Review by michellehogmire - Impossible Causes

michellehogmire 's review for:

Impossible Causes by Julie Mayhew

3.0

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Thanks to Bloomsbury for providing me a finished copy of this book when it came out in 2019, in exchange for an honest review (pbk pub date Oct 17, 2020)--

Impossible Causes is a spooky atmospheric slow-burn novel that takes place on an isolated island where the residents are old-school religious. There's suspicion of witches, devil worship with goat horns, a voodoo doll heart, a ritual murder, multiple tarot-card reading scenes--basically everything I'd want in a Halloween read. Unfortunately, this book fell apart for me as the narrative continued.

The book hones in on three strangers who arrive at the island. A teenager named Viola and her mother decide to move to the island after experiencing a tragic family loss, and a young male teacher named Ben comes to instruct the island's students about science. Impossible Causes operates on two timelines: a murder discovery in the present, and events from the past year that led up to the killing. Our main perspectives center around Julia and a teacher on the island named Leah--who is lonely and hoping for love. A majority of the story focuses on the Eldest Girls--three sixteen-year-olds who the town suspects of participating in witchcraft. As Ben and Viola both get close to the Eldest Girls, and as Leah develops a relationship with Ben, the truth about what's going on with the girls and the island's secrets are exposed.

This book is so well-written and has so much potential, but it really flames out in the end. The slow-burn quality of the narrative is aggressive and relentless, with information withheld for hundreds of pages. I normally don't mind that, but then the book needs to have a worthwhile payoff in the end. The big reveal of Impossible Causes was simultaneously predictable and frustrating, rendering a super interesting book into yet another simplistic abuse narrative. I was really hoping for more.

Content Warnings