I have wanted to read Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood since buzz first started to go around about it when it came out in Australia. I waited and waited for it to be published in the US. When Wildlife was published last year I hoped it meant we would be getting this one too. (I was even more eager to read it after the amazingness of Wildlife.) It's been a long wait for this book, but it was well worth it.
Dan Cereill is not having the best year. His family has lost their fortune. His father has come out as gay and left his mom. He has to switch schools halfway through the year. He is living in the house of his dead great-aunt. The only thing getting him through his break is his neighbor Estelle who is beautiful and who he has so much in common with. His problem is that he hasn't actually met her. And how he knows they have so much in common is a secret that he never wants to think about let alone have any one discover. Especially Estelle. Once Dan starts school and reenters life, his path begins to cross with Estelle more an more until he feels like he is really getting to know her and he just may have a chance to accomplish the six impossible things that may set his life to right.
I adored Dan's voice. He is snarky and vulnerable at the same time, and his desperate loneliness is heartbreaking. Losing all of his money and most of his privilege is hard, but harder still is the break with his dad. Dan and his father were always pretty close. Dan does not have a problem with his dad being gay. He has a problem with him leaving him. All Dan wants is his family back, but he knows that isn't possible and it hurts. His mom is not the same either. Fueled by sadness and desperation, she has started a new business which she is sabotaging due to issues she has yet to resolve from her ended marriage. Best not to go into the business of making wedding cakes when one is going through a divorce. I really loved the relationship between Dan and his mom. I liked how he tried to care for her. She wasn't at her best as a mother, but it was clear that she loved Dan and wanted him to find happiness and get through their hard time. I found their interactions and struggle with their individual and shared sadness to be realistic.
All the other relationships in the book are also done incredibly well. I loved the friendship between Dan and his best friend, Fred. They are there for each other and have each other's backs. The growing relationship between Dan and Estelle was also done very well. It was obvious it was heading toward rough times because of course she was going to discover his secret, but I felt this was handled well, and I loved the resolution. Dan also has a developing friendship with Lou (one of the main characters of Wildlife) which is incredibly enjoyable as well. It is strange that the two books were published in a different order in the US. Since Wildlife takes place later and references a devastating incident in Lou's (and Dan's) life that takes place sometime between the two books, it made for some stressful reading. Because I didn't realize that incident took place between the novels until I was more than halfway through with this one, so I was reading this in fear of that. It made it a little difficult for me to fully throw myself into certain parts of the story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, and would be happy to read anything Fiona Wood writes in the future. I hope she continues to get published in the US. Wood writes frank honest looks in the lives and thoughts of teens.
Content Warning for the Interested: underage drinking
I read an ARC received from the publisher, Poppy, via Edelweiss. Six Impossible Things is on sale August 11th.
Dan Cereill is not having the best year. His family has lost their fortune. His father has come out as gay and left his mom. He has to switch schools halfway through the year. He is living in the house of his dead great-aunt. The only thing getting him through his break is his neighbor Estelle who is beautiful and who he has so much in common with. His problem is that he hasn't actually met her. And how he knows they have so much in common is a secret that he never wants to think about let alone have any one discover. Especially Estelle. Once Dan starts school and reenters life, his path begins to cross with Estelle more an more until he feels like he is really getting to know her and he just may have a chance to accomplish the six impossible things that may set his life to right.I adored Dan's voice. He is snarky and vulnerable at the same time, and his desperate loneliness is heartbreaking. Losing all of his money and most of his privilege is hard, but harder still is the break with his dad. Dan and his father were always pretty close. Dan does not have a problem with his dad being gay. He has a problem with him leaving him. All Dan wants is his family back, but he knows that isn't possible and it hurts. His mom is not the same either. Fueled by sadness and desperation, she has started a new business which she is sabotaging due to issues she has yet to resolve from her ended marriage. Best not to go into the business of making wedding cakes when one is going through a divorce. I really loved the relationship between Dan and his mom. I liked how he tried to care for her. She wasn't at her best as a mother, but it was clear that she loved Dan and wanted him to find happiness and get through their hard time. I found their interactions and struggle with their individual and shared sadness to be realistic.
All the other relationships in the book are also done incredibly well. I loved the friendship between Dan and his best friend, Fred. They are there for each other and have each other's backs. The growing relationship between Dan and Estelle was also done very well. It was obvious it was heading toward rough times because of course she was going to discover his secret, but I felt this was handled well, and I loved the resolution. Dan also has a developing friendship with Lou (one of the main characters of Wildlife) which is incredibly enjoyable as well. It is strange that the two books were published in a different order in the US. Since Wildlife takes place later and references a devastating incident in Lou's (and Dan's) life that takes place sometime between the two books, it made for some stressful reading. Because I didn't realize that incident took place between the novels until I was more than halfway through with this one, so I was reading this in fear of that. It made it a little difficult for me to fully throw myself into certain parts of the story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, and would be happy to read anything Fiona Wood writes in the future. I hope she continues to get published in the US. Wood writes frank honest looks in the lives and thoughts of teens.
Content Warning for the Interested: underage drinking
I read an ARC received from the publisher, Poppy, via Edelweiss. Six Impossible Things is on sale August 11th.
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