A Pretty Implausible Premise

by Karen Rivers

An unforgettable story of loss and love for fans of Jandy Nelson and Nina LaCour.

When Hattie and Presley meet, it’s basically love at first sight. Head-spinning, can’t-stop-thinking-about-each-other feelings. Their instant connection seems, at first, implausible. It starts to seem impossible when they realize everything they have in common: both are grieving, living in worlds haunted by ghosts; both have a difficult relationship with one of their parents; and both were forced to give up on their Olympic dreams. Hattie and Presley find comfort in each other, but like the wildfires that surround their California town, the trauma that haunts their pasts can’t be held off for long. Can they help each other move through it without breaking apart?

A Pretty Implausible Premise is an immersive, romantic novel about grief, forgiveness, and the power of first love. 

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Audiobook, Grief, Fiction

384 pages, Hardcover

Published September 26, 2023

About the author

Karen Rivers is too thrown by the "Date of Death" drop down that has appeared below her name in the editing section of this page to actually write anything about her life. When she recovers, this box will be filled with imperative biographical information and may include SECRETS and probably also a few LIES. Now she is going to sit back and anxiously track that "Date of Death" box in case a date suddenly appears, foretelling her imminent doom.

Reviews

[ੈ✩‧₊˚ faithreads *ೃ༄ (inactive) · Rating 2 out of 5]

just gonna be honest, this book is all over the place😭 it's very unreliable narrators, multiple plotpoints, love/hate, lots of characters, sooo much action. it's just too much in one book!! going in, the blurb says it's basically about two teens with mental health issues coming together and healing from them. it...kinda was that...ig. I never felt like the mental health was "healed," it just became less of a plot point. in this book, nothing was really resolved, it just kinda got swept under the rug by the next big plot twist. we had issues with Hattie's mom, the whole book obsession thing (still confused), Presley as a whole, all the side best friends, her dad situation, seeing ghosts, road trip, fires, and i could go on!! if the author would have focused on like two of the things I just listed, this could have been so much better!! it also was very confusing. both of the main characters were unreliable (on purpose i think) so it was really hard to kinda follow. and like I said, there was soooo many new plot twists that I just couldn't keep track!! so for the positive, I thought the road trip was so much fun!! the taylor swift references are always amazing!! but I did feel like they were added on bc the author kinda just put them in at the end. i loved the relationship between Hattie and her dad, and the friends were fun!! overall, I prob wouldn't recommend reading this book.

Pages: 384
Language: 🤭🤭🤭
TW⚠️: Parental abandonment, mental health issues, medical issues, grief/loss, drinking/alcohal use
Genre: YA contemporary
Format I read: Hardback
Would I recommend to others: prob not...

[Dario Pacheco · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d like to thank the folks at NetGalley for gifting a copy of this book. My review is a honest reflection of my feelings towards this book.
This book for sure was a deep exploration of grief, young romance, ghosts of the past, teenage years and forgiveness.
I for sure felt a connection with this book. Exploring such deep topics of grief and this years that shape us into the adults we are today.
I wouldn’t say this book was meant for my age group but a lot of these themes are universal in away.
Seeing Hattie and Presley navigates these difficult situations while growing up was a solid story.
I would give this book about 3.5 ⭐️
Maybe rounded down for 3. Cause I felt my mind drifting at times. Like I said, maybe the age group difference.
I would recommend it to a younger audiences. Young adults to new adults maybe.

[Kalena ୨୧ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5 stars, felt like it just wasn’t for me

Thank you to Algonquin Young Readers & Hatchette Book Group for a finished copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was pitched to me as a sweet romance with Taylor Swift vibes, and as a T-Swift fan, I thought that I should jump on the chance to read a romance like that. Unfortunately, from the get-go, this book just was not entertaining and there was a lot that I had issues with across the entire story. Even without those problems, this story just isn't something that I feel I could connect with on a personal level, which felt so strange to me as this was about mental health and I love reading about people's experiences with that as a psychology student.

