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The Summer of Impossibilities
Skyler, Ellie, Scarlett and Amelia Grace are forced to spend the summer at the lake house where their moms became best friends.
One can’t wait. One would rather gnaw off her own arm than hang out with a bunch of strangers just so their moms can drink too much wine and sing Journey two o’clock in the morning. Two are sisters. Three are currently feuding with their mothers.
One almost sets her crush on fire with a flaming marshmallow. Two steal the boat for a midnight joyride that goes horribly, awkwardly wrong. All of them are hiding something.
One falls in love with a boy she thought she despised. Two fall in love with each other. None of them are the same at the end of the summer.
One can’t wait. One would rather gnaw off her own arm than hang out with a bunch of strangers just so their moms can drink too much wine and sing Journey two o’clock in the morning. Two are sisters. Three are currently feuding with their mothers.
One almost sets her crush on fire with a flaming marshmallow. Two steal the boat for a midnight joyride that goes horribly, awkwardly wrong. All of them are hiding something.
One falls in love with a boy she thought she despised. Two fall in love with each other. None of them are the same at the end of the summer.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published May 12, 2020
81 people are currently reading
4734 people want to read
About the author
Rachael Allen
7 books317 followersQuick bio:
RACHAEL ALLEN is a scientist by day and kid lit author by night. She is the winner of the 2019 Georgia Young Adult Author of the Year Award, and her books include Harley Quinn: Reckoning (forthcoming, RHCB ‘22), 17 First Kisses, The Revenge Playbook, The Summer of Impossibilities, and A Taxonomy of Love, which was a Junior Library Guild Selection and was among the 2018 Books All Young Georgians Should Read. Rachael lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband, two children, and two dire wolves. She loves homemade peach ice cream, having adventures all over the world, and stories that make her feel like she’s been poured inside another person.
More stuff about me:
- I love reading and writing YA.
- I'm represented by the fabulous Susan Hawk of Upstart Crow Literary.
- Laurie Halse Anderson once gave me writerly advice on a post-it, and it was the culmination of my being.
- I'm obsessed with football. Playing flag football, watching pro football (Falcons Rise Up!), being a belligerent Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets fan, and playing fantasy football with my family.
- I have held a human brain. (It was during anatomy lab. I'm not, like, a serial killer.)
- I'm such a wuss, I get scared watching the previews for horror movies. Seriously, when a scary commercial comes on, I squeal and frantically jab the fast forward button on our DVR remote.
- I love reading about strong women protagonists, fully imagined worlds, anything STEM, rebellion against the establishment, neurodegenerative diseases, and makeover montages - though probably not all in the same book.
- Some writers I love: Laini Taylor, Raina Telgemeier, Becky Albertalli, Jason Reynolds, Laurie Halse Anderson, Aisha Saeed, Libba Bray, Kara Taylor, Elizabeth Acevedo, Adam Silvera, Nina LaCour, E. Lockhart, Nicola Yoon, Julie Murphy, Sarah Dessen, Stephanie Perkins, I could go on forever.
RACHAEL ALLEN is a scientist by day and kid lit author by night. She is the winner of the 2019 Georgia Young Adult Author of the Year Award, and her books include Harley Quinn: Reckoning (forthcoming, RHCB ‘22), 17 First Kisses, The Revenge Playbook, The Summer of Impossibilities, and A Taxonomy of Love, which was a Junior Library Guild Selection and was among the 2018 Books All Young Georgians Should Read. Rachael lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband, two children, and two dire wolves. She loves homemade peach ice cream, having adventures all over the world, and stories that make her feel like she’s been poured inside another person.
More stuff about me:
- I love reading and writing YA.
- I'm represented by the fabulous Susan Hawk of Upstart Crow Literary.
- Laurie Halse Anderson once gave me writerly advice on a post-it, and it was the culmination of my being.
- I'm obsessed with football. Playing flag football, watching pro football (Falcons Rise Up!), being a belligerent Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets fan, and playing fantasy football with my family.
- I have held a human brain. (It was during anatomy lab. I'm not, like, a serial killer.)
- I'm such a wuss, I get scared watching the previews for horror movies. Seriously, when a scary commercial comes on, I squeal and frantically jab the fast forward button on our DVR remote.
- I love reading about strong women protagonists, fully imagined worlds, anything STEM, rebellion against the establishment, neurodegenerative diseases, and makeover montages - though probably not all in the same book.
- Some writers I love: Laini Taylor, Raina Telgemeier, Becky Albertalli, Jason Reynolds, Laurie Halse Anderson, Aisha Saeed, Libba Bray, Kara Taylor, Elizabeth Acevedo, Adam Silvera, Nina LaCour, E. Lockhart, Nicola Yoon, Julie Murphy, Sarah Dessen, Stephanie Perkins, I could go on forever.
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February 26, 2020
On my blog.
Rep: Jewish mc with juvenile arthritis, lesbian mc, Indian American Muslim mc, Jewish bi mc, side wlw characters
CWs: past self harm
Sometimes you finish a book and you’re sort of left with a vague annoyance that this is what you spent a portion of your life on. That would be me and this book. It’s not a bad book by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just not a me book.
The Summer of Impossibilities follows four girls, whose mothers take them to a lake house for the summer, after one’s husband cheats on her. The girls haven’t seen each other since they were five, and they don’t immediately get along.
Here, I have to admit, the blurb is somewhat misleading. None of the events that it says happens are much more than blips. I mean, “a boy she despises”, she dislikes him slightly on their first meeting and then decides she does like him. But that’s sort of beside the point.
I think what disappointed me most about this book was that I came into it expecting an f/f romance. But that romance barely registers – there is scarcely any development (although this is also true of the straight romances), and it doesn’t happen until very late on. Not only that, the lesbian character seems to all but reduced to her crush on her friend. Throughout every bit of her POV (of which there are also fewer than any of the other characters), there’s very little besides an almost exclusive focus on Scarlett (the crush). It’s either that or, on the off chance it’s not, the homophobia of her church. But by reducing Amelia Grace to her crush, she comes off as a lot less fleshed out than any of the other characters. I could tell you about the hopes, dreams, flaws, and so on of the others. I could not tell you the same of Amelia Grace. And also, I am so tired of reading the whole “lesbian hated by her church community” storyline. It featured a little less strongly here than I feared it might, to be fair, but it was still prominent. Are lesbians not allowed to have wholly supportive parents or something? (Also, an aside: the word lesbian ain’t gonna give you cooties or whatever. You can use it to describe a woman who exclusively likes women. That is its meaning.)
