The Beauty of Impossible Things is an unusual read with a slightly mystical flavour. Natasha - described by others, later, as a "dark ingenue" - is a weird teenager, in a nameless seaside town, who has precognitive dreams. When strange lights appear over "the Ridge" the summer she's fifteen, Natasha interprets them as harbingers of doom, and sure enough, bad things are bound to happen.

It's a beautifully written story but in a kind of portentous way which gives it a fairytale flavour - indeed, the older Natasha refers to that time as "the summer reality paused and folklore took over". The dialogue, particularly between the teenagers, doesn't feel natural - everybody seems to speak in a strangely forced and correct way, which adds to the sense of unreality.

There's a curious sensation, too, of this unnamed town being somehow outside of time and space - we're ever told, I don't think, where it is or even in what country, although we do know that the events described happened thirty years ago.

The relationship between Natasha and her beautiful, bohemian, isolated mother, Elizabeth, is well described and perhaps the most interesting part of the book for me. "Perhaps it was the fate of all mothers and daughters, one must kill the spirit of the other." While I don't agree with the universality of the sentiment, as the mother of a powerfully strong-willed teenage girl it resonated nevertheless.

I liked the concept of the book and it is undeniably well written- slow-paced and atmospheric. Somehow it didn't engage me as much as the author's previous novel, The Temple House Vanishing, but it's a compellingly strange and interesting read.

This was not the typical book I would normally pick up to read, but boy, oh boy, am I glad that I did. The main character caught my attention straight away, and the Authors writing style was smooth and kept me engaged, even at 3am when I could not put the book down. I had very little idea of where the book was going to go, and it was beautifully sad in some places, and wonderfully sinister in others. This is the sort of book you should read while on holiday at the beach, just to add to the effect. A great read, that I was unable to put down once I had picked it up.

A story about a girl who can predict events. She soon becomes 'famous' and people come to the village to see her and ask her questions about their predicaments. What I really got from this book however was the way in which this reflects on all of us as the older woman now looks back on that time and so we see a picture of teenage angst, of feeling different and never really fitting in. What I liked as well was the way the seaside town where they live is seen through rose tinted spectacles as well as a faded picture of what it once was. This is a perfectly timed slow paced read to absorb and immerse yourself in.

Yet another winner from Donohue!!

In some senses slow burn is a pain and one which can put a lot of people off from reading but it was done beautifully in this book and I was kept gripped all the way through

As always with Rachel’s work I am alway gutted when it comes to an end and patiently waiting for her next novel

Having loved The Temple House Vanishing I was delighted to read Rachel's new book. Natasha is looking back at that summer, the one she turned fifteen and everything changed. She and her beautiful and bohemian mother, Elizabeth live in a crumbling house by the sea and keep themselves to themselves mainly away from the idle gossip of the inhabitants of the small seaside town.

Natasha has a gift, she can predict things which are going to happen and has disturbing dreams. She sees the strange lights above the ridge about the same time loner Lewis does. Visitors flock to town to see them anxious not to miss out. Mr Bowen, this summer's lodger seems smitten by her mother something Natasha's isn't happy about as it's always been the two of them against the world.

She has a premonition which, despite warning those involved about it comes true and the town has to deal with the aftermath. I thought the story was beautifully written and kept me interested throughout. Would recommend.

This is definitely a unique coming of age book that I think most people will be able to relate to it in some way as Rachel Donahue writes with so much feeling. It really is so beautifully written. I had an overwhelming sense of sadness and nostalgia when reading this book as the emotion the author manages to invoke with her writing is something else. She really manages to create a feeling of time and place that you end up so absorbed by. This story so accurately reflects the intensity that comes with growing up and that sense of things changing but not quite being able to control or understand them. The characters are all very well written and form part of the story perfectly. I also really loved the subtle references to an era that I can well remember.

A very evocative book with a beautifully crafted atmosphere of longing and loss, the book centres on Natasha, a young teenager who has lived an isolated life with her unusual mother. There is some sense of shame around the mother that isn't fully explained, and her denial of Natasha's precognition skills sours their relationship. The book is told from a grown up Natasha's perspective as she looks back at what was a transformational summer in her life.

There are young teenagers living a seaside summer on the brink of possibility, spending long evenings on the beach, and a tender relationship between Natasha's mother and a paying guest. But there is also the threat of unusual activity and a terrible tragedy that impacts the whole town.