One thing that I did enjoy was seeing how Hattie, the main character, tasted things when she said certain words. I can't quite remember what this condition is called, but it was super interesting and I've always been fascinated with that condition and how it works with the brain. There was also a happy ending to this book, so I'm glad that something like that ended up happening for the characters even if I do not feel it was realistic. I don't look back on this book with disgust or hate but with disappointment so that's why it's still rated two stars and not one. It's not something that I recommend, though I do think some people could really enjoy it.

There was a lot that I had an issue with in regards to the depiction of mental health, especially in how it was "resolved" like a plot point in the story. First of all, I did not feel like there was a clear enough line drawn between whether the main characters were seeing ghosts from their past haunting them, or if it was something like hallucinations from their PTSD or something like schizophrenia. I understand there was supposed to be a little ambiguity because the main characters didn't really know a lot of what was happening themselves. However, this could create a stigma or hesitation for people who could read this and be experiencing these symptoms around going to get it diagnosed or talk to someone else. This plot linked with it creates a normalization that can be harmful for people who may need to get help.

Alongside that, instead of leaving the story feeling as though "ah, the main characters will keep healing together once the story is over" I got the feeling that all mental health concerns were resolved by the end of the book. At least the major ones. That's definitely not how it works, does everyone need to go to therapy for everything? No, but when someone has PTSD and even depression, that really doesn't resolve by itself or so quickly. And it especially doesn't resolve by JUST meeting someone who has the same thing and falling in love. Of course, finding someone ith a similar condition and loving and growing with them can help, but it doesn't erase everything instantaneously. Once again, this book could be normalizing potentially dangerous situations for people. It may seem like I'm being too critical but as a psychology major, these things always bother me.

Finally, I really just didn't feel the romantic connection between the characters. It was very, first-glance and they're in love which I can get behind sometimes, but this one was just a little too much for me. Even as the story went on I didn't really understand why the main characters liked each other so much and felt in love. So that really disconnected me from the story.

[TW: sexual activity mentioned, parental abandonment, mental health disorders, death of a child, drowning, hallucinations, death of a sibling, car crash, seizures, underage alcohol use, shark attack, fire]

[Alison P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, ghosts, trauma, pain, healing, and more love. Oh, and just enough Taylor Swift. I will absolutely read this book again. It was painfully true, and beautiful and hopeful. It leaves you satisfied, and almost feeling empty. A truly different story that you will love. It tackles childhood trauma in a very honest way. Karen Rivers is incredibly talented.

[Danita · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the surface this looks like just a YA romance, but it really takes an emotional journey through guilt, loss, and forgiveness. Both of the main characters are going through their own versions of this. Hattie's mom left when she was just a child, and now she has given up on competitive swimming after a little boy drowned during her lifeguard watch. Presley's twin brother was killed in a car accident that left him with injuries that ended his figure skating career and put their father in prison. There's also parallels between Hattie and Presley's stories and a book that Hattie is obsessed with, which we are able to read excerpts of throughout the book - a story within the story. I really liked both of the main characters. I think they felt realistic and relatable.

The book did feel a bit slow, especially at the beginning. About the first 3rd of the book is just the first day of school, and while it was setting up the backstories and framework, I could see some readers losing interest in this part. The ending of the book is much faster paced. For me personally, the book kept my attention, and I was able to read almost the entire book in a day. The romance wasn't quite as "insta-love" as the description made it sound, which I was actually glad about.

I received a free copy of A Pretty Implausible Premise through the Amazon Vine program, but all opinions in my review are uninfluenced and my own.

[Jazelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

🦇 Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

❝ “I think ghosts exist because we’re not ready to stop loving the people who died, and that kind of love doesn’t have a form to take, so it takes the shape of the person who was lost.” ❞

⚠️ Content Warnings: Abandonment, Car Accident, Child Death/Death, Chronic Illness, Grief

❓ #QOTD What memory do you associate with your favorite taste? ❓

🦇 Hattie and Presley are both haunted by ghosts. For Hattie, it's the young swimmer she couldn't save from drowning. For Presley, it's his twin brother; the one everyone seemed to love more. Between sharing grief, ghosts, and lost Olympic dreams, Hattie and Presley have more in common than they realize, leading to an instant connection that almost seems as implausible as love. When the ghosts of their pasts become too much, can they work through their trauma together, or will it tear them apart?

💜 Karen Rivers does a stunning job of slipping us into the minds of two grieving, traumatized teens who have turned those traumas into their form of normalcy. This is a story that, months into the future, I know will linger in my mind the way many books about grief do. Despite the heavy themes, however, the book is never really emotional in a way that causes us to grieve alongside the MCs. The lyrical, head-spinning prose forces readers to feel the weight of what Hattie and Presley feel, but many of these moments are fragmented. The story covers beautiful lessons like healing and forgiveness; feelings that are as messy as our MCs' minds.

🦇 Unfortunately, it's not until 45% of the way into this book that Hattie and Presley have any real interaction with one another. The book focuses on their individual traumas long before we see how their ghosts bring them together. Unfortunately, there's no real action in this book until readers are halfway through. The writer also relies on a long-winded, run-on sentence structure that, while reflective of how thoughts spiral in our heads, can become dizzying to read on the page. I've bit my tongue about this for a VERY long time, but I'm done. Too many books I've read, especially in the past year, rely on Taylor Swift references to get you to love the MC. Try anything else to make an MC relatable (because for many of us, it's not). Literally, anything else. There is so much to love about Hattie and Presley (who are beautifully weird in their own ways), that gets lost to thought spirals and references. There are also segments from the book Hattie is obsessed with (reading it helps ease her anxiety), that show us Hattie is living more in the book than she is in her own life. Those segments don't really add to the story until the end, though, and therefore steal too much space on the page. As a result, a lot of the character development felt rushed and unnatural.

🦇 Recommended for Fans of I'll Give You the Sun or The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson (which still weigh heavy on my heart), The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R Pan, or All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven.

✨ The Vibes ✨
🐋 Lots of Taylor Swift References
🦈 Unique, Winding Prose
⛸️ Young Adult Romance
🔥 Processing Grief/Trauma
📚 Book Within a Book

🦇 Major thanks to the author @karenrivers and publisher @algonquinyr for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #APrettyImplausiblePremise

[Cece · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Pretty Implausible Premise
A Pretty Implausible Premise is a story about two young people who have gone through traumatic experienced. When I picked up A Pretty Implausible Premise I thought this was going to be a heavy and emotional read. Where two teenagers are dealing with an unbearable grief, absent parents, and haunted by the ghosts of their loss.

But as the chapters unfolded the book began to veer in a completely different direction. Let me give some context. The author chose to write a book within a book. Instead of flushing out the emotional turmoil the two main characters were experiencing, Rivers’ focused more on Hattie’s favorite book. There are literal chapters written in A Pretty Implausible Premise from Hattie’s favorite book and I kept thinking every time we stepped out of Hattie’s reality, why am I reading pages of another book within this book?

It was jarring when Hattie what equated to a panic attack and she stopped everything to find someplace she could go to read a chapter from the book. I understand that characters in books escape into the chapters of the books they love, but you’re usually not thrown out so frequently.

Although the book within a book didn’t work for me, and I had mixed feelings with the execution of the last quarter of the book, I was rooting for Hattie and Presley to find inner peace and a way to cope with their grief until the end.

Happy Reading ~ Cece

Visit my blog to grab a copy and chat with me if you're planning on reading this one.

Thank you to Algonquin Young Readers Publishing for the advance copy for review.