Not to mention her love interest is horrible. Like, I got she had traumas to work around and all, but that’s not an excuse to be awful to a character who has done nothing to you. So that put me off reading her POV a fair bit, and also put me off reading Amelia Grace’s POV, because of the aforementioned hyperfocus on the love interest.
And then, for all that it’s good the book doesn’t have a wholly straight white cast, some of that diversity does come across as a little forced, for want of a better word. Like how their being not-white or not-straight is emphasised by them making a “white people” or “straight people” comment? It doesn’t happen in this book, but it felt like that sort of vibe. At first, I grant, because once the author had thus established that these characters were not-white or not-straight, that definitely disappeared. (Another aside: there’s a point at the start where the Indian American Muslim characters stop at a petrol station in the South and make some comment about being stared at as if they’ve never seen brown people before. I couldn’t help but think of multiple tweets I’ve seen recently that have been like, the North is as bigoted as the South, if not more. But anyway.)
But while I was disappointed, there were still some cute parts (Skyler and Bennett, despite how fast their relationship happened, Ellie and Andres, even though theirs happened even faster). It’s just that couldn’t make up for everything else.
Rep: Jewish mc with juvenile arthritis, lesbian mc, Indian American Muslim mc, Jewish bi mc, side wlw characters
CWs: past self harm
Sometimes you finish a book and you’re sort of left with a vague annoyance that this is what you spent a portion of your life on. That would be me and this book. It’s not a bad book by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just not a me book.
The Summer of Impossibilities follows four girls, whose mothers take them to a lake house for the summer, after one’s husband cheats on her. The girls haven’t seen each other since they were five, and they don’t immediately get along.
Here, I have to admit, the blurb is somewhat misleading. None of the events that it says happens are much more than blips. I mean, “a boy she despises”, she dislikes him slightly on their first meeting and then decides she does like him. But that’s sort of beside the point.
I think what disappointed me most about this book was that I came into it expecting an f/f romance. But that romance barely registers – there is scarcely any development (although this is also true of the straight romances), and it doesn’t happen until very late on. Not only that, the lesbian character seems to all but reduced to her crush on her friend. Throughout every bit of her POV (of which there are also fewer than any of the other characters), there’s very little besides an almost exclusive focus on Scarlett (the crush). It’s either that or, on the off chance it’s not, the homophobia of her church. But by reducing Amelia Grace to her crush, she comes off as a lot less fleshed out than any of the other characters. I could tell you about the hopes, dreams, flaws, and so on of the others. I could not tell you the same of Amelia Grace. And also, I am so tired of reading the whole “lesbian hated by her church community” storyline. It featured a little less strongly here than I feared it might, to be fair, but it was still prominent. Are lesbians not allowed to have wholly supportive parents or something? (Also, an aside: the word lesbian ain’t gonna give you cooties or whatever. You can use it to describe a woman who exclusively likes women. That is its meaning.)
Not to mention her love interest is horrible. Like, I got she had traumas to work around and all, but that’s not an excuse to be awful to a character who has done nothing to you. So that put me off reading her POV a fair bit, and also put me off reading Amelia Grace’s POV, because of the aforementioned hyperfocus on the love interest.
And then, for all that it’s good the book doesn’t have a wholly straight white cast, some of that diversity does come across as a little forced, for want of a better word. Like how their being not-white or not-straight is emphasised by them making a “white people” or “straight people” comment? It doesn’t happen in this book, but it felt like that sort of vibe. At first, I grant, because once the author had thus established that these characters were not-white or not-straight, that definitely disappeared. (Another aside: there’s a point at the start where the Indian American Muslim characters stop at a petrol station in the South and make some comment about being stared at as if they’ve never seen brown people before. I couldn’t help but think of multiple tweets I’ve seen recently that have been like, the North is as bigoted as the South, if not more. But anyway.)
But while I was disappointed, there were still some cute parts (Skyler and Bennett, despite how fast their relationship happened, Ellie and Andres, even though theirs happened even faster). It’s just that couldn’t make up for everything else.
May 14, 2020
4.5 stars
OMG this book was so freaking cute!!!
It has everything the synopsis promises and so much more! This book is told in 4 POVs: Ellie, who is a biracial muslim girl who has been homeschooled her entire life and the only thing she wants is to have best friends like her mom has. Then we have Scarlett and Sky who are twin sisters who couldn't be more opposite in the way they handle pressure: Scarlett externalizes, Sky internalizes everything. Both of them are going through a lot in their own personal lives but also their parents are on the cusp of a divorce and they don't know how to feel about it. And finally, there is Amelia Grace who is trying to figure out how to be completely herself without losing her family, friends and her belief in God.
This book somehow manages to feel both light and heavy at the same time. So much about this book is very light and fun and it gave me major Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants vibes. But then, there is also each individual subplot going on with each girl and those things...well they weren't minor little things. I found myself relating to something from each girl's life and I shed more than one tear whether it was Ellie talking about never feeling "enough" of her culture or Amelia Grace's fear of her mom loving her husband more than she loves her, and so many other topics that I think so many people can relate to. This book shows us such beautiful perfect and yet damaged depictions of friendship and people that is so realistic.
I am so glad I decided to read this book! And if you haven't already, add this book to your tbr because you do not want to miss this YA Contemporary read!
OMG this book was so freaking cute!!!
It has everything the synopsis promises and so much more! This book is told in 4 POVs: Ellie, who is a biracial muslim girl who has been homeschooled her entire life and the only thing she wants is to have best friends like her mom has. Then we have Scarlett and Sky who are twin sisters who couldn't be more opposite in the way they handle pressure: Scarlett externalizes, Sky internalizes everything. Both of them are going through a lot in their own personal lives but also their parents are on the cusp of a divorce and they don't know how to feel about it. And finally, there is Amelia Grace who is trying to figure out how to be completely herself without losing her family, friends and her belief in God.
