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trin's review against another edition
1.0
Sex and sand and kidnappings in 19th-century Egypt. Daphne is a brilliant language scholar who, as a woman, has to hide her brains and let her brother take credit for her genius. Rupert is an English gentleman, but also a bit of a bruiser, who pretends to be stupider than he is. Daphne’s brother is kidnapped, Rupert is coerced into helping her (and she into accepting his help), and along the way fall in love and tear each other’s pants off.
My pants, however, they just bored me out of. I found Chase’s interpretation of sexual tension to be incredibly dull: mostly Daphne just thinks about how Rupert makes her feel…strange…inside, and Rupert thinks about how he’d like to get Daphne naked. That’s exactly how it’s phrased every single time: “get her naked.” Rupert is boring and repetitive down to his very thought processes!
The villains, meanwhile, are likewise dull and thinly drawn, while the Egyptian “family” Daphne and Rupert accumulate—widow! baby! cute servant boy! mongoose!—seem very fakey fake, very faux adorable. The plots felt obligatory and meandering—mandatory scenes strung together with no real care about order. Like a checklist: you gotta have a trapped in a tomb scene, and a fall in the Nile scene, and a sandstorm scene… Yawn. It’s so clichéd!
But you know, I would have minded if the characters felt real to me, if I was at all invested in them. But they were so clumsily built on all tell and no show that they were nothing to me. They could have blown away with the sand and I wouldn’t have cared.
Similarly, this book is already winging its way to someone in Romania via BookMooch.
My pants, however, they just bored me out of. I found Chase’s interpretation of sexual tension to be incredibly dull: mostly Daphne just thinks about how Rupert makes her feel…strange…inside, and Rupert thinks about how he’d like to get Daphne naked. That’s exactly how it’s phrased every single time: “get her naked.” Rupert is boring and repetitive down to his very thought processes!
The villains, meanwhile, are likewise dull and thinly drawn, while the Egyptian “family” Daphne and Rupert accumulate—widow! baby! cute servant boy! mongoose!—seem very fakey fake, very faux adorable. The plots felt obligatory and meandering—mandatory scenes strung together with no real care about order. Like a checklist: you gotta have a trapped in a tomb scene, and a fall in the Nile scene, and a sandstorm scene… Yawn. It’s so clichéd!
But you know, I would have minded if the characters felt real to me, if I was at all invested in them. But they were so clumsily built on all tell and no show that they were nothing to me. They could have blown away with the sand and I wouldn’t have cared.
Similarly, this book is already winging its way to someone in Romania via BookMooch.
justinkhchen's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars
While it's not as high energy or bombastic as I have anticipated, particularly regarding its rather sedated approach to romance, overall Mr. Impossible still captures the fun, action-adventure spirit not dissimilar to Indiana Jones and The Mummy franchise.
With its idealized 19th century Egypt setting, and the thrilling premise of treasure hunting and looming threats, I was expecting the hero and heroine to be equally larger-than-life and grandiose. Which was why I was slightly disappointed by the slow-burn romance, absent of any dramatic spark. While both Daphne and Rupert are well-rendered characters on their own right, the interaction between them consists primarily of internalized frustration and repeating outward coyness and rejection, failing to add any narrative dynamism. Even though in hindsight I understand the author's intension with this sweet, level-headed courtship, the lack of memorable progression means it can be a bore to read through at times.
Loretta Chase's writing is excellent, keeping things lighthearted but retaining the potential for danger. Historical romance has the tendency to skim on plot in favor of romance, but Mr. Impossible doubles down with its dual-antagonists setup, which injects a lot of (desirable) frenzy to the affair. With this ambitious setup, the book unfortunately closes rather abruptly, with many of its narrative threads wrap up unceremoniously in short sentences — one of the antagonists' outcome was only addressed in the postscript, and that was after the epilogue!).
Mr. Impossible is a prime definition of a 4-stars read for me — even though it's easy to pick apart some of its choices, as a whole it is beautifully written and spot-on with its exotic adventure comedy aspiration, carrying the plot with the perfect balance of levity and seriousness. Looking forward to read more from Loretta Chase!
**Historical Romance Readathon 2021 | Bingo Board Prompts: One person on the cover / Not in Europe**
While it's not as high energy or bombastic as I have anticipated, particularly regarding its rather sedated approach to romance, overall Mr. Impossible still captures the fun, action-adventure spirit not dissimilar to Indiana Jones and The Mummy franchise.
With its idealized 19th century Egypt setting, and the thrilling premise of treasure hunting and looming threats, I was expecting the hero and heroine to be equally larger-than-life and grandiose. Which was why I was slightly disappointed by the slow-burn romance, absent of any dramatic spark. While both Daphne and Rupert are well-rendered characters on their own right, the interaction between them consists primarily of internalized frustration and repeating outward coyness and rejection, failing to add any narrative dynamism. Even though in hindsight I understand the author's intension with this sweet, level-headed courtship, the lack of memorable progression means it can be a bore to read through at times.
Loretta Chase's writing is excellent, keeping things lighthearted but retaining the potential for danger. Historical romance has the tendency to skim on plot in favor of romance, but Mr. Impossible doubles down with its dual-antagonists setup, which injects a lot of (desirable) frenzy to the affair. With this ambitious setup, the book unfortunately closes rather abruptly, with many of its narrative threads wrap up unceremoniously in short sentences — one of the antagonists' outcome was only addressed in the postscript, and that was after the epilogue!).
Mr. Impossible is a prime definition of a 4-stars read for me — even though it's easy to pick apart some of its choices, as a whole it is beautifully written and spot-on with its exotic adventure comedy aspiration, carrying the plot with the perfect balance of levity and seriousness. Looking forward to read more from Loretta Chase!
**Historical Romance Readathon 2021 | Bingo Board Prompts: One person on the cover / Not in Europe**
amyjoy's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
5.0
ABSOLUTELY delightful! I loved that Rupert was a delightful himbo who protected and cared for the people around him AND delighted in how much smarter Daphne was than him. They had such a fun dynamic, and I adored them.
I do side-eye the Egyptian archaeology aspect of it in the year of our lord 2024, when we are grappling more with the violence of colonization and white saviorism. This book is saved by being almost 20 years old, though, and deeply appeals to the part of me that has a BA in Classics.
I do side-eye the Egyptian archaeology aspect of it in the year of our lord 2024, when we are grappling more with the violence of colonization and white saviorism. This book is saved by being almost 20 years old, though, and deeply appeals to the part of me that has a BA in Classics.
imagimental's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
ltennant09's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
malpal132's review against another edition
3.0
rupert's support and love for daphne was so pure. i enjoyed the mummy vibes, though could have done with less plot, lmao. this was humorous and sweet and really fucking racist. if you're going to read it, just keep in mind that it was written in the early aughts and as such, it's disappointing.
hilse's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexism, Colonisation, Police brutality, and Torture
frandeb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
5.0
A little “mummy” style, I had much fun. Rupert is a very funny and romantic guy.