Sarah Lotz - The Impossible Us

This isn't a love story. This is Impossible.
***
Nick: Failed writer. Failed husband. Dog owner.
Bee: Serial dater. Dress maker. Pringles enthusiast.
One day, their paths cross over a misdirected email. The connection is instant, electric. They feel like they've known each other all their lives.
Nick buys a new suit, gets on a train. Bee steps away from her desk, sets off to meet him under the clock at Euston station.
Think you know how the rest of the story goes? They did too . . .
But this is a story with more twists than most. This is Impossible.

Comment: The blurb of this book caught my attention last year, and then I read some comments which were praising the plot and I was sold. Finally, I had the chance to read it.

In this book we meet Nick and Bee, who start talking by email after Nick wrongly sends an email to Bee. His intention was to scold a man who had asked him to ghostwrite a book and has not replied nor paid after a long time. Bee replies to let him know he had the wrong address and they start exchanging emails and become friends of a sort. As they keep sharing things about their lives for a while they then notice they have become each other's best friend and, perhaps, even more than that. Despite some odds and issues in their lives, they decide to go forward with this apparently instant connection and agree on a meeting, to finally see each other face to face for the first time. The problem? That day, they both arrive at the right location but they cannot physically find each other! How can this be...?

I think the real impact of this book's plot can only be gained by having the reader ignore all reviews before starting, just like I did. I can't even remember what was it that caught my attention when I checked out those comments last year, but I went into this book expecting a contemporary romance and when the first twist came - I mean, the big surprise - I was not speechless, but it was a great turn of events!

This book is divided into several parts, and this big surprise happens right at the end of the first one. This means most of the plot is about the characters dealing with what they learn and how to process things, what they do and how those around them react. I think this idea was very clever because at the back of my mind I kept thinking, how will this work out unless the author finds a solution so great that everyone would so amazed and would ignore the holes in it, or something deus ex-machina would have to be added at some point. Well, I'm still debating what I feel about the solution, but the ride towards that was certainly engaging.

I had a great time reading this book and was quite immersed in the lives of the characters. I suppose this book might not be considered worthy literature for many, but who should care about that, if the simple act of reading and spending time following the characters' steps is so much fun and entertaining? Although, I must say that if one really picks up all the little unlikely things - plot wise I mean, not about the genre - then perhaps this isn't the best, but I think the author did a good planing and was able to organize things in a way that made reading this novel a pleasurable experience. I think that yes, there were a couple of situations which were kind of glaring on how obviously they would be used later on, and I was proved right about then, but that didn't ruin my appreciation of the whole thing.

Bee and Nick are facing an impossible situation, they can't be together as easily as it feels like as we read the first part, where we get to know about them. The idea is not original - if there are other books I cannot specify, but one movie immediately comes to mind when I think about the plot - but I think the true interest is precisely on the characters. In the midst of all the email exchanges, we also have narration from both their POVs, so we can follow them easily and their personalities start to become very defined the more we read.

I'm trying to not share too much, so that I don't ruin the surprise for anyone who might feel like reading the book, but let it be said that most of the plot does have a contemporary feel, as if this is a romance and the book should be treated as such. Nick is an interesting character because he feels he didn't accomplish enough in his life and Bee feels she is only going through the motions since her mother died. I think these two might not be an obvious pair from the start but it's not only the tricky shared experience that brings them together, we start noticing that even without that, they would be able to become a couple, which ends up being a key element in making this a story where we root for the characters to find a way to be together.

Closer to the end, certain details start bringing things to a climax and I admit there was a moment there I felt this would not go the way I envisioned for most of the book. Then, I thought, what if not? It wouldn't be that bad to be honest, because the true beauty of this type of novel is often in the road, and not in the fact things are achieved or not, but if they were, that would be a great plus. I will simply say that I liked how this ended, but if the end had been slightly different I would not have felt betrayed or annoyed by that choice. I really think this was a good story to read and while I have been as vague as possible, I still hope someone might want to try it too...

Grade: 8/10