Matt Haig’s writing is, as always, easy to read and I am a lover of short chapters so this made me fly through The Life Impossible.

I read it while on holiday in Portugal and I definitely feel that the sun and beautiful scenery added to my enjoyment of the story. As the book is set mostly in Ibiza, I think I may have struggled to get into the story as easily if I’d been at home in rainy England while reading.

I liked the themes of environmentalism in this book, and the found family aspect is something I always appreciate. I did struggle a little with some of the more supernatural aspects of the story but overall I enjoyed my time reading the book.

This was a fantastical story. I like the character of Grace and the role she played in saving the ecosystem in the seas around Ibiza. I also enjoyed the setting of the story and the author's love for the place shone through. I found the writing style a little simplistic - I'm not sure if it is aimed at young people but the language and style is simple rather than sophisticated. It was very readable and accessible.

A magical, mystical tale about new beginnings and being at peace with your past.
Retired Maths teacher, Grace is alone; both her husband and son are dead and she's rather tired with life. When she gets notice, out of the blue, that she has been left a house on Ibiza by a former colleague, she impulsively decides to find out more and books a one-way ticket to the island.

The colleague is someone she barely remembers but to whom she was kind and hospitable one Christmas many years previously. Grace is puzzled as to why she has been given such a generous gift.

Soon bewitched by the hills and beaches of the landscape, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended.

And that's where the story gets a little whimsical and mystical.

In learning more about the magic of this place, Grace has to confront her past - the mistakes she's made, the guilt she feels, the tragedies she's experienced and the healing she seeks.

It's a charming read which celebrates a world of possibilities and adventure. It's about the peace, hope and joy to be had in a new beginning. I enjoyed it.

I'd already read a few of Matt Hairs books so I was already expecting this one to be good too, and it did not disappoint.

Grace Is an ex Maths teacher in her 70's. She is struggling with loneliness and grief after losing her husband, and also her son when he was a young child. Her life seems to lack purpose and joy, until she receives a letter from an ex colleague, leaving her a house in Ibiza. She decides to go there and what follows changes her life. She recounts this story to an ex pupil who has written to her because he is struggling with similar issues.

Some people will think that the supernatural element of the plot is too far fetched, but all of Matt Haig's best books seem to combine this with a moral lesson. The Midnight Library and The Humans are two main examples. This does it very well, with thought provoking themes of capitalism and the effect it is having on the world, along with what is actually important in life and how we could all live a happier life if we focused on the things that actually matter.

I found Grace really likeable, and I loved how we discovered more of what had made her who she was as the book went on, and saw her develop throughout the story into something unrecognisable from the Grace in Chapter one..

Thank you Netgalley and Canongate for giving me the chance to read this book early!

I enjoyed this story immensely.
To begin with it created a mystery that grew inside me.

Grace's story struck a chord with me and I enjoyed her journey into the unknown.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Matt Haig never fails to deliver truly magical and thought provoking stories. And The Life Impossible, I am so happy to say, is just as fantastic as his other books I have read.
Grace Winters has no idea why she has been gifted a cottage by a colleague she has not seen for many years. But Grace does need a new start in life, so she takes the leap and buys a one way ticket to Ibiza. She barely knew the previous owner and she is not sure how she died. But there is a reason why the cottage was left to Grace.
Matt Haig is such a clever story-weaver and really knows how to draw his reader in from the beginning. Thank you to the Publisher and to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity of reading this book.

The main idea of the book was really unique and clever but there were some boring parts, some mad trippy parts and then some really good parts. It reminded me of the film Avatar.
At 75% I couldn’t wait too finish but then it kicked in again.
I wanted to really really love it but I didn’t, I just liked it. Glad I read it and it makes me want to go to Ibiza again, just not on a club 18- 30 holiday. ( like I did many many years ago)

Update
A week or so later and I still think of the story, usually I forget what I last read and it’s on to the next one. So it’s definitely an unforgettable story.

Grace Winters hopes to discover the truth about a friend when she arrives in Ibiza with a guidebook and no return ticket booked. Expect more than a sprinkling of stardust in this read, as Grace searches for answers not just about her friend, but herself.

