Review: The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.  

Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.

Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning. ~ Goodreads

Source: ALC in exchange for an honest review via Libo.fm

REVIEW: A review!!!! Do I still know how to do this??? lol I picked a tough one too. The summary doesn't give too much away and I don't want to either so, proceed with caution if you hate spoilers. I will stay vague about details but will reveal more than the synopsis above.

Grace, a retired math teacher, in her 70's, inherits a home on the island of Ibiza. After losing her son in a bike accident, then later, her husband, she's drowning in decades of guilt and grief and curious as to why a casual friend, Christina, whom she hasn't seen in decades, would leave a run down house to her. With absolutely no attachments and nothing to lose, she travels to Ibiza for answers.

Instead, she unravels mysteries of the universe itself in the deep waters off the Mediterranean coast.

There are legends about the water surrounding Ibiza. "Gifts" that are imparted upon certain people that enter the water. Grace becomes one of the recipients of those gifts. I won't say what they are, but I will say it gives her a heightened awareness of both the beauty of and danger to the environment and people surrounding her. 

Grace is a perfect, skeptical, foil for this touch of supernatural. She's stubborn, set in her ways, and guilt has made Grace deem herself unworthy of happiness, never mind gifts of such magnitude and responsibility. As a math teacher, everything must be mathematically proven and represent patterns and this is certainly beyond that scope.

The Life Impossible is about many things - human interactions that send seemingly random ripples of interconnectedness for generations, deep grief and guilt that stop you from living a full life and the beauty and possibilities of the world around us.

There are a quirky set of characters, an island rich with history, beauty, magic, danger and mystery. It could be, in turns, funny, gut wrenching, heartwarming and action packed - yet - something about it didn't really pack the punch the author was going for.

So much of what was going on with Grace could have been even more magical but mostly happened within her inner monologue, as she worked through everything as if it was a math problem. Not dry, because Grace is a fascinating character, but not as impactful.

For example SPOILER -> she could hear the thoughts of animals, feel the earth in ways no one else can but that was rarely seen in action (although she does use these gifts in big ways) - just her in awe that she COULD do it and what that means for her <- END SPOILER 

I wouldn't say everything was tell and not shown but so much was about Grace coming to terms with her past and how her new found gift impacted that. I loved that for what it was - but then it missed the mark as a transformative LIFE IMPOSSIBLE feeling if that makes sense. I understand how Haig needed both the magical element to spur the Grace's healing. Both - independently were wonderful - but they didn't always flow seamlessly together.

This would be a book for fans of Fredrik Backman or stories about how random people seem to connect and change each others lives. Also, for anyone dealing with guilt grief, aging. It was so refreshing to read about an older woman finding new purpose and doing things that women "her age" shouldn't do - like traveling alone, diving, dancing. She has limitations but you can still find new purpose at any age.

This was a lovely story, beautifully narrated by Joanna Lumley - gentle, life affirming. I'm glad I listened to it but it did slightly miss the mark as a great read - in comparison to a similar book and favorite 2024 read of mine - Remarkably Bright Creatures.