Publisher: Speak; Reprint edition (August 11, 2009) Paperback: 384 pages
Price: $9.99 from Amazon
Summary:
Lucy has nine months to break an ancient curse in order to save both herself and her unborn daughter.
Inspired by the ballad "Scarborough Fair", this riveting novel combines suspense, fantasy, and romance for an intensely page-turning and masterfully original tale.Lucy is seventeen when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or to fall into madness upon their child's birth. But Lucy is the first girl who won't be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents and her childhood friend Zach beside her. Do they have love and strength enough to overcome an age-old evil?
Rating:
I think I should probably start off with what made me check this book out in the first place. Two words: true love. I love the concept of true love (though I have yet to find out if it really exists); the idea of that one special person, the one who will always stand by you and understand you, is unbelievably romantic to me. Who knows? Maybe I just read too many fairytales as a kid. But that being said, Impossible is all about the power of true love and how it can and will overcome all obstacles, which grabbed a romantic like me right off the bat. For the paranormal fans out there, it does contain a bit about the Elfin Knight, but Impossible is mainly set in the modern world. I liked the idea that there could be so much hidden underneath what seems mundane and beautiful, like the song Scarborough Fair. The plot was definitely interesting, and the story unraveled at a good pace.
Probably the main thing that annoyed me, though it wasn’t extremely irritating, was the characters. The characters seemed fairly solid, but I felt like they were all so good. I know that might seem perfect and they do teach you some smart lessons, but I like my characters with some flaws; it just makes everything seem that much more realistic to me. Even Lucy’s best friend that seemed extremely superficial in the beginning did a magical transformation and become amazingly wise once Lucy got in trouble! It made the characters a bit hard to relate to at times, and occasionally made me want to ruin their flawless persons. On that note, the dialogue between the characters was well-developed, and I was able to effortlessly follow the flow of conversation.
Now, for what I would really have liked seen more of: the lore, especially the Elfin Knight. I felt a lot more of the book was centered on how Lucy dealt with the Scarborough curse versus how the curse came to be. The curse was explained, but very briefly, and I would definitely have liked to learn more. The Elfin Knight was also a bit of a mystery at the end. He showed up often and told his motive, but I wanted to know more about his line of elves and his past. What exactly occurred before the Elfin Knight started the curse? Overall, a good read, but it would have been even better if I could have known a little bit more lore. But I was so intrigued by Nancy’s interpretation of the legend behind Scarborough Fair that I might even search up the answer to my questions myself!
Bottom Line: Loved the idea. Completely. The book itself was good, but it definitely could have went even further with it's brilliant premise. The characters were a bit hard for me to relate to and though the writing was solid, it wasn't anything brilliant that blew me out of the water. Because of that, I have to say while I really liked Impossible as a whole, I can't say I absolutely loved it. However, I see the potential and hope to read more books by Nancy in the future!
