The Life Impossible

I began and finished this book while watching two different Formula 1 races, and the parallels between them were uncanny.

Akin to the beginning of the first said race, this novel launched into action off the starting grid with adrenaline and excitement. It finished like the second race, with a safety car interrupting the finish before a sluggish restart but satisfying checkered flag. It’s as if there was a spinning of wheels about three quarters of the way through this novel that detracted from the buildup at the beginning. Okay, enough of the race versus novel comparisons.

In the end, this was a satisfying read, if not meeting the high expectations I might have unreasonably had at the onset. The characters were well-developed, unique with their own voice, and shared common themes among distinct plot lines that reminded us about the underlying message in this novel, that we’re all connected.

Whether through tangible entities or unspoken thoughts, and even if some of those elements appear surreal or supernatural, none of that matters. It’s what we feel in each singular occurrence, and allowing ourselves to become present–and even lost–in every moment, that is where the magic of life happens.

There was a quote from The Count of Monte Cristo referenced in the pages of this book: There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand. Sometimes, we think too much. Or, at least, I do. Instead of always trying to analyze and understand, it’s better to accept and embrace the beauty and truth of what is right before us.

And that leads to a thought shared by the lead character, Grace Waters, in this novel: Wanting things to be simple can become a kind of prison, it really can, because you end up staying trapped inside how you want things to be rather than embracing how they could be.

This is an example of those adrenaline-inducing rushes for the soul that happened intermittently throughout this story. Trundling along through the pages, a philosophical gem jumps off the page to grab my attention. And in one of these moments, all the mediocre words before take on a more significant meaning.

I’m not usually one for fantasy novels or stories that wander physically outside the realm of typical reality, but this one allowed me to embrace an opportunity to do so with the explicit message to remain open to all possibilities.

Dave’s Rating: ☕️☕️☕️

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