Reviews - The Life Impossible

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6.25k reviews for:

The Life Impossible

Matt Haig

3.52 AVERAGE

redlibrarian's review against another edition

4.25

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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: No

bgrazel's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sarabean's review against another edition

2.0

I don't usually review books that I DNF, but since I was almost 80% finished with this one when I finally drew the line I am making an exception.

I'll preface by saying that I love Matt Haig, I loved Midnight Library, and I loved this book for the first quarter.

However:

I think it's possible that acclaim for Midnight Library gave Mr. Haig a bit of an inflated ego about his ability to move readers through his prose. If the point of this book was to impart wise words about the beauty and sanctity of life, it could've ended in that first quarter. Grace's newfound perspective on life is lovely and a great reminder of how precious every little earth-dweller is, but man does Haig beat the dead horse, or goat rather, on this front.

Finally, at 77% through, we get a *glimpse* of the antagonist, after vaguely mentioning a threatening presence for most of the book. Even with the promise of action finally in my grasp, I simply could not continue reading after yet another heartfelt monologue from Grace. It became clear that once this antagonist was defeated, there would be endless more pages about why we must protect every living creature.

It's been a long time since I've left such a detailed review, but that's how strongly I feel about my disappointment in this book.

acarmon's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

tessavanhelden's review against another edition

4.0

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective

berandall's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous emotional mysterious 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: No

thannnh's review against another edition

I wanted this book to be about the light in the ocean and being present in the world around us, while realizing there may be a world after this one. There was entirely way too much happening in tandem: all of the mental superpowers, the protests, the assassination (?) plot, a really obnoxious side narrator guy that butted in way too often then died of cancer (why?). I tried so hard to get to the end before realizing we would never really return to diving in the ocean, exploring the light or its power to restore long lost plant species. It was just continued stream of conciseness about the narrator reading everyone’s minds, never adding to the plot. Perhaps my least favorite part of the book was the authors incessant use of the elementary catchphrase/writing tic “you see, [explanation]”.