This book somehow manages to feel both light and heavy at the same time. So much about this book is very light and fun and it gave me major Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants vibes. But then, there is also each individual subplot going on with each girl and those things...well they weren't minor little things. I found myself relating to something from each girl's life and I shed more than one tear whether it was Ellie talking about never feeling "enough" of her culture or Amelia Grace's fear of her mom loving her husband more than she loves her, and so many other topics that I think so many people can relate to. This book shows us such beautiful perfect and yet damaged depictions of friendship and people that is so realistic.
I am so glad I decided to read this book! And if you haven't already, add this book to your tbr because you do not want to miss this YA Contemporary read!
June 7, 2021
3.5 ⭐
it's the lakefront setting for me.
"the summer of impossibilities" read a little young at times, but it's overflowing with heart and charm. each girl's individual storyline was enough to fuel a whole book, so the combination of all four of them was near addicting.
also, amelia grace, aunt val, and heidi deserve the world.
it's the lakefront setting for me.
"the summer of impossibilities" read a little young at times, but it's overflowing with heart and charm. each girl's individual storyline was enough to fuel a whole book, so the combination of all four of them was near addicting.
also, amelia grace, aunt val, and heidi deserve the world.
April 17, 2020
Reading this book felt like a warm hug. There was something so comforting and home-y about it. It’s a love letter to female friendship, and to growing up and growing into yourself. Loved the representation, loved the character growth, loved the summer-y lake house vibes. Highly recommend picking this one up in May!!
May 21, 2020
First off- I made a good reads account JUST to write this review. That is how much this book annoyed me.
I thought the premise of four girls spending the summer together becoming friends was such a good idea but the execution was off. Way off.
I am a teenager myself and I just don't understand this book. It sounds like it is written for younger kids but then it used the f-word five times per chapter and also has a great deal of talking about sex. Older kids such as myself would not (and do not) like it because it is poorly written and sounds like it would be for middle schoolers.
Second, this author CLEARLY does not understand teenagers. She is way behind all the trends and the characters are all annoying stereotypes. They are unrealistic and very frustrating to read. One good example is when the girls are going to a fourth of July party and one of the characters, Ellie, says they must all dress up because "that's what Taylor Swift would do". This part made me literally cringe and I had to stop reading. Rachael Allen does not understand what being a teenager is like, and it's very obvious.
All of the reviews saying this book is like the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants are wrong. I read all of Ann Brashares' books and LOVED them. She understands teenagers and their emotions. Rachael Allen does not. The reviews on the back of the book saying how good this book is were obviously written by fellow out-of-touch "young adult" authors.
The characters were all extreme stereotypes and annoying. Skylar's problem didn't make any sense. I feel like Rachael Allen could have come up with a better plot than just "not wanting to tell her mom". In the book it is said by other characters that Skyler is bubbly and happy, but I don't see any of that in the book. She is a very flat character.
Next, Scarlett. Scarlett's character got better at the very end, but for the most part she was very boring and one-dimensional. Scarlett is said by other characters to be sassy and sarcastic but she doesn't do anything sassy or sarcastic other than rolling her eyes. All the time. It's not that hard to find different body language to use.
Ellie is so annoying. I don't understand why all the tennis girls hate Ellie. She is described as kind and funny and athletic. Why do they hate her? Ellie is written way over the top and is the most out of touch character that is written. Rachael Allen doesn't understand what it is like to be bullied online. You become so depressed and hurt that you can't function normally for a long time after the kind of bullying Ellie went through, but she just got over it after one party. That was extremely aggravating to read. Her attitude, being super happy, and trying really hard to become friends with the girls is not only annoying, but it is also unrealistic.
Lastly, Amelia Grace. I could not tell you one thing about Amelia Grace's personality. Every time it goes to her point of view it is just to talk about how she is gay. She is never seen having any fun or acting as a regular person. Even though she and Scarlett are very good friends, we only see them hanging out ONCE, and it is not even described in detail. She is written very poorly and I wish we could've seen more of her because she was the only character who wasn't completely and atrociously unrealistic.
This is only a small detail but on the back of the book it says that one girl falls in love with a boy she hated. This is very wrong for many reasons.
1. She never hated him. This was never described in the book, she was only a little bit annoyed at him.
2. They literally hang out three times the entire summer. That is nowhere near a long enough time to know whether or not you love someone, plus she never says or thinks anything about loving him.
3. They have one kiss and are in high school. That's not how love works. Teenagers aren't crazy, love-sick zombies just wandering around trying to find someone to kiss. Yet another thing Rachael Allen doesn't understand. She paints Ellie to be the same way, just wandering around parties looking for boys to kiss. This is not true at all.
I originally picked up this book because I thought it was going to be a really cute book about summer and girls becoming best friends. It was nothing like that. There is no description of the lake house and what it is like or even what state the girls are in. This story has nothing to do with summer and could take place anywhere at any time in the year and the story would not change at all. I really liked the idea of four girls who spend the summer together and become best friends, but this book was too focused on the girls and their own problems individually. There are hardly any scenes showing that the girls are friends, much less tolerating each other. This book would have been much better is she had focused more on the girls becoming friends and the feeling of summer.
Finally, this book has SO much forced diversity. Ellie is half Indian and apparently that matters but the story would not have been any different if she had been white. Amelia Graces' entire personality and point of view were just her being a lesbian and how she was in love with Scarlett. It got old very fast. They tried to fit in ANOTHER lesbian couple into the book, and it just confused me and made me annoyed. In an OFFICIAL study done by David Spiegelhalter, it is proven that around TEN percent of the population likes the same sex. In a group of ten women (The four girls, their moms, and the lesbian couple) such as there was in the book, the odds that FOUR of them like the same sex is unbelievable. I could maybe believe one or two LGBTQ+ but this is just another example of how Rachael Allen tried to cram as much diversity in this book as she could, which made the story feel unrealistic.
I thought the premise of four girls spending the summer together becoming friends was such a good idea but the execution was off. Way off.
I am a teenager myself and I just don't understand this book. It sounds like it is written for younger kids but then it used the f-word five times per chapter and also has a great deal of talking about sex. Older kids such as myself would not (and do not) like it because it is poorly written and sounds like it would be for middle schoolers.