A fairly easy book to read.
Quite quirky and not at all what I was expecting. I'm in two minds how I feel about it but probably not really my style.

I feel a little conflicted about this story, I really wanted to love it but for me, it didn't quite hit the mark and I'm not sure it convinced me enough to suspend my disbelief. That said, I did enjoy the story and the characters and I enjoyed Grace's development and finding herself again after so many years. The themes of grief and loss and the idea that a small act of kindness can hugely impact a life was powerful and were well written.

This is not my favourite genre but I really enjoyed this book and I am very pleased to have read it. Grace Winters is a retired maths teacher and has been left a property in Ibiza. Widowed and without any living children, she embarks on an unknown adventure. The story has been cleverly written, as it is a dialogue with one of her students back in the UK.
Grace tries to search for answers as to why she has been left the property, which is among rugged hills and beautiful seascapes. She goes on a long personal journey facing not only her past but her future. There is some fantasy that does blend in well and it was welcome escapism for me. A pleasure to read.

When I say I couldn’t put this book down I mean I *hoovered* it. It was such a quick read for me because Haig did such an amazing job of intricately weaving the characters, the setup and the plot.

Reading this, thinking “I wonder what’s next” wasn’t just about what would *happen* next but “what am I going to find out about this character/this place/this life?”
The characters were expertly crafted, and didn’t feel like any of their backstories were last minute ideas shoehorned into the story as an afterthought. I really felt like Haig knew exactly what he was doing.

I loved every character and I related to each of them in their own specific ways. Getting to the end felt like saying goodbye.

And most of all, it made me believe. And it made me appreciate life and nature around me.

If you decide to start reading it, I doubt you’ll want to put it back down again. It will become a part of you and a part of your being in a way that only few books do.

A loved the Midnight Library and had high hopes for this book, it didn't disappoint. A very special writer that captures you from the first page in a mesmerizing, magical, spiritual journey.

Grace Winters has all but given up on life. She lost her son and now her husband and she has nothing left to live for until she gets gifted a cottage in Ibiza. Her journey is crazy, miraculous and restorative.

But there is much more to this book than the storyline and clear conservation messages, it almost feels like a masterclass in spirituality and the potential we each hold. So many beautiful messages, full of hope and life and greater power. Highly, highly recommended.

Every now and then a book comes along and you seem to read it exactly when you needed to read it. It speaks to you in your present circumstances. I read 'The Life Impossible' in just such a moment. This book and it's chapters were like poetry for me. The sheer amount of quotes I could share...

'If you want to visit a new world, you don't need a spacecraft. All you need to do is change your mind'

'That is one great thing about having someone by your side. They are a shock absorber to the madness of experience.'

'All reading, in short, is telepathy and all reading is time travel. It connects us to everyone and everywhere and every time and every imagined dream'

Put these into context and they made such a beautiful and uplifting tale, woven with advice, sprinkled with humour and chock full of heart.
I loved the format and how each chapter had a deliberate title that sounded bizarre by itself but became immediately obvious once the chapter was read. My absolute favourite chapter that made me laugh out loud was one entitled 'All the clever ideas presently in Alberto's head'.

It was very refreshing to read a book with a protagonist that was flawed from the outset, in her 70's and loved Mathematics and all that came with it. 'I parked somewhere near the Kerb at an angle that would have interested Pythagoras'. Grace Winters was such an interesting character and she saw the other characters through her special lenses and made each one appeal to me as well. This was not just a book about a hero saving the day but rather finding yourself and the journey of healing. Every chapter made me stop and think and question and wonder. I enjoyed how it was written through a letter or series of letters and how Grace kept coming back to the person in need who she was writing to.

I wasn't expecting such a humourous book that was also touching and extremely thought inspiring. Do yourself a favour and make sure that you read this one with time to savour it. Where else would you find inner peace mixed with runaway lobsters or Goats named Nostradamous? An evil villain mixed with an all night rave in Ibiza and a mystical portal. A book that touches on loss, tragedy, fighting the good fight and reinventing yourself.