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[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hattie has a lot on her plate. After her mom left, she feels like she's just holding out for her to return, but she and her dad rely on Taylor Swift to make it through each day. They bond over her music and it helps keep a smile on their faces. After a mistake, Hattie keeps seeing the ghost of a boy she couldn't save from drowning and has started to suffer from panic attacks. Feeling so unstable, she doesn't know how to deal but soon discovers she isn't the only one suffering from a loss.

Enter the new kid: Presley. He has his own trauma from the death of his brother. Everywhere he turns, Presley sees the ghost of his brother and even hears him speaking. A new school doesn't help, but then he meets Hattie. He recognizes that she has a ghost too and wants her to know she isn't alone. However, it's hard to help someone else when your own emotions are a complete mess. He barely knows how to talk to people without babbling incoherently, but can the two teens bond over their trauma or is it all too much?

A PRETTY IMPLAUSIBLE PREMISE is a young adult contemporary romance that's main focus is grief and loss. Honestly, this was a slow book and the two main characters don't really connect until almost halfway through. With that being said, it's worth sticking through to get to the beautiful ending. The plot is wrapped in sadness and deals with sensitive topics like death and being haunted by ghosts of memories. Moving on and continuing life is the most difficult when we suffer from a loss and the author dives into these emotions that we all will face at some point. The reader also gets a book within a book because Hattie relies on THE SHARK CLUB to get through her day.


Final Verdict: Overall, this was an interesting read because I've recently lost someone close to me and I could feel both of their pain. I would recommend this to fans of stories with emotional trauma, death, and romance. It teaches readers ways to push through the grief instead of trying to ignore it.

[Carolina Colleene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Language: R (126 swears, 39 “f” + British swears); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
Hattie (17yo) and Presley (18yo) are living tragedies: separated parents, lost Olympic dreams, and dealing with grief over deaths close to them. Do two tragedies equal a happily ever after or a bigger disaster?
Rivers translated Hattie and Presley onto the page very well, which has its pros and cons. Readers have the opportunity to know and connect with the characters on a deep level, but the characters’ thoughts and emotions became discombobulating—which made sense for the characters but made for a difficult reading experience. Furthermore, Rivers is honest in the title, and I felt how implausible the story was being set up to be and lost interest. Until the end. The ending came together beautifully, and the more I think about it the more I like it.
Hattie is implied White, Presley is Scottish-Canadian, and Calliope is implied Black. The mature content rating is for underage drinking, partial nudity, innuendo, and mentions of genitalia, condoms, and sex. The violence rating is for mentions of suicide.
Reviewed for https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/

[Anna G · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Stars

Description: Is love a possible premise when you feel completely lost? Hattie and Presley are both handling a lot of life at one. Hattie can taste words, has an absent mother, can not longer swim due to trauma, and doesn't believe in love. Presley lost his twin, moved continents, and isn't sure what he can do anymore now that he can't skate after a traumatic accident. These two somehow intersect and begin to build something neither of them expected, but can it survive everything they are holding onto?

The good:
- I loved Hattie's and Presley's character arcs.
- The side characters were perfect compliments to the main characters
- The exploration of grief and handling trauma was handled very well.
- The book within a book was definitely a cool concept!

The loss of a star:
- The Taylor Swift references were a bit forced for me (especially as a certified swiftie)
- Timing was just not very clear to me? I was very confused and all over the place a lot of the time.

Overall: If you're looking for a coming of age, heavier romance, this is your book! Definitely check the content warnings.

[Taylor Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m still processing this book but I wanted to write my thoughts out while they were still fresh.

I was drawn in by the idea of the book, the book jacket, and the vibes it put off! I think upon reading it, it dived a bit deeper than I was expecting. This book definitely focuses more on each character’s journey than their romance, in my opinion, which is totally okay! I would say that the pacing of the book does feel a bit off. The beginning is very slow and then the last third of the book seems to take off very fast. I didn’t crazily fall in love with this book but I don’t regret reading it.


I enjoyed the Taylor Swift references, seeing their healing journeys and seeing them walk free on the other side.