Second, this author CLEARLY does not understand teenagers. She is way behind all the trends and the characters are all annoying stereotypes. They are unrealistic and very frustrating to read. One good example is when the girls are going to a fourth of July party and one of the characters, Ellie, says they must all dress up because "that's what Taylor Swift would do". This part made me literally cringe and I had to stop reading. Rachael Allen does not understand what being a teenager is like, and it's very obvious.
All of the reviews saying this book is like the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants are wrong. I read all of Ann Brashares' books and LOVED them. She understands teenagers and their emotions. Rachael Allen does not. The reviews on the back of the book saying how good this book is were obviously written by fellow out-of-touch "young adult" authors.
The characters were all extreme stereotypes and annoying. Skylar's problem didn't make any sense. I feel like Rachael Allen could have come up with a better plot than just "not wanting to tell her mom". In the book it is said by other characters that Skyler is bubbly and happy, but I don't see any of that in the book. She is a very flat character.
Next, Scarlett. Scarlett's character got better at the very end, but for the most part she was very boring and one-dimensional. Scarlett is said by other characters to be sassy and sarcastic but she doesn't do anything sassy or sarcastic other than rolling her eyes. All the time. It's not that hard to find different body language to use.
Ellie is so annoying. I don't understand why all the tennis girls hate Ellie. She is described as kind and funny and athletic. Why do they hate her? Ellie is written way over the top and is the most out of touch character that is written. Rachael Allen doesn't understand what it is like to be bullied online. You become so depressed and hurt that you can't function normally for a long time after the kind of bullying Ellie went through, but she just got over it after one party. That was extremely aggravating to read. Her attitude, being super happy, and trying really hard to become friends with the girls is not only annoying, but it is also unrealistic.
Lastly, Amelia Grace. I could not tell you one thing about Amelia Grace's personality. Every time it goes to her point of view it is just to talk about how she is gay. She is never seen having any fun or acting as a regular person. Even though she and Scarlett are very good friends, we only see them hanging out ONCE, and it is not even described in detail. She is written very poorly and I wish we could've seen more of her because she was the only character who wasn't completely and atrociously unrealistic.
This is only a small detail but on the back of the book it says that one girl falls in love with a boy she hated. This is very wrong for many reasons.
1. She never hated him. This was never described in the book, she was only a little bit annoyed at him.
2. They literally hang out three times the entire summer. That is nowhere near a long enough time to know whether or not you love someone, plus she never says or thinks anything about loving him.
3. They have one kiss and are in high school. That's not how love works. Teenagers aren't crazy, love-sick zombies just wandering around trying to find someone to kiss. Yet another thing Rachael Allen doesn't understand. She paints Ellie to be the same way, just wandering around parties looking for boys to kiss. This is not true at all.
I originally picked up this book because I thought it was going to be a really cute book about summer and girls becoming best friends. It was nothing like that. There is no description of the lake house and what it is like or even what state the girls are in. This story has nothing to do with summer and could take place anywhere at any time in the year and the story would not change at all. I really liked the idea of four girls who spend the summer together and become best friends, but this book was too focused on the girls and their own problems individually. There are hardly any scenes showing that the girls are friends, much less tolerating each other. This book would have been much better is she had focused more on the girls becoming friends and the feeling of summer.
Finally, this book has SO much forced diversity. Ellie is half Indian and apparently that matters but the story would not have been any different if she had been white. Amelia Graces' entire personality and point of view were just her being a lesbian and how she was in love with Scarlett. It got old very fast. They tried to fit in ANOTHER lesbian couple into the book, and it just confused me and made me annoyed. In an OFFICIAL study done by David Spiegelhalter, it is proven that around TEN percent of the population likes the same sex. In a group of ten women (The four girls, their moms, and the lesbian couple) such as there was in the book, the odds that FOUR of them like the same sex is unbelievable. I could maybe believe one or two LGBTQ+ but this is just another example of how Rachael Allen tried to cram as much diversity in this book as she could, which made the story feel unrealistic.
May 25, 2020
I devoured this book. SO sweet, so much fun, and the romance between two of the girls had my heart racing.
October 4, 2022
This was such a great story of friendship, navigating relationships and managing your internal monologue.
Rep: Jewish cishet female MC with juvenile arthritis, Jewish bisexual-questioning cis female MC with unnamed mental illness that presents as self-harm, biracial Indian Muslim cishet female MC with anxiety and recovering from an eating disorder, white Christian lesbian cis female MC, Indian cishet female MC, side WLW couple (one is pregnant), Jewish cishet female side character, various white side characters.
CWs: Lesbophobia/lesbomisia, bullying, emotional abuse (spousal), mental illness (anxiety), self-harm (recounted cutting), sexual content, misogyny, sexism, religious bigotry, toxic relationship (MC to SC romantic, MC to parent familial, between side characters romantic), racism, outing. Moderate: Body shaming, antisemitism, eating order, islamophobia, suicide attempt, classism, infidelity (side character).
Rep: Jewish cishet female MC with juvenile arthritis, Jewish bisexual-questioning cis female MC with unnamed mental illness that presents as self-harm, biracial Indian Muslim cishet female MC with anxiety and recovering from an eating disorder, white Christian lesbian cis female MC, Indian cishet female MC, side WLW couple (one is pregnant), Jewish cishet female side character, various white side characters.
CWs: Lesbophobia/lesbomisia, bullying, emotional abuse (spousal), mental illness (anxiety), self-harm (recounted cutting), sexual content, misogyny, sexism, religious bigotry, toxic relationship (MC to SC romantic, MC to parent familial, between side characters romantic), racism, outing. Moderate: Body shaming, antisemitism, eating order, islamophobia, suicide attempt, classism, infidelity (side character).
May 17, 2020
Annoying would be the one word I’d use to describe THE SUMMER OF IMPOSSIBILITIES. The premise is so much better than the execution.
THE SUMMER OF IMPOSSIBILITIES is a story of contrasts. The four MC narrators have the voices and maturity of middle grade characters, yet the f-bombs and sexual dalliances of older teens. I’m not someone who believes what kids read should be censored and wouldn’t have a problem with a tween reading the content. I only mention it because I doubt publishers would classify the story as MG and I can’t picture most YA readers enjoying the book.
Rachael Allen seemed determined to throw as much diversity into her story as possible and remind readers of that diversity in a manner that didn’t feel organic to the storytelling.
