The Beauty of Impossible Things by Rachel Donohue
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This book tells the story of Natasha, a fifteen year old girl, who sees strange lights above her town, which she sees as a portent of doom. Her fears seem realised when a local teenager goes missing and Natasha is called upon to help. But her actions over that long, hot summer will have unforeseen and ultimately tragic consequences that will cast a shadow for many years to come...
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The Beauty of Impossible Things is a wonderfully written novel with very poetic prose. There’s a haunting and lyrical quality to the novel, as Natasha takes the reader through her fifteenth summer. With asides to answer questions her therapist has raised, there is an inevitability that the story will not have a happy ending, and it’s up to the reader to get there. Natasha and her mother are quite isolated in their house, and the loneliness and neglect this brings add to the feeling of sadness within this novel.
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Natasha is an interesting main character. She has dreams and can foresee the future. Her mother has told her to keep her gifts hidden, but as events unfold she finds it more difficult to. She is a serious girl, and has an adult way of talking, yet her youth shows in her relationship with her best friend, Marcus, her mother and the man she has become involved with. This is when readers see her insecurities and jealousies. There is a contrast in the way she wants the public to view her and her gifts, and how she wants Marcus and her mum to focus their attention on her.
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The book doesn’t really allow readers to get to know the side characters, because Natasha doesn’t allow us to. Readers view them through Natasha, her feelings and opinions, and again coming years later there is an unreliability to how she remembers them. Readers do get to know Natasha though, and her arc and development in this is great, readers see how the events of the book influence her and change her.
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I really enjoyed this book, there’s a warmth to it even against the foreboding and sadness of the story. There is a feeling of summer nostalgia and growing up, with themes of being different and wanting to fit it, of love and friendship and I would highly recommend.
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Thank you to Readers First, Atlantic and Corvus Books and the author for this early copy
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This book tells the story of Natasha, a fifteen year old girl, who sees strange lights above her town, which she sees as a portent of doom. Her fears seem realised when a local teenager goes missing and Natasha is called upon to help. But her actions over that long, hot summer will have unforeseen and ultimately tragic consequences that will cast a shadow for many years to come...
...
The Beauty of Impossible Things is a wonderfully written novel with very poetic prose. There’s a haunting and lyrical quality to the novel, as Natasha takes the reader through her fifteenth summer. With asides to answer questions her therapist has raised, there is an inevitability that the story will not have a happy ending, and it’s up to the reader to get there. Natasha and her mother are quite isolated in their house, and the loneliness and neglect this brings add to the feeling of sadness within this novel.
...
Natasha is an interesting main character. She has dreams and can foresee the future. Her mother has told her to keep her gifts hidden, but as events unfold she finds it more difficult to. She is a serious girl, and has an adult way of talking, yet her youth shows in her relationship with her best friend, Marcus, her mother and the man she has become involved with. This is when readers see her insecurities and jealousies. There is a contrast in the way she wants the public to view her and her gifts, and how she wants Marcus and her mum to focus their attention on her.
...
The book doesn’t really allow readers to get to know the side characters, because Natasha doesn’t allow us to. Readers view them through Natasha, her feelings and opinions, and again coming years later there is an unreliability to how she remembers them. Readers do get to know Natasha though, and her arc and development in this is great, readers see how the events of the book influence her and change her.
...
I really enjoyed this book, there’s a warmth to it even against the foreboding and sadness of the story. There is a feeling of summer nostalgia and growing up, with themes of being different and wanting to fit it, of love and friendship and I would highly recommend.
...
Thank you to Readers First, Atlantic and Corvus Books and the author for this early copy