The last thing Elise wants is to start her senior year in a new town. But after her brother’s death in Afghanistan, she and her mother move from San Francisco to a sleepy coastal village.When Elise meets Mati, they quickly discover how much they have in common. Mati is new to town too, visiting the U.S. with his family. Over the course of the summer, their relationship begins to blossom, and what starts out as a friendship becomes so much more.
But as Elise and Mati grow closer, her family becomes more and more uncomfortable with their relationship, and their concerns all center on one fact—Mati is Afghan.
Beautifully written, utterly compelling, and ultimately hopeful, THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF US asks—how brave can you be when your relationship is questioned by everyone you love?
Published July 31, 2018 by Swoon Reads
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
The Impossibility of Us is a contemporary novel about love, family issues, the military, and cultural differences, and it uses all of these tropes as ingredients to a perfect novel. I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up this novel, and I didn't want to set it down at all.
Katy Upperman's writing is beautiful, and the set-up of the novel is so intriguing. With dual perspectives, we follow Elise who just moved to a new town, and we follow Mati, visiting the US for the summer because of his father's illness. Elise's chapters are written as a traditional novel, while Mati, who is a poet, has chapters only written in verse. This breaks up the novel in a perfect way, and it's interesting to see the same situations play out on the pages, half from traditional writing and the other half from poetic verse.
The characters were everything I wanted them to be. Elise was a stubborn teenager, eager to learn and accept everyone for who they are. She's had a single mother, because her dad left when she was young, and a brother was killed in the military in Afghanistan. This causes for difficult conversations when she meets Mati, a young boy from Afghanistan, but his sincerity and sweet personality make Elise fight for him.
I haven't cried in a book in a while. To be honest, I can't remember the last time I cried while reading a book, but this book, LET ME TELL YOU. This book had me bawling in bed. And not just at the ending, but at other parts in the second half of the book. The Impossibility of Us has so many difficult conversations in it about the military, racism, and culture that were all carefully executed. They were conversations that I've heard before from people I know, but never seen discussed in young adult fiction.
What I loved about this book was how everything wasn't all fine and dandy. Elise's mother didn't miraculously approve of their relationship, which is something I was silently hoping for, but I love that Katy Upperman didn't allow for it to happen. It made it seem so much more real. It wasn't just a girl who had a super understanding family dating a boy from a different country that had caused her family pain. It was much more real than that, and it really struck me.
I could go on and on about all the things I loved about this. It wasn't just about Elise and Mati, but it was about Mati's parents, Elise's mother, Elise's dead brother, and his grieving wife and young daughter. I felt for all of these characters, and they were written so incredibly well.
I highly suggest this novel if you want a romance that brings up real issues. Don't read this if you hate crying, because you most definitely will sob. Generally, I rate contemporaries very low because they never do anything great or find myself thinking of them after I've finished reading. This book is getting five stars because of how often I think of it, and five stars are reserved for my absolute favorite novels.
Please pick of this book if you see it, because it's a beautiful romance that I don't find very often.
Stars: 5 out of 5 stars
What I Liked: EVERYTHING.
What I Disliked: NOTHING.
0 comments:
Post a Comment