The premise that four teens are sharing a home for the summer when their sorority sisters reunite is an intriguing one. The twins Scarlett and Skylar were my favorite characters, not opposites, but with enough similarities and differences that they felt real. Amelia Grace, the lesbian in who attended a church that sends kids to conversion camps was tolerable. Ellie, the tennis player with the personality of a leech was unbearable. I could easily see why she had no friends and cringed at the calculating she tried to make them. Her desperation and neediness, which could have been charming if not so overdone, made me root for the peers who isolated her, which is a pretty difficult feat for a writer as I have no patience for bullies. Part way through I stopped reading Ellie’s sections because she annoyed me so much.
I only kept reading THE SUMMER OF IMPOSSIBILITIES because I cared about the twins.
THE SUMMER OF IMPOSSIBILITIES is a story of contrasts. The four MC narrators have the voices and maturity of middle grade characters, yet the f-bombs and sexual dalliances of older teens. I’m not someone who believes what kids read should be censored and wouldn’t have a problem with a tween reading the content. I only mention it because I doubt publishers would classify the story as MG and I can’t picture most YA readers enjoying the book.
Rachael Allen seemed determined to throw as much diversity into her story as possible and remind readers of that diversity in a manner that didn’t feel organic to the storytelling.
The premise that four teens are sharing a home for the summer when their sorority sisters reunite is an intriguing one. The twins Scarlett and Skylar were my favorite characters, not opposites, but with enough similarities and differences that they felt real. Amelia Grace, the lesbian in who attended a church that sends kids to conversion camps was tolerable. Ellie, the tennis player with the personality of a leech was unbearable. I could easily see why she had no friends and cringed at the calculating she tried to make them. Her desperation and neediness, which could have been charming if not so overdone, made me root for the peers who isolated her, which is a pretty difficult feat for a writer as I have no patience for bullies. Part way through I stopped reading Ellie’s sections because she annoyed me so much.
I only kept reading THE SUMMER OF IMPOSSIBILITIES because I cared about the twins.
May 22, 2020
Honestly this has so many things I love: friendships and found families and queer romance and self discovery, and I cried several times
October 19, 2020
i want what they have. and ofc it's not perfect, but that's what makes it interesting.
March 29, 2023
OMG, I LOVE THE CHARACTERS, THEY R AMAZING AF
May 9, 2020
Wow, this was so good. It's sort of like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants meets Things I Can't Forget. It's all about sisterhood, friendship, toxic relationships, and more in this way that feels so real but also very uplifting.
There are four first person POVs in The Summer of Impossibilities, which is a lot, but they're done really well. I rarely had any issue with keeping them separate, because they all have unique voices. Skyler, Scarlett, Amelia Grace, and Ellie's POVs all dragged me into the story, and I read this one straight through, because I had to know where life was going to take them. Because it's an Allen book, there's a lot of nuance, and there's no perfect rom-com sort of ending, but the book as a whole made me feel so happy.
The plot of the book centers on a summer trip to Skyler and Scarlett's family lake house, after their mother discovers their father has been cheating on her. The mom puts a call out to her sorority sisters /best friends for help, and they all show up with their daughters to stay for the summer. Though the mom plot line is very much background, it's really lovely how the whole thing is about the life-long bonds between women and how incredibly important those friendships are.
The girls (Skyler, Scarlett, Amelia Grace, and Ellie) start up their mothers' club from when they were teens, which largely consists of making an "impossible" goal for summer, and these goals are their catalysts for change, though often in ways they do not expect. IMO this made a really great set up, with nice tropiness coming from the plot to add cuteness to a book with a lot of heavy topics. There's really great balance to this novel.
Skyler's struggling with juvenile arthritis, which by this point is basically preventing her from being able to play, her hands constantly feeling like she has shards of glass for bones. Her story involves invisible disabilities and her feeling that she cannot cause problems in the family. Skyler's such a freaking sweetie, but she's too afraid to make waves, and it's making things worse for her. She has a cute little romance, but it doesn't get much screen time. This book's way more about friendships than it is about romance.
Scarlett thinks her big problem is having been dragged off for the summer just when things were getting good at home. Thanks to her awesome boyfriend, she's accepted now and she's not cutting anymore. Sure, she's nervous about the possibility of having sex with him, but she's sure she'll be ready soon. Allen really delves into what makes a healthy relationship here, and it's on point and something teen girls would definitely benefit from considering.
Amelia Grace just came out to her whole town basically, caught in her first kiss ever with another girl. Immediately, she's ostracized, and her mother drags her away from the summer hoping things will blow over. Amelia's story is a crisis of faith. Very religious all of her life, she doesn't want to have to give up either her sexuality or her faith, but she doesn't believe she can have both. One thing I admire so much about this book is how thoughtfully religion is discussed (with Skyler's love of many religions, Amelia Grace's deep faith, Scarlett's agnosticism, and Ellie being Muslim). There's no judgment of faith or a lack of it, only of not being a good person inside of whatever you believe. And there's also a cute f/f romance, though again it's a small part of the book.
Ellie took me the longest time to warm up to, mostly because there's so much in Ellie that I related to. Ellie's absolutely desperate for friendship in a way that makes her awkward and push too hard, and oh man do I feel that deep in my bones. There's a special kind of psychological pain that comes from being entirely friendless, from never being wanted around, from always being excluded from groups, and it can really do a number on you. This is the summer of Ellie finally making friends and finally realizing that maybe she was going after the wrong people. Girl, I feel you. There's also some great stuff about the dangers of fitness inspiration stuff on the internet and a little bit on eating disorders.
The Summer of Impossibilities is a such a beautifully accepting book. The girls have a wide range of views on things (religion, sororities, drinking), and it really upholds the important of doing what's right for you and not judging others for being better off with something else. It's so motivational and heartwarming. Recommended for anyone looking for a book full of sisterhood and friendship. This may be my favorite Allen book so far!
There are four first person POVs in The Summer of Impossibilities, which is a lot, but they're done really well. I rarely had any issue with keeping them separate, because they all have unique voices. Skyler, Scarlett, Amelia Grace, and Ellie's POVs all dragged me into the story, and I read this one straight through, because I had to know where life was going to take them. Because it's an Allen book, there's a lot of nuance, and there's no perfect rom-com sort of ending, but the book as a whole made me feel so happy.