I would advise caution with reading this book if you could possibly be triggered by grief journeys, parent abandonment, child death, or drowning.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story took me a second to get into, but when I did I fell pretty hard for it. Both Hattie and Presley have traumas in their past they need to work through, and both feel the impacts of these tragedies daily. When they meet, they seem to fall in love at first sight, which is not always my thing but I think the story does a good job of not making it feel as instant. I enjoyed some of the smaller plot twists in the story, as well as how the characters learned to deal with their griefs. The story is told with parts of another book in it, one that Hattie has become obsessed with since having a breakdown in the airport. I liked that both that story, and this one, taught how to deal with loss but also the forgiving oneself.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

To be quite frank, this book didn’t really catch my attention. I mean, it did. The description of the book and the premise seemed really interesting but the actual book didn’t really give what I was hoping it would. I’m honestly not quite sure what the point of the book was supposed to be. I liked the dual POV though. It kind of felt like it was an extremely slow build up and then it was very rushed at the end. Like, I was about halfway through the book I believe and the two main characters hadn’t even really had a full conversation with each other. I don’t know, I had hoped I would have enjoyed it more than I did.

[Dee G · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book took me 4 days to read because i kept having to stop every time i was annoyed. complete and utter bullshit.

why did the characters unironically say LOL in dialogue MULTIPLE times??

the timeline of the plot isn’t very clear but i’m pretty sure this all takes place in a week and a half which is crazy!

i felt no chemistry between the main characters and at times it actually felt like they were written to be the same character with the same personality.

lack luster for the forgiveness theme, seems like there was more focus on self guilt so there shouldve been self forgiveness, but then the forgiveness ends up being for other people??? weird.

not happy.

[Saibri ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I ever really got into this book. Maybe it was coming off a reading burnout or maybe it was the book itself, but in the end it just wasn't for me. I definitely didn't hate it by any means.

I did enjoy both sides of the story and their respective lives dealing with trauma. And I really like the addition of Hattie being able to taste words. Personally, I haven't read anything like that before and it was a fun little addition.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

[Laura Potts]

A Pretty Implausible Premise is a beautiful love story which deals with the trauma of grief and loss. Although this is a slow start I strongly recommend sticking with this as their are great twists and beautiful lessons to learn as the characters develop themselves and also fall in love. Overall I thought this was a wonderful story with uniquely fun characters and an interesting premise.

[Anna J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun quick read. Hattie and Prestley have a lot in common and instantly feel a connection. They share so much and help each other through the grieving process of loosing someone.

I thought it was interesting that Hattie could taste words. I enjoy that she loved reading and carried a book with her always and it brought her comfort just reading.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't vibe well with this book. While I thought the book-in-book concept was really cool and refreshing, the constant Taylor Swift references and the fact that the MCs didn't meet until almost 50% into the narrative pulled me out of the story and made a world that could have felt immersive feel disrupted.

__
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an e-arc of this title. This review contains my honest thoughts.

[Calia Scivally · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book through the summer but only got a little bit through before I had to put it down because it was just too much at the time. I decided to pick it back up and read it within days. Still hard to get through at points with the triggers, but it was a cute story about finding love in the hard places and learning to live in a new world.

[Lyndsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A YA whirlwind romance between Hattie and Presley, centered around shared grief, PTSD, haunting presence of ghosts, absent parents, and shattered aspirations of Olympic glory. Themes of synesthesia are introduced, adding an interesting layer to the story, which I enjoyed.

Sincere thanks to Algonquin Young Readers & Net Galley for an advanced reader copy, in exchange for an honest review.

[Marie Cataquet · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an emotional journey for the two main characters. They are both dealing with grief and they don't have the usual life experiences for typical teenagers. The feelings that they have are realistic. The beginning of the book started off slow because it was giving the backstory but it picks up and its worth the read

[Brittany Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a good story about Hattie & Presley and how they had a "implausible" connection with each other both having experienced grief and loss