Yet, in these moments – the reader has to face the harsh truth of what those who have mental illness come to face with in their life – without being white washed. There are moments where the novel depicts graphic scenes as the plot gets difficult for the characters. Yet, Scelsa tackles the topic with an honest approach with the shyness to it all, with not much happening in between with the relationship – as it is with many “firsts”, as it comes down to the nerves and unknown of what may follow on with it all.Īnother important topic covered by the novel is mental health through Mira and Sebby.

With portrayals of relationships in society all different, in a variety aspects, some (if not many) teenagers build up their own fairytales about the idea. We also get to see a relationship build between Sebby and Jeremy over the course of the plot in some manner that any other relationship would the sense of normality that comes through with this is so important, I think, because it is just normal. With mentions of Jeremy’s past in the novel, the audience comes to face with the harsh realities that some of the youth have to face in the present day, due to homophobia or simply just results of bullying. That way, I get to talk about the book in an alternative dynamic, which is more interesting for me to write about, and hopefully for you to read about! Instead of doing a full on review of this book, I thought I would try something different, and pick out some of the themes that I noticed within the novel whilst reading – and write about them instead. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and secret road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives.Īs Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira’s world, he begins to understand the secrets that they hide in order to protect themselves, to keep each other safe from those who don’t understand their quest to live for the impossible. Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him like a backlit halo.

When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn it’s as if he’s been expecting this blond, lanky boy with a mischievous glint in his eye. Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. She promised her parents she would at least try to act like a normal, functioning human this time around, not a girl who sometimes can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby. Ten months after her recurring depression landed her in the hospital, Mira is starting over as a new student at Saint Francis Prep. This is the story of a girl, her gay best friend, and the boy in love with both of them. Cover of Fans of The Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa (this is the US cover, the UK one is blue!)

Fans of the impossible life