The plot of the book centers on a summer trip to Skyler and Scarlett's family lake house, after their mother discovers their father has been cheating on her. The mom puts a call out to her sorority sisters /best friends for help, and they all show up with their daughters to stay for the summer. Though the mom plot line is very much background, it's really lovely how the whole thing is about the life-long bonds between women and how incredibly important those friendships are.
The girls (Skyler, Scarlett, Amelia Grace, and Ellie) start up their mothers' club from when they were teens, which largely consists of making an "impossible" goal for summer, and these goals are their catalysts for change, though often in ways they do not expect. IMO this made a really great set up, with nice tropiness coming from the plot to add cuteness to a book with a lot of heavy topics. There's really great balance to this novel.
Skyler's struggling with juvenile arthritis, which by this point is basically preventing her from being able to play, her hands constantly feeling like she has shards of glass for bones. Her story involves invisible disabilities and her feeling that she cannot cause problems in the family. Skyler's such a freaking sweetie, but she's too afraid to make waves, and it's making things worse for her. She has a cute little romance, but it doesn't get much screen time. This book's way more about friendships than it is about romance.
Scarlett thinks her big problem is having been dragged off for the summer just when things were getting good at home. Thanks to her awesome boyfriend, she's accepted now and she's not cutting anymore. Sure, she's nervous about the possibility of having sex with him, but she's sure she'll be ready soon. Allen really delves into what makes a healthy relationship here, and it's on point and something teen girls would definitely benefit from considering.
Amelia Grace just came out to her whole town basically, caught in her first kiss ever with another girl. Immediately, she's ostracized, and her mother drags her away from the summer hoping things will blow over. Amelia's story is a crisis of faith. Very religious all of her life, she doesn't want to have to give up either her sexuality or her faith, but she doesn't believe she can have both. One thing I admire so much about this book is how thoughtfully religion is discussed (with Skyler's love of many religions, Amelia Grace's deep faith, Scarlett's agnosticism, and Ellie being Muslim). There's no judgment of faith or a lack of it, only of not being a good person inside of whatever you believe. And there's also a cute f/f romance, though again it's a small part of the book.
Ellie took me the longest time to warm up to, mostly because there's so much in Ellie that I related to. Ellie's absolutely desperate for friendship in a way that makes her awkward and push too hard, and oh man do I feel that deep in my bones. There's a special kind of psychological pain that comes from being entirely friendless, from never being wanted around, from always being excluded from groups, and it can really do a number on you. This is the summer of Ellie finally making friends and finally realizing that maybe she was going after the wrong people. Girl, I feel you. There's also some great stuff about the dangers of fitness inspiration stuff on the internet and a little bit on eating disorders.
The Summer of Impossibilities is a such a beautifully accepting book. The girls have a wide range of views on things (religion, sororities, drinking), and it really upholds the important of doing what's right for you and not judging others for being better off with something else. It's so motivational and heartwarming. Recommended for anyone looking for a book full of sisterhood and friendship. This may be my favorite Allen book so far!
June 21, 2021
I loved this book! I loved each of the girls and could see myself reflected back in pieces of them. If you are looking for a book to get you out of a reading slump, this is it. This book filled me up and now I have to pretend to be a normal person around the author when I next see her and not a total fangirl.
unreleased
August 6, 2019from the author's twitter: "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants but with two of the girls falling in love with each other"
March 25, 2020
Rating: 3.5 Stars
A family crisis brought these girls physically together, but their new found friendship will bind them for life.
This book follows four young women through a summer of great changes. When Scarlett and Skyler's mother discovers her husband's infidelity, she sends out an SOS to her sorority sisters, and they flee to their lake house. There, they reconvene with all the "aunts" and their daughters, Amelia Grace and Ellie. After finding documents belonging to the SBDC, the Southern Belles Drinking Club, the girls agree to trying to achieve one impossibility this summer.
Though they set out to accomplish something impossible, they ended up discovering so much about themselves and each other. The characters each had their own storyline, as well as their own set of issues, and I think because of that, there will be something most readers could relate to.
• Skyler is a "caretaker", whose softball dreams have been sidelined due to juvenile arthritis.
• Scarlett is short tempered, prone to self harm, and struggling with the decision to get more physical with her boyfriend.
• Amelia Grace accidentally came out at a church event. She wants to earn back her position as junior youth minister, but is not sure she wants to sacrifice or hide parts of herself to get it.
• Ellie is a biracial muslim tennis ace, who struggled with body image, identity, and loneliness.
I enjoyed getting to know all four of these young women, and was rooting for them as they grew and changed and discovered so much over the course of the summer. I was definitely feeling some Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants vibes, as there were four women, experiencing life, love, and friendship in the summertime, but that's where it ended.
There were a few things I especially loved:
• The focus on female friendships. I didn't only get to enjoy the friendship that formed between the four main characters, but also was treated to the lifelong friendship their mother's shared. And, it didn't stop there. Allen included some examples of healthy and unhealthy friendships, too, which I always love seeing in juxtaposition.
• The relationship between the twins, Scarlett and Skyler, was far from perfect. Each held some misconceptions about the other, but even as they harbored some ill will for the other, they still took care of one another. There were some really lovely and tender moments shared between them, which warmed my heart, and reminded me of how special a sister's love could be.
• So. Much. Growth. I mentioned it before, but it wasn't only the younger generation that was growing and changing. Allen had the mother's evolving a bit too, and there was one storyline in particular that I really loved.
Overall: It started as the summer of impossibilities, but turned into a summer of friendship, change, and endless possibilities.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS
A family crisis brought these girls physically together, but their new found friendship will bind them for life.
This book follows four young women through a summer of great changes. When Scarlett and Skyler's mother discovers her husband's infidelity, she sends out an SOS to her sorority sisters, and they flee to their lake house. There, they reconvene with all the "aunts" and their daughters, Amelia Grace and Ellie. After finding documents belonging to the SBDC, the Southern Belles Drinking Club, the girls agree to trying to achieve one impossibility this summer.
Though they set out to accomplish something impossible, they ended up discovering so much about themselves and each other. The characters each had their own storyline, as well as their own set of issues, and I think because of that, there will be something most readers could relate to.
• Skyler is a "caretaker", whose softball dreams have been sidelined due to juvenile arthritis.
