Oh dear! What can I say - it’s very well written, lots of descriptive writing that inspires visions of long hot summer days by the beach BUT, and it’s a big but, it’s boring, long and drawn out just waiting and waiting for something to happen.
I nearly gave up several times, it’s taken me days to finish and I wish I could get my time back and choose something else to read. Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me at all. I rated it 2.5⭐️.

Natasha Rothwell lives with her mother in the big house on the cliffs overlooking the sea. She is blessed/cursed with being able to foresee events. The main part of the story occurs over one Summer when she is fifteen, although it also takes place as Natasha is in therapy. The strange lights that appear over the town has people thronging to see if they will reappear & there are many theories but Natasha knows that they do not portend anything good.

The writing style of this book is very good & paints a clear picture of the town & in particular Natasha's home. I'm struggling to explain to myself why I didn't enjoy it more. I think it was because I didn't really have any feelings for any of the characters; either positive or negative. I think I need that to really enjoy a book. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

The Beauty of Impossible Things delivers its story with a dream-like quality, much like gently tipping into sleep lying in a warm patch of sunshine. It's a coming of age story about Natasha, an unusual girl who has powers of precognition and can sense some things before they happen. This novel takes place the blisteringly hot summer she was fifteen. Strange blue lights arrive and can be seen on the ridge above the seaside town she and her beautiful mother live in. She takes it as a warning though what it truly means no one can say for certain. Natasha may be right as events unfold that will change her world and those around her.

This novel possesses a peaceful lyrical quality that weaves a spell around that eventful summer and what it meant to Natasha whilst she reflects on it thirty years after the fact. I was swept away with the astute Natasha and her rather enchanting mother as they live their off kilter existence amongst the locals making money off summer visitors to their seaside town. Though not a lot happens the story holds on the reader and continues to drug the reader with its siren song.

An enchanting novel, it would be best read in the heat of summer, lounging in the shade enjoying a chilly glass of wine.

In this heartbreaking novel we follow Natasha who is 15 and gifted with premonitions. One summer the sky lights up blue and she realises they foretell tragedy and death, when a local teenager goes missing. Natasha is contracted to help, but the community knows nothing will be the same again.

This is beautifully written, quite poetic and atmospheric and keeps you wanting more. I was intrigued to find out where it was going and eager to continue. Donohue creates a fantastic chilling, fearful atmosphere, it at times read almost like a horror. The characters were also believable and relatable, despite their 'magic' and you felt for all of them, rooting for their survival.

Very well written and I recommend for all.

I could not decide whether or not I enjoyed this novel. Natasha is looking back to the summer when she was 15 and trying to make sense of what happened to her and those around her. She has a gift of precognition which led her to predict the deaths of a number of fishermen when she was very young. This gift has haunted her since that time - her mother has tried to pretend it does not exist. This summer she sees some strange lights which she understands to be a warning - a teenager then goes missing.

A mysterious and haunting tale which will stay with me.

When I started reading this book I felt like I was being carried along on a wave. The writing was so lovely and I was instantly intrigued by the story. However, as I realised around the half way point that the 'mystery' was not really leading anywhere I lost some interest. I found the premise promising but the execution wasn't so good. I did enjoy the authors writing style though so I would be interested in reading more of her work.

It was a sticky, languid summer in a small seaside town. Above The Ridge, strange blue lights appear. Local girl Natasha, has a gift. She sees the future, and she senses people's emotions. She views the lights as a harbinger of doom, a warning.

Natasha has turned 15, and is struggling with awakening feelings towards her friend Marcus. She has a complicated relationship with her mother, Elizabeth, a distant and beguiling beauty. She has a gift but fears what it shows her.

There is a languid pace to this story that perfectly captures the enervating heat of that summer. A summer of strange lights, and big changes. Her mother falls in love, and Natasha detests not being the centre of her universe. She feels as though her gift embarrasses her mother, and vows not to act on it anymore. This leads to a tragic event that will haunt her long after the summer ends.

Haunting and lyrical, this was an interesting and engaging read.

