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The Beauty of Impossible Things by Rachel Donohue

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mazza57's review

2.0

You will read many reviews that tell you that this tells you a story of a girl gifted with precognition or prescience, that it follow the events of a past summer. In fact this book fails to create a narrative of any sort. For me it is the flattest book i have read in a while. I have no feeling for the characters who are almost ephemeral in whatever can be constructed as a narrative. This is the second book that i have read from this author, like the first this has failed to capture my imagination - I imagine it will be my last from Ms Donohue who fails to create any sort of pace or tension in her meandering narratives

maz403's review

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2.0

This was a book that I wanted to like but ultimately it just wasn’t for me. Whilst well written the characters and storyline just failed to catch and hold my attention.

thebooktrail88's review

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3.0

See the literary locations in this story

Ethereal and quite dark but very interesting.

There are no real or even vague locations in this novel. However, the setting is a seaside town somewhere in England. Brighton, Bognor Regis and Eastbourne are very popular and well-known seaside towns so it could be one of those or similar.

There is mention of lights in the sky and a crumbling house by the sea…so wherever you go, try and find these things!

kensue76's review

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3.0

3.5 stars
I struggled to get into this initially, it really only picks up steam 3/4 the way through..some of the writing and prose is lovely but for some reason I just didn't connect as much as I'd hoped.

the_lawyer_librarian's review

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3.0

Poetic, thought-provoking and chilling. This story is beautifully written, lyrical and poetic, and it hooks you in from the very first page. Despite the beauty on the surface, the story feels like a warning, and you can often feel the eerie and ominous undertones. Natasha is a great female lead character. She is fiercely protective of those she loves, yet her recollection of that summer feels unreliable, rooted in the senses and teenage emotion rather than actual memory. It’s a shame that she feels so isolated by her strange experiences, as I believe this impacts her decisions throughout the book. I wanted more information on her relationships with her mother and Marcus, as these felt pivotal to her character, yet there was little detail given. Overall, this was an enjoyable coming-of-age, gothic tale that explores loneliness, isolation and if we can truly trust our memories. Thank you to readers first for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

darkereader44's review

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3.0

Natasha lives in a seaside town where she and her mother are alienated from the town by their strangeness. When she turns 15 the town is in the midst of a record breaking heatwave which stifles and oppresses the small town. Natasha has a gift of foresight able to predict things and read people, for her the gift is like a curse. It makes her mother keep her at an arms length and alienates her further from her peers. One night strange lights appear above the creepy ridge and tragic events start to unfold.

This is written in such a lyrical and almost dreamlike way which I really enjoyed, Natasha and her mother really frustrated me and I often wanted to give them both a good shake to get them to react to events or take action. I felt vey sorry for the way Natasha is treated even though she is often the architect to the situation.

A coming of age tale of a young girl on the cusp of womanhood, still innocent and often misguided burdened with a gift she can not control.