• Scarlett is short tempered, prone to self harm, and struggling with the decision to get more physical with her boyfriend.
• Amelia Grace accidentally came out at a church event. She wants to earn back her position as junior youth minister, but is not sure she wants to sacrifice or hide parts of herself to get it.
• Ellie is a biracial muslim tennis ace, who struggled with body image, identity, and loneliness.
I enjoyed getting to know all four of these young women, and was rooting for them as they grew and changed and discovered so much over the course of the summer. I was definitely feeling some Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants vibes, as there were four women, experiencing life, love, and friendship in the summertime, but that's where it ended.
There were a few things I especially loved:
• The focus on female friendships. I didn't only get to enjoy the friendship that formed between the four main characters, but also was treated to the lifelong friendship their mother's shared. And, it didn't stop there. Allen included some examples of healthy and unhealthy friendships, too, which I always love seeing in juxtaposition.
• The relationship between the twins, Scarlett and Skyler, was far from perfect. Each held some misconceptions about the other, but even as they harbored some ill will for the other, they still took care of one another. There were some really lovely and tender moments shared between them, which warmed my heart, and reminded me of how special a sister's love could be.
• So. Much. Growth. I mentioned it before, but it wasn't only the younger generation that was growing and changing. Allen had the mother's evolving a bit too, and there was one storyline in particular that I really loved.
Overall: It started as the summer of impossibilities, but turned into a summer of friendship, change, and endless possibilities.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS
November 30, 2023
I loved the parts of this book where they were having girlhood moments but there was some things that I was uncomfortable reading and some parts of the book that was boring
July 13, 2021
I truly loved this book, it was perfect to read by the pool (wishing I was at a lake house, reading on the dock). I did feel old because I really wanted to read about the mothers - eep!
September 23, 2020
I absolutely adored this book about friendship, family, and so many different types of love. I found myself irrationally disliking one of the teenage girls at the beginning... until I realized it was because her inner monologue reminded me of my own when I was that age. Reading more about her and leaning in to her story line instead of just cringing helped me learn to be a bit more gentle with my younger self. Who knew this book would basically be like a therapy session?!
August 10, 2022
i wasted my time and money on this book!! my stubborn behind couldn't not finish it!! but it's image of how christian's look at people practicing a homosexual lifestyle is so wrong!!! the church should never ban people practicing that lifestyle from the church or shun them. Jesus still loves them and cares for them. But there perception of Christianity on this book was horrible wrong.
July 25, 2020
Can I give this 7 stars?
January 24, 2025
Im on my laptop right now so im about to ramble and ill just say im very sorry for the spelling mistakes im not going to reread and edit my review.
I have had this book for quite a bit, i think i bought it just after it came out, so around 2020. I have always tried finishing this book but i never could. Especially the beginning, it feels very fanfic-y without you already knowing the characters (yk, the reason fanfic is written). Also, the swtiching of POVs is very nonsensical, which was also a plus for this book, honestly. You knew what all the characters were thinking at a certain time, even though this was mostly for comedic purposes. All these things considered, i found that this book was not amazing by any means, but just a very nice and easy read, something i just needed on a boring friday evening.
Anyway, i have to say that there are a few triggering topics in this book. I would not recommend reading this book if the topics in the book trigger you (for which i am pretty sure there are trigger warnings online). Because i know my own triggers but tend to ignore them, i would say that i found this book pretty graphic in some aspects. Not as much as books like 'Girl in Pieces', which is an absolute horrible read for me, but still hard to get through at times. That said, i feel like the topics are handeled pretty well, except for one aspect that i will elaborate on further in a bit. So, always listen to yourself, make sure your mental health is ok and only read this if you feel you will not be triggered by the book.
Since this book has four main characters, and also four main povs, a lot is happening. And i mean, a LOT. I feel like you could split this one book into four, albeit smaller, books. Because of this, everything felt really fast spaced and quick (and not in a good way). There was a lot happening, but the span of time it was happening in was long enough that it felt credible for me for the plot to unfold the way it did (building friendships and relationships), something some other books struggle with. That said, because there are 4 main characters, TOO MUCH was happening at the same time, and all from other perspectives. You kind of got bombarded with the lives of four completely different people. On the other hand, none of the parts in the book were boring.
Basically; This book will not move mountains, but it also does not want to make me drown myself.
I have had this book for quite a bit, i think i bought it just after it came out, so around 2020. I have always tried finishing this book but i never could. Especially the beginning, it feels very fanfic-y without you already knowing the characters (yk, the reason fanfic is written). Also, the swtiching of POVs is very nonsensical, which was also a plus for this book, honestly. You knew what all the characters were thinking at a certain time, even though this was mostly for comedic purposes. All these things considered, i found that this book was not amazing by any means, but just a very nice and easy read, something i just needed on a boring friday evening.
Anyway, i have to say that there are a few triggering topics in this book. I would not recommend reading this book if the topics in the book trigger you (for which i am pretty sure there are trigger warnings online). Because i know my own triggers but tend to ignore them, i would say that i found this book pretty graphic in some aspects. Not as much as books like 'Girl in Pieces', which is an absolute horrible read for me, but still hard to get through at times. That said, i feel like the topics are handeled pretty well, except for one aspect that i will elaborate on further in a bit. So, always listen to yourself, make sure your mental health is ok and only read this if you feel you will not be triggered by the book.
Since this book has four main characters, and also four main povs, a lot is happening. And i mean, a LOT. I feel like you could split this one book into four, albeit smaller, books. Because of this, everything felt really fast spaced and quick (and not in a good way). There was a lot happening, but the span of time it was happening in was long enough that it felt credible for me for the plot to unfold the way it did (building friendships and relationships), something some other books struggle with. That said, because there are 4 main characters, TOO MUCH was happening at the same time, and all from other perspectives. You kind of got bombarded with the lives of four completely different people. On the other hand, none of the parts in the book were boring.
Basically; This book will not move mountains, but it also does not want to make me drown myself.
