this time), but Rafael "put [his] head down and ran at him. ... but his blade never touched [Rafael]."
Once Hurtago solves the mystery -- Rafael wants him to go to the gorge -- the truth is revealed to him. "I could, I was certain, sense my grandfather's presence. It was as though two eras were coexisting in one space."
When Hurtago arrives at the gorge, he sees a vision of his young grandfather and rival. "I had to do something. ... so I struck out, I tried to punch Manuel's leg." In the end, Hurtago ends up being the force behind the rival's demise, and saving his young grandfather's life! 🙏
My final thoughts are... What?? 😅
I understand this is a fictional story and it doesn't need to be 100% factual, but how does Hurtago solving the mystery just suddenly and magically show him the moment Manuel nearly kills his grandfather? How could Hurtago save his grandfather during a period when he hadn't even been born yet?! It's just too "out there" for me...
But, aside from that, the attraction of the mystery was fun, because of course the reader has the desire for it to be solved!.. Yet, the clues, the problem solving, were very strange.. It was hard to follow along...