The older Natasha seems very sad and affected by that summer, which makes the account even more poignant.

Rachel Donahue captures that teenage possibility so well it makes your grown-up heart ache with nostalgia - wonderful.

A beautifully written coming of age story, set in a seaside town and written from the viewpoint of a teenager with the ability to predict tragic events. The story takes place over a summer in which a number of significant things happen - the appearance of strange lights over the town, the disappearance of a teenage boy, her mother Elizabeth falling in love with the lodger, Mr Bowen, and the arrival of journalists and the mysterious Dr Black with their theories about the lights - yet despite this, I found the pace of the story unsatisfying and slow. Natasha and her mother are misfits in the town and remain misfits throughout the story and beyond and nothing much gets resolved. Not for me I’m afraid, despite the quality of the writing.

This was a book that I wanted to like but ultimately it just wasn’t for me. Whilst well written the characters and storyline just failed to catch and hold my attention.

This is a beautifully written book, which I couldn't put down. The story, and characters are compelling, and although the narrative is slow-paced, with no dramatic climaxes, or revelations, I found that I had to keep reading, just to find out what happened. I particularly liked the fact that not everything was completely explained, and there was a lingering uncertainty about the whole thing. This is an intelligent book which deserves to be very popular, and I will certainly be recommending it.

Beautifully written, tender characterisation, needed more urgency of narrative drive

Initially, I thought that for sure I would be 5 starring this interesting, full of soul story. The ‘emotion recollected in tranquillity’ story is told by the central character, Natasha, now in her mid forties. She is looking back, as instructed, by her therapist, and recounting the events of a ‘fateful summer’ when she was 15.

Natasha is/was some kind of Cassandra, odd from a very young age, able to foretell future, generally tragic events. She, and her beautiful, melancholic, artistic mother live somewhere in a small, somewhat remote, coastal resort.

During that summer she sees strange lights in the sky, as do some others, and takes this as some portentous, warning lesson for humanity.

There are also some other troubling events which happen, bringing media interest to the resort, both increasing, and changing, the kinds of tourists who come, so the resident community are also divided about the attention these events attract. So there are supernatural, cultish, end of days, chosen ones, types of themes here, as well as some of the more usual dynamics of teenage development, and the changing relationships of teenagers and their parents.

All this is beautifully done, except that the look back device means a certain flatness, and lack of dramatic tension pervades the book.

I’m not someone who demands feverish ‘what happens next and a 100mph speed through, but this is a little too much of a sedate chug, with the same kinds of events happening over and over, so what is shown, or told, is shown, or told, again, without anything new really being learned by anyone. In a sense, we all know what is going to happen in this story pretty soon.

There were several unanswered questions for me, or places where I couldn’t really suspend my disbelief. And I never quite bought the therapist suggesting this revisiting (the device) partly because most of the time the therapist is conspicuously absent, so it isn’t really clear – is this a ‘live’ or series of ‘live’ sessions, is this a journal Natasha is writing, so is she recounting what she has recounted to herself to the therapist. Is the therapist the audience for the story, or are we, the readers, the audience that the therapist has suggested she might find? Having these kinds of disbeliefs and questions, as I read, meant that I was losing both engagement and surrender

I don't really know what to say about this book because I really wanted to like it.

I just feel like it wasn't what I expected. I wanted more from it.

The writing was beautiful and Rachel is definitely talented. But there wasnt enough substance for me.

The characters could have been so much more and there was a real opportunity to add more mystery and intrigue, but it was ultimately some mysterious lights and some teenage angst.

I'm not sure what else to say

Thirty years ago, Natasha Rothwell was fifteen. She lived a secluded life with her mother on top of the hill near the sea. Natasha has a ‘gift’ she has premonitions, and she can also see the dead. Her mother doesn’t want to talk about it. The other teenagers in the town thinks she is a freak. Except for Marcus and Lewis who has problems on his own.
One day high up on the ridge strange blue lights suddenly appear. Natasha thinks it that something is coming, which is not good, so she tells people about it and then Lewis goes missing.
Thank you for the advanced copy of The beauty of impossible things but I am afraid this wasn’t for me. Do not get me wrong this is a beautifully written book about teenagers’ angst. But nothing really happened in this book and I was expecting more and for me personally it did not deliver.

Not a lot happens in this book.

That's not a criticism because it is so beautifully written. The narrative pulls you through, keeps you reading.