July 11, 2021
tw self-harm, eating disorders, infidelity, homophobia, religion
the writing style is just not for me, but i powered through because i thought the plot would be cute. and it was, don't get me wrong. i just didn't expect it to also be so hard-hitting, which is a very good thing to me, although it surprised me a bit. but for the most part, it ended up being just okay, resolution and all.
take away the emotional aspects and it was kind of boring. the writing style, while funny on average, tends to be a little ~ quirky ~ at times (like a 2010 tumblr cool girl), and some of the girls can be super annoying too.
also, the whole sapphic plot seemed like it came out of nowhere and was forced into the story just for the hell of it. like, girl A didn't even seem like she knew about girl B's feelings even though the beginning implied that, or didn't even feel the same way until the very end.
would i still recommend it? yes, especially if you're looking for a coming-of-age story about friendship. there's a lot to be learned, actually — mostly from the moms. their friendship was totally solid.
the writing style is just not for me, but i powered through because i thought the plot would be cute. and it was, don't get me wrong. i just didn't expect it to also be so hard-hitting, which is a very good thing to me, although it surprised me a bit. but for the most part, it ended up being just okay, resolution and all.
take away the emotional aspects and it was kind of boring. the writing style, while funny on average, tends to be a little ~ quirky ~ at times (like a 2010 tumblr cool girl), and some of the girls can be super annoying too.
also, the whole sapphic plot seemed like it came out of nowhere and was forced into the story just for the hell of it. like, girl A didn't even seem like she knew about girl B's feelings even though the beginning implied that, or didn't even feel the same way until the very end.
would i still recommend it? yes, especially if you're looking for a coming-of-age story about friendship. there's a lot to be learned, actually — mostly from the moms. their friendship was totally solid.
May 16, 2024
This book transports me back to the last month or two of school and feeling the weather warm up and anticipating the summer ahead. It brings me back to that hopeful feeling of knowing there are endless opportunities for fun and freedom. It's the perfect book to capture all those joys of youth.
Each character was so unique (although at the beginning, they very much feel like their characteristics more than people). My favorite was Ellie, but each one had such good storylines that I was so excited to get to each of their narration sections. The book as a whole deals with such serious topics such as divorce, injuries, friendship, eating disorders, sexuality, and self-harm (just to name a few), and does it in such a way that the author isn't tiptoeing around the topics. It feels real like real people are dealing with these issues.
If you're a middle or high schooler who is craving some sun but are stuck in a classroom or you're wanting to go back to that youthful joy of dreaming of summer break, pick this book up!
Each character was so unique (although at the beginning, they very much feel like their characteristics more than people). My favorite was Ellie, but each one had such good storylines that I was so excited to get to each of their narration sections. The book as a whole deals with such serious topics such as divorce, injuries, friendship, eating disorders, sexuality, and self-harm (just to name a few), and does it in such a way that the author isn't tiptoeing around the topics. It feels real like real people are dealing with these issues.
If you're a middle or high schooler who is craving some sun but are stuck in a classroom or you're wanting to go back to that youthful joy of dreaming of summer break, pick this book up!
August 28, 2020
When Skyler and Scarlett’s parents’ marriage falls apart, their mother takes them to their lake house where they will be spending the summer with their “aunts” (their mom’s bffs) and their daughters.
There’s so much to love about this novel: found family, sisterhood, queer rep, an Indian & Muslim MC and so much more. It’s an engaging read, told from the perspective of all four teens, and one I didn’t want to put down. But I found the girls (apart from Skyler) really hard to relate to. And the narrative kind of came apart in the end for me (I can’t really say why without spoilers).
A solid 3.5 which I’m rounding up for just being a female centric novel with a fairly diverse set of characters.
Also, this book makes me officially old, as Skyler and Scarlett’s mom rages to 90’s Alanis. Like, I know I’m technically old enough to have teenagers, but I don’t expect to be confronted about that fact when I’m reading a novel. I guess that’s what I get for reading YA at my age. LOL
There’s so much to love about this novel: found family, sisterhood, queer rep, an Indian & Muslim MC and so much more. It’s an engaging read, told from the perspective of all four teens, and one I didn’t want to put down. But I found the girls (apart from Skyler) really hard to relate to. And the narrative kind of came apart in the end for me (I can’t really say why without spoilers).
A solid 3.5 which I’m rounding up for just being a female centric novel with a fairly diverse set of characters.
Also, this book makes me officially old, as Skyler and Scarlett’s mom rages to 90’s Alanis. Like, I know I’m technically old enough to have teenagers, but I don’t expect to be confronted about that fact when I’m reading a novel. I guess that’s what I get for reading YA at my age. LOL
January 16, 2025
Omg! When I say the was one of the best book I have read I mean! I just finished the book like 2 secs ago and I love the way the author wrote it where each girl got a pov
I LOVE BOOKS LIKE THAT!!!! This book definitely excited for the summer! My fav character was probably Ellie and Amelia grace, I relate to them the most! I would definitely recommend for a quick read or a leisure read. It is 400 pages but definitely worth it! I also love how it was sugar coated with all of the girl problems! Yeah so I would rate this book like 6 stars if I could! Also Scarlett is so real! Ok byeeeee
I LOVE BOOKS LIKE THAT!!!! This book definitely excited for the summer! My fav character was probably Ellie and Amelia grace, I relate to them the most! I would definitely recommend for a quick read or a leisure read. It is 400 pages but definitely worth it! I also love how it was sugar coated with all of the girl problems! Yeah so I would rate this book like 6 stars if I could! Also Scarlett is so real! Ok byeeeee
Read
August 27, 2020DNF at 49%
I REALLY wanted to like this book but every time I picked it up, I struggled to tell the characters apart. The narration style between the four girls wasn’t nuanced. As someone whom writes strictly in multiple first person POV, this frustrated me to no end.
I REALLY wanted to like this book but every time I picked it up, I struggled to tell the characters apart. The narration style between the four girls wasn’t nuanced. As someone whom writes strictly in multiple first person POV, this frustrated me to no end.
August 14, 2022
5/5
omg this was so good. i loved how the author made everything feel so real and the way she dealt with all the issues in this book. this isnt usually a type of book id read but im so glad i did. 100% would recommend :))
omg this was so good. i loved how the author made everything feel so real and the way she dealt with all the issues in this book. this isnt usually a type of book id read but im so glad i did. 100% would recommend :))
June 30, 2020
Super cute, fun read perfect for a lazy summer weekend. I had a hard time separating the voices of the four girls, but I loved how friendship was the center focus and enjoyed their company.
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