Exquisitely written with a dreamlike style that is perfect for the story. The house and the town are as well drawn as the characters. A memorable book

‘Foresight is not always a gift’.

My thanks to Atlantic Books/Corvus for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Beauty of Impossible Things’ by Rachel Donohue.

The narrator of this atmospheric coming-of-age story is Natasha Rothwell, who leads a sheltered life with her beautiful, bohemian mother in a crumbling house by the sea. From a young age Natasha has had strange dreams that she believes predict the future. 

During the summer that Natasha turns fifteen, strange dancing lights appear in the sky above her small seaside town. She interprets these as portents of doom. In addition, the arrival of Mr. Bowen, a handsome new lodger, threatens the delicate relationship between mother and daughter.

News of the lights quickly spreads attracting both visitors and the media to the town. When one of her friends goes missing, Natasha seeks to locate them using her powers.

I found this quite a melancholic tale that takes place thirty years before Natasha’s present, though we do receive an occasional glimpse of her life in the intervening years.

I found Rachel Donohue’s writing elegant and lyrical as she chronicles Natasha’s transition into womanhood with both the normal insecurities as well as those associated with her unique gift of prescience.

The mystery of the lights coupled with the ever present power of the restless sea resulted in a haunting tale that was a pleasure to read.

I felt that this was a strong second novel and look forward to her future projects.

This book got off to an excellent start, the language is lovely, the premise is enticing and the location is interesting but unfortunately it never seemed to go anywhere. I love lyrical language but it needs a strong, supporting story and this just dragged. The way the tension was gradually built up was cleverly done but I need something more to hold my interest.

This was such a good read. I loved reading about the dreams and predictions. I loved the writing style and how different it is to the other books that are out at the moment.

What a very unique book. I am fascinated by dreams so loved the idea that that main character had a special gift - dreams that seem to predict events. Loved the sci fi type theme, and the modern style of writing. Really clever plot.
Really recommend reading this as it’s so different to the bulk of books out right now.

A dark and fascinating tale! I found it gripping, atmospheric and enthralling.
The author is a talented storyteller and the plot and character development are excellent.
It's one of those stories that you cannot stop reading and it's highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Beauty of Impossible Things is a haunting, powerful and darkly beguiling story, threaded with fading seaside grandeur and simmering heat, by a Hennessy New Irish Writer award-winning author, where the actions of one teenage girl lead will lead to terrible consequences. It's very much a character-driven story following protagonist Natasha as she comes of age and a personal journey ensues. Natasha Rothwell is now in her mid-40s and attending a therapist to come to terms with her strange and unique life. She is encouraged by the doctor to recount the events of that fateful, transformational summer evening that occurred three decades ago when she was 15 years old. What is interesting is that we hear her thoughts on what actually happened, her years of rumination over it all and the regret she feels towards her past. All those years ago Natasha lived with her mother in a large, spacious house; this was part of an inheritance but their financial issues would lead them to rent out rooms to lodgers in order to make some much-needed cash. Natasha had always believed she was special and it was well known that she was a misfit and a recluse in the whimsical, unnamed coastal town. When strange blue lights appear in the sky above the Ridge, Natasha finds herself at the centre of a mystery. Where have the lights come from, and what do they mean for the town's inhabitants? Natasha wants to tell everyone what she has seen and what she believes is coming but her mother encourages her to stay silent; she dismisses the lights as portents of doom and her daughter's apparent gift of precognition with which she predicts events before they happen as nothing but mumbo jumbo.

