Name: jess's review of Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa
Item: Fans of the Impossible Life
Rating: 5
Author: jess

Kate Scelsa

A captivating and profound debut novel about complicated love and the friendships that have the power to transform you forever, perfect for fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Mira is starting over at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to pretend that she could act like a functioning human this time, not a girl who 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 mischief glinting in his eye. Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and impromptu 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.

Fans of the Impossible Life

jess

Bria

this was a lot, and some parts were weird (view spoiler)[ (the weird makeout session like where did that even come from)  (hide spoiler)] but things picked up really fast in the end and even though, (view spoiler)[ it wasn't a happy ending, it was good!  (hide spoiler)]

Nova

** spoiler alert **
           I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH I CRIED MULTIPLE TIMES!!!

but the ending!!! oh my god my kids deserve their happy ending so much and i hope sebby got himself together. i wish there was more of these kids!! there were some uncomfortable scenes for me but it's more of a personal thing and the changing point of views threw me off a little at first, but i think everyone would love reading this. it's an honest and realistic depiction of kids of different lives. i think the book depicted mira's depression, jeremy's experience and anxiety, and sebby's drug abuse adequately, and it's so refreshing!

A captivating and profound debut novel about complicated love and the friendships that have the power to transform you forever, perfect for fans of Nina LaCour and of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Mira is starting over at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to pretend that she could act like a functioning human this time, not a girl who 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 mischief glinting in his eye. Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him . Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and impromptu 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.

oh boy. oh boy oh boy 

i don’t know why i thought this was gonna be a cute fun story or whatever but it fuckin wasn’t 
i’m not good at verbalizing my emotions or thoughts but. this one hit. she hit....

favorite quotes:

 “‘I don’t think you want to feel how I feel.”’

 “Love remembers the places where it touched down.”

aaand this entire passage * 
  spoilers


 “‘You know, people used to assume I was gay in high school too. And I knew that I was gay, but somehow everyone else knew before me. It’s a strange position to be in, because it doesn’t let you decide how you feel about it on your own time. And the kids in school just tortured me for it. That’s when I really started drinking. ... But the thing is, there was also something liberating about it all being out in the open. There was no opportunity for me to hide, so there were no choices to make. The kids who wanted to torture people were going to torture me because I was an easy target, but at least I knew who my real friends were. And those people were very important to me because they were kind, good people.’”

Okay, here is what I am going to note: the list of the things I like to read about in YA contemporary fiction is basically the list of topics covered by this book. Mental illness, LGBT characters, good writing, mildly angsty characters, dangerously close friendships ... it's not a surprise I liked this book. It has a The Dreamers feel to it and I loved that movie.

Mira was a very relatable character for me. We are in sort of the same situation. Thank you for creating a character with depression that didn't have Serious Horrible trauma! So was Jeremy. I didn't relate to Sebby quite as much but I'm a very quiet and lowkey sort of person and Sebby is really out there. I do think Sebby was quite likeable until he was written to be unlikeable. I liked (view spoiler)[the romance between the three of them. I'm so into polyamorous relationships, mostly because I just like love? (hide spoiler)] I'm the worst aromantic romantic because I complain about romance a lot. 

I think my biggest criticism is the POV shifts from first to third to second, because it's quite jarring and a little bit disorientating. Once I got really into the book, I got used to it, so it didn't detract much from the reading experience. It's a very emotional book, and I think the POV was used effectively and suited the characters.

lauren carla

Ella Zegarra

Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Si no me equivoco, en la versión de la sinopsis para USA dice "La historia de una chica, su mejor amigo gay y el chico que se enamoró de los dos", leyendo eso más la portada, te da entender que podrías tener un libro sobre un triángulo amoroso bisexual o una historia con protagonistas polígamos. Es lo que uno piensa a la primera. Pero no es eso. 

La primera vez que leí sobre un personaje bisexual, fue cuando leí Pretty Little Liars, tengo muy marcado ese recuerdo porque lo leí de muy joven, y a pesar de que sabía que yo era bisexual, aún no había hecho las pases con la etiqueta. Fans of the Impossible Life, es sobre un chico que te podrá mostrar lo que es ser bisexual. No es que nos guste todo el mundo (aunque de vez en cuando he bromeado con eso, no lo es), sino que es sobre específicas personas. Jeremy, uno de los narradores, me hizo sentir muy a gusto leyéndolo, porque durante gran parte del libro está seguro de ser gay, pero a la misma vez tiene esta fascinación por Mira y Sebby. La bisexualidad es eso, ver cuan grandiosa es una persona sin importar su género.

Además, me encantó como Kate Scelsa en lugar de darnos un personaje heterosexual que empieza tener sentimientos hacía alguien de su mismo género, lo hace al revés: un personaje seguro de su homosexualidad, hasta que conoce a Mira. Ser bisexual, es como jugar a la ruleta rusa a veces u.u Un problema, ah.

YO. TÚ. ÉL.

He tenido el placer de leer todo tipo de narrativa, una que siempre voy a recordar será When Everything Feels like the Movies, y otra será Fans of the Impossible Life.

Creo que es la primera vez que leo un libro con capítulos narrados en segunda persona, y no me había dado cuenta de que tan triste y melancólico podría sentirse el leerlo. Sebby de por si es un personaje que genera demasiada ternura y un miedo por él. Esos personajes tan perfectos y rotos que solo necesitas protegerlo de la escritora porque de seguro lo tortura. Junta el aura del personaje más la forma de narrar y tienes capítulos bastante duros de leer, tuve la misma sensación que cuando leí los primeros capítulos de Lies We Tell Ourselves, de sacarlos del libro y darles de comer y protegerlos del mundo.

***

¿Recomiendo este libro? Un enorme sí, tiene una narración preciosa, los personajes son entrañables y la historia va mucho más allá sobre la sexualidad de los personajes. La verdad es que estoy entre resumir el libro y soltar spoilers a lo loco o no contar nada más porque quiero que experimentes el libro también.

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Kate Skelsa

Fans of the Impossible Life is the story of love, loss, growing up and the magic - and terror - of finding friends who truly see the person you are and the person you're trying to become. It's a story about rituals and love, and of those transformative friendships that burn hot and change you, but might not last. Sebby and his best friend Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and impromptu road trips designed to fix the broken parts of their lives. Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd 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 him.

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Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa

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