Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa
RATING: 5 Stars
GENRE: YA Contemporary
Ten months after her recurring depression landed her in the hospital, Mira is starting over as a new student at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to act like a normal, functioning human this time around, not a girl who sometimes can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby.
Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn it’s as if he’s been expecting this blond, lanky boy with a mischievous glint in his eye.
Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him like a backlit halo. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and secret road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives.
As Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira’s world, he begins to understand the secrets that they hide in order to protect themselves, to keep each other safe from those who don’t understand their quest to live for the impossible.
MY THOUGHTS:
WOW! What a book! This book is perfect for fans of All the Bright Places and We Were Liars. Following three very distinct characters, each with their own array of problems, Fans of the Impossible Life shows the story of friendship, love, loss and struggle in a beautifully poetic way.
My favourite things about this book was how distinct each of the characters were and in turn how distinct the three alternating POVs were. Mira, Jeremy and Sebby were three very individual personalities which were built so fabulously that within 50 pages you knew so well and loved very strongly. This meant that the emotional roller coaster throughout the novel was heightened as you felt every emotion they did. This lead to a heart wrenching story that will stay with you after the last pages.
Like many new books in the YA genre, Fans of the Impossible Life deals with mental illness and sexuality in a delicate yet realistic way. There were certain aspects and events in the book that come across as very strange and erratic but upon reflection and reviewing the reactions of the characters, it just emphasises the chaos and destruction of mental illness.
Another fantastic YA mental illness themed story with three distinct an loveable characters with themes and a plot that will keep you hooked way after you have turned the last page.
*I RECEIVED A COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM THE PUBLISHER FOR REVIEW BUT IT HAS IN NO WAY AFFECTED MY OPINIONS.*
I read a review of this book the other day (if only I could remember where!) but it similarly wanted to give high praise to the plot and characters. I feel like sometimes YA minor characters can all blend into each other, or if there's multiple main characters they become cartoony in their differences. Hearing that Kate Scelsa manages to keep it "delicate yet realistic" is exciting!
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