ARC Review: Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa

Author:  Kate Scelsa
Genre: Young adult, contemporary
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: September 8, 2015
368 pages, hardcover (356 ARC)

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

Shout out to the wonderful Little Shop of Stories for letting me take this ARC! Check them out if you’re ever in Decatur, GA!

I feel like the black sheep on this one. I was somewhat disappointed in Fans of the Impossible Life. I read it, yes, but I just feel kind of meh about it, I guess. I think one of the main issues I had was that it is really not at all about what you think it’s about. The very first line of the description made it out to be a bisexual love triangle between the three main characters (“This is the story of a girl, her gay best friend, and the boy in love with both of them”). It is not that. At all. It had some things I liked and that you don’t usually see in YA books, like the the switching of the different tenses for each point of view: Jeremy (1^st person), Mira (3^rd person), Sebby (2^nd person).

However, there were some things that rubbed me the wrong way: mental illness was somewhat romanticized, there was some lack of consent, and several destructive relationships and friendships. Also, for a story SO about mental health issues, they aren’t really ever addressed. They’re more brought up in a “Oh, I have this issue. I’m so damaged. We can bond over this.” kind of way, but that’s it. It was strange.

I felt like nothing in the end was resolved. The characters pretty much felt the same (or worse) than they did in the beginning, and no one really grew or changed. It almost felt pointless, like why did I read this? I kind of want to do a reread at some point to see if I feel the same way later, because I did really like some of the characters (Sebby, especially) and the idea behind it. I’m not sure though.

The bottom line: I really don’t know how I feel about this one.