But then how did Natasha accurately and perfectly predict certain incidents that the local community ended up having to deal with in the aftermath? Are the lights extraterrestrial in nature or, as some believe, spectral images caused by ghost activity? As she confides in friends and family about her prophetic talents this leads to life-altering moments in several of her relationships. Meanwhile, Natasha's mother, Elizabeth, a beautiful but vulnerable artist, falls in love with their lodger, Mr Bowen. Natasha is convinced that this relationship can only bring Elizabeth unhappiness, and she will do anything in her power to protect her mother. As harbingers of doom gather, unorthodox psychiatrist Dr Seymour Black arrives in the town, determined to uncover the truth, no matter the cost to others. This is a slow-burn, supernatural-tinged, intensely compelling read written in first person from Natasha's perspective. It places a huge significance on the importance of finding yourself as a person and looking back at the past in a nostalgic, meaningful and thoughtful manner in order to move past regrets we may have picked up along life's unpredictable journey. It's enigmatic, poignant and truly beautiful, but every silver lining throughout is tinged with sadness about what perhaps could've been. The atmosphere is superbly crafted with an oppressive, claustrophobic intensity to the small-town life where everyone knows everyone. Steeped in melancholy, Donohue's prose is lithe and captivating and the acute observations throughout are nothing short of genius. A mystical, mysterious and evocative tale, this is one of those tender stories to immerse yourself in and enjoy.

The Beauty of Impossible Things is a slow-paced and dreamy book, following teenager Natasha through a summer in her faded seaside town as she experiences visions and happenings which she interprets as omens of doom. She's rather an odd girl and her friends seem disconnected, even fearing her sometimes. Events occurred throughout the book and yet nothing really seemed to happen.

A meditative read which I'm sure would suit other readers better than it suited me.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Beautiful, lyrical and tender this was part coming of age novel and part memory of a fever dream. I loved Natasha’s way of looking at the world and the faint sense of unease throughout definitely made the book play on my mind. That said, it was more miss than hit for me. I can absolutely see how someone else would love it so I am attributing hat to me falling slightly outside the target audience.

Dreamy and captivating, this is a lovely slow-paced book for a rainy Sunday afternoon. 15 year old Natasha has the gift of foresight and can predict future events. When dancing lights appear, this is symbolic of coming doom, and Natasha has to wait to see what will happen. Mixed in with this are changing family relationships, teenage friendships and missing people.
An unusual book that wont be for everyone but I am glad I had the chance to try it

I wasn’t really sure about this book and I found it hard going to read. It wasn’t my type of book at all. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Temple House Vanishing, this author's debut, when I read it a while back so I had high hopes for this book. Although not quite reaching the same heights as its predecessor, this was a thoroughly decent read which, after a bit of a slow start, settled nicely into a well paced, intriguing story which held my attention nicely.
Natasha lives with her mother in a big old house near the sea in a small town. She has always has a gift; her dreams give her the ability to predict the future. But she has been warned to keep this information to herself. Which she mostly does, until the summer of her 15th birthday when lights appear over the ridge. These she interprets as a sign of bad things coming. This time also brings Natasha and her mother a new lodger who threatens the mother-daughter relationship. And if that wasn't enough, her best friend is finding new friends of his own, just when she thinks they are growing closer. Quite a lot to contend with without the dancing lights. Which also bring strangers and the press to the town... And then a young lad goes missing. A strange boy who has been blighted by mental health issues and is pretty vulnerable. Was it something to do with the lights or is there a less supernatural reason for his disappearance...?
This book was a bit of a slow burn for me. In fact, it did take me a couple of attempts to really get into it. Maybe that was more about me and my frame of mind rather than anything the author did because yesterday when I gave it another crack, it sucked me right in and, apart from the slowish start, I never really put it down, reading pretty much straight through, only stopping for life-stuff!
It's a bit of a coming of age story told by Natasha which means we get a really good insight into her character and how what happens changes her. And, to be honest, changes quite a few other people too. It's atmospheric and emotional and all things in between. It's a snapshot of what happened that summer, delivered with no frills apart from scene-setting and character definition. It's a story that sucked me in and, although slow in pace, once I had finished, as I sat back and contemplated what I had just read, it dawned on me that the whole of the book was definitely much much more than the sum of the individual happenings throughout. If that makes sense...!
All in all, a worth follow up to what was an impressive debut, Definitely keeping on the right track. Really looking forward to see what the author has for me next time.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

About a third of the way in I thought 'oh dear, this is a slow burner'. Experience has taught me to persevere though, so I did. Turns out it was slow all the way through. The whole thing felt dislocated and remote. Not for me.