This much anticipated sequel to the New York Times Bestseller Impossiblea fantasy full of suspense, mystery, and romance will appeal to fans ofBeautiful Creatures, Raven Boys, and Wicked Lovely.
Fenella was the first Scarborough girl to be cursed, hundreds of years ago, and she has been trapped in the faerie realm ever since, forced to watch generations of daughters try to break this same faerie curse that has enslaved them all. But now Fenella’s descendant, Lucy, has accomplished the impossible and broken the curse, so why is Fenella still trapped in Faerie?
In her desperation, Fenella makes a deal with the faerie queen: If she can accomplish three acts of destruction, she will be free, at last, to die. What she doesn't realize is that these acts must be aimed at her own family and if she fails, the consequences will be dire, for all of the Scarborough girls.
How can she possibly choose to hurt her own cherished family not to mention the new man whom she’s surprised to find herself falling in love with? But if she doesn’t go through with the tasks, how will she manage to save her dear ones?
From Goodreads
Fenella Scarborough, the originator of the Scarborough curse broken by Lucy in Impossible, has wanted to die for quite a long time. Four hundred years to be exact. Ever since she was swept into faerie and the curse laid upon her family lineage she has cursed her captor. Now that the family curse is broken, she had hoped that she would be allowed, at long last, to greet death with open arms. Naturally things are not that simple.
Fenella begs the faerie queen to allow her to die. She is given a task: if she completes three acts of destruction, against her own family, she will be able to live out the rest of her days. If she fails, her familial curse is regenerated to be laid upon all new generations of Scarborough girls. Unsure of her abilities, and with the assistance of the faerie queen's brother in animal disguise, Fenella makes her way into the human realm to earn her freedom at long last. More challenges than she could have possibly anticipated arise and force her to question her resolve. Can she really inflict such cruelty on her own family?
I must say that this was a different turn than I was expecting for this sequel. Much darker than its predecessor, Unthinkable strikes a final balance between the determined optimism of the first book and the cruel negativity in this one. When taken into account all that she has suffered and the extent of her situation, it's not hard to understand and even sympathize with Fenella. She really never meant for anything bad to happen when the curse was originally laid, but 400 years of captivity and untold hardships had made her a brutally determined woman.
I can see where some might find themselves annoyed or even furious with her choices, but when taken into account with the reality she was facing, it's not nearly as awful as it could be. Having spent so long with the faeries I believe that Fenella is a master at double speak & slight of tongue when it comes to her own actions. This gives the reader a lot more leeway into understanding her choices.
Stepping back into Lucy's life after we left her so well-off was a bit saddening, but laid the perfect groundwork for this tale. Since this family already knew Fenella's background & about the faerie world in general, the story could simply pick up practically where it left off. The new interactions between the characters, as they have now settled into a mundane life, are different and allow for new scenarios to play out with Fenella mixed in. Even better, there is a new man in the picture who causes Fenella untold amounts of strain as she wrestles with herself.
This was a long book and it took a bit to get going. Once things started happening though, I really just flew through the pages. The pacing is just right so that things calm down when they need to, sped up at the right parts, & even allow for little side jaunts into romance or humor. I hope some of y'all like it as much as I did!
ARC graciously provided by Around the World ARC Tours
1 comment:
I thought that this book did not adequately explain and deal with victim mentalities. Fenella has classic sexual victim issues, but they are never really fixed or addressed. Instead, she becomes sexually controlling and abusive herself.
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