ARC Review: Unthinkable (Impossible #2) by Nancy Werlin

Major Spoilers for Impossible below

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

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

If you remember, a few weeks ago I made a post with the book trailer for this book and the music video for the song that the book based around. Should you need a refresher, click here.

Lucy Scarborough has a normal teenage life. She gets decent grades in school, participates on the track team, and even gets along great with her adoptive parents, Soledad and Leo. There's only one, small blemish on her otherwise impeccable life. That blemish is her crazy mother Miranda; and in this sense, she really is nuts.

Miranda Scarborough came to live with Soledad and Leo while she was scared and pregnant at 17. After having Lucy, Miranda lost her mind and left her child in their care. Most of the time Miranda stays gone, but sometimes she shows up out of nowhere screaming and causing scenes, and always singing her version of "Scarborough Fair." She made Leo, a musician and folk enthusiast, promise to teach Lucy the song and he made good on his word.

So Lucy goes about her normal teenage life until her prom night. Her former next door neighbor, and long time hunky friend Zach has recently moved in with her and her parents while on summer break from college. He enjoys watching her prepare for her prom, while feeling overly protective of her when it turns out that Soledad has invited an impromptu guest home for dinner. Padraig is alluring and mesmerizing and yet he feels off somehow. It isn't until after the unspeakable events of prom night that Lucy and Zach realizes just how off Padraig is.

Now Lucy is in a race against time. It turns out that the song was more important than she could ever have imagined. Now she must complete the 3 impossible tasks listed in the song in order to save her daughter and herself.

A wonderful novel with interesting and vibrant characters, Impossible is a fast read. Growing up with the sounds of Simon and Garfunkel made this storyline very appealing to me and once I got into the plot, it just got better. Lucy is a very likable character who really does epitomize a normal teen. Her parents are the kind that most kids drool over, very cool and accepting. Zach plays the typical "hunky guy next door that has been ignored as a potential boyfriend" but he wears it well. And Padraig is down right despicable. He is written exactly how I would expect his kind to behave. All-in-all, this was a delightful read.

Book Trailer and Song

So I'm sure you are all anticipating my thought on Nancy Werlin's Impossible. Sadly you will have to wait a little bit longer as I have a few other things on my TBR pile. I am hoping to get to it in the next week or two. Hopefully.

So in the mean time I found the book trailer for it. Enjoy!




For those of you whose parents didn't play Simon and Garfunkel for you (and I am truly sorry if they didn't) or if you've just never heard it, here is the song that is referred to in the book. Enjoy and check back soon for my thoughts on the book!