In a small seaside town,a woman and her teenager daughter live in a big house on the hill. The mother is beautiful but ethereal. Her daughter has dreams that sometimes come true and feelings about what is going to happen in the future, both of which her mother encourages her not to talk about. But when she sees blue lights hovering over a hill, she feels compelled to tell people.

The book is told from the perspective of the girl herself, many years later, talking to a therapist.

This book is about relationships and events that happen in a small town. It's an engaging read, and I enjoyed it.

I found this book quite slow at times, however saying that, it was an easy read and thoroughly enjoyable! Would definitely recommend it to any friends who just want something nice and easy to read!

An extremely well written, thought provoking, gentle storyline that captivated me throughout. A slow, meandering read, however this only added to the beauty of the prose and my ultimate enjoyment of the book.

At the start I enjoyed this slow burn. The characters were fairly interesting, but I realised the pace wasn't going to pick up any time soon and kind of lost interest. It is picturesque and Donohue was good at depicting the town and its inhabitants, but I didn't feel as invested as I thought I might do. I think I will probably need to try again - maybe it will be better next time!

This tells the story of a long, tragic summer thirty years ago in a seaside town when Natasha Rothwell, our narrator, is fifteen. Natasha has precognition, premonitions, a ‘gift’ which blights her life from teenage years. She lives with her mother, the beautiful bohemian Elizabeth, in fugal, faded grandeur in a large house on the cliff tops. That summer, strange blue lights appear in the sky and Natasha knows they foretell tragedy and death. The community is caught up in the ensuing drama and nothing is the same again ....

This is a another winner for me from Rachel Donohue. From the very start, this beautifully written, lyrical almost poetic story hooks you and keeps you in its thrall. It is so atmospheric, at times it’s eerie and spooky, a bit gothic, at others it’s chilling , puzzling, enigmatic and always fascinating. You sense the growing fear, suspicion and powerlessness in the community and the sense of impending disaster. As you progress through there’s a weird tension that hangs over the characters and you know that what is happening shapes and changes Natasha’s and Elizabeth’s lives forever. The characters are extremely well crafted and you feel their varying emotions. Some of the descriptions are incredibly vivid that you see them materialise before you eyes like a painting. The narrative is alive too and you see what Natasha sees in your minds eye, some of it is a bit spiritual, some is macabre or just inexplicable. All you know is that Natasha alters as a person, becomes evasive, relationships are fractured and changed irrevocably.

Overall, this is a compelling, thought provoking, original and very different novel by a very talented author whose work I will always want to read. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Corvus for the much appreciated arc for an honest review.

The summer Natasha Rothwell turns fifteen, strange dancing lights appear in the sky above her small town, lights that she interprets as portents of doom. Natasha leads a sheltered life with her beautiful, bohemian mother in a crumbling house by the sea. As news of the lights spreads, more and more visitors arrive in the town, creating a feverish atmosphere of anticipation and dread.

This book contains mystery, a missing person, suspense, and a touch of supernatural. I found that there wasn't enough detail on the characters, I could have put the book down and not picked it back up, the detail to keep the reader going was not there. I do not think the description matches everything that goes on in the book and at times it was a bit hard to believe. I think it has an excellent chance of being a better read with a bit of editing and tweaking. The cover is lovely and eyecatching so would make me pick up the book in a book store.

"It was a strange summer, even before it became tragic."

I really wanted to love this book, because the premise is exactly the sort of thing I enjoy. In the end I did like it, the second half more so. I enjoyed the mystery of the lights, and the missing person. The language in the book was beautiful, ethereal even at times, but it also lacked umph.

I wasn't invested in the people. If I had put it down and never picked it back up again, my questions would have been about how it ended. Not because I cared about the people, but because I was curious to know how the author wrapped it up. Really, I just wanted to know what the blue lights were and what happened to the missing person.

I enjoyed the mystery element, but sometimes it was trying too hard to be mysterious. This meant, to me, that characters were always held at arms length. I wanted to care about Natasha or her Mother, but there was nothing that gave me a reason to. I will say that I liked Lewis though, he was my favourite character!

It wasn't what I was expecting, based on the summary I read. This just wasn't for me, but if you enjoy a bit of an ethereal feeling mystery and don't have to like your main character (which isn't a bad thing, I know a lot of people enjoy characters like this!) then this might be for you.