The Beauty of Impossible Things is Rachel Donohue's second novel. It follows Natasha, talking through the events of a summer, 30 years previously, when she was 15 years old with her therapist. That summer strange lights appeared in the sky above her small coastal town and Natasha interpreted them as a warning of impending doom. Natasha's fears are realized when a local teenager goes missing and she is called on to help.

I loved Donohue's first novel, Temple House Vanishing and like that this novel has haunting writing and tone unlike other authors I've read from. The Beauty of Impossible things sits perfectly in the Venn diagram of speculative fiction and coming of age story, atmospheric and melancholic, slow in pace and beautifully written. Although at points I wasn't engaged as I anticipated I would be, not that that will stop me from picking up future novels from Donohue!

Thanks Corvus for providing my copy!
        

I was lucky enough to be given a copy of this book by Readers First in return for an honest review.
It was a slow burn, but definitely one that I wanted to keep reading. We travel through this book with Natasha, a teenager who has the gift of foresight, but always sees when something bad happens. Living with her mother, her father having left them when she was young, who she craves love from but always seems embarrassed about her daughter’s gift.
One night Natasha sees lights coming from the trees on a ridge and feels that something bad is going to happen and tries to warn her little town. People don’t believe her apart from another boy Lewis, who had previously had a breakdown and the town thinks he is strange, who tells her he saw them too and also seems distressed by them.
The story follows Natasha trying to warn people of the horrible events she knows will happen to them and people not seeming to believe her, or her not making any difference and it happening anyway.
It was such a lovely read and something different. I would recommend to anyone who wants a slow burner.

I loved this book, it felt beautiful to read. The cover is stunning.

Thank you readers first for the book