A huge thanks to Matt Haig for writing a brilliant story and for the good folks at Canongate Publishing and Netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC. All opinions are my own.

I was looking forward to this book a lot, and saved it to read in the Balearics to fully create the mood, but somehow the book just missed for me somewhere along the lines.
There were a lot of themes to cover and perhaps this was just one too many for me to find the book hung together cohesively. The writing was beautiful and I had a real sense of place as I was reading it, and I didn't mind (too much) the magical realism aspect, however the biggest sticking point for me was the casual approach to safety when scuba diving - as a diver it just was too dangerous and really snapped me out of the book,

Wow. Just wow. I have read a few Matt Haig books before hence requesting to read this. I think if I’d have read the blurb I’m not sure I’d have still chosen it but I’m so glad I did.
All his books have a deeper meaning and this one was beautiful.
The story of Grace. Alberto, Christina and other characters is mainly set in Ibiza, it sounds a wonderful and magical place. I don’t want to say too much but definitely read this book, we have many feelings we pick up through life, guilt being one, it is a hard emotion to deal with but Matt’s writing helps put things into perspective. 5 out of 5!

This, quite incredible story, was an absolute joy to read. Grace Winters, a retired maths teacher living in Lincoln, is an ordinary person whose life is turned upside down when she is bequeathed a house in Ibiza by a colleague, Christina. The adventure that follows takes Grace on a fantastical journey where she discovers what happened to Christina.
A novel that is a mystery and a love story and reminds you of the wonders on this earth and the events which are leading to the extinction of so many creatures and plants. A magical story that I highly recommend.

@currentlyreading__
Book 58 of 2024

Thank you to @NetGalley, the publisher and the author, Matt Haig for the e-copy of ‘The Life Impossible’ which was my final read of August. The start of term is always hectic hence my very tardy review of the book.

Well this one was very Matt Haig in the fact it was feel-good and compulsive reading but it was also very very different. There was the usual suspension of disbelief just as I remember from ‘How to Stop Time’ and ‘The Midnight Library’ but I felt I connected much more to this book (even though I loved the two mentioned).

Our main character is retired maths teacher, Grace Winters who is also a widow who is carrying grief within her after the death of her son in the nineties. At the start of the book she discovers that she has been left a house in Ibiza from an old acquaintance. Baffled by this she visits and finds the house in disrepair and rather ramshackle; miles away from the Balearic visualisation Grace had been harbouring.

Whilst their Grace endeavours to investigate the disappearance of her friend and discover exactly what happened to her. After all, this old acquaintance was only a fleeting presence in her life in the seventies so why has she left this house to her?

The logical Grace who finds comfort in mathematics embarks upon her investigation and is unprepared for the magic and fantastical experience with awaits her.

I loved the characterisation in this book and the vision of Grace entering an Ibizan nightclub in her M&S slacks is a humorous yet very grounding vision for this rather square woman; partying with the wild and riotous revellers. She has an affiliation with these people who she previously would have not entertained in her rather mundane existence.

But this is what Haig is all about; exploring the humanity of how we are all connected to each other. It is an exploration of how joy can coexist alongside grief and how we need to find the pleasure in life for the greater purpose outside of our own selfish desires.



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Not a big fan of Matt Haig's novels but I thought I'd give this a shot. Interesting premise but unfortunately not for me.

So, I was sent an Arc of The Life Impossible in exchange for an honest review (thanks to Netgalley), unfortunately I forgot about it (it got lost in my list to read etc) and when I found it, I had missed the publication date. But this meant I then purchased the Audiobook to allow me to read it quickly and was treated to Joanna Lumley being the voice of Grace. Joanna truly is a National Treasure - she bought this book to life.

Essentially, The Life Impossible is a cautionary tale imploring us to care for our World and fight for the nature within it. It tells us to approach Life with an attitude of gratitude and view it through a lens of positivity, to do this Matt Haig wove a tale full of heart and magic. And, don’t forget Joanna Lumley, she is the absolute icing on the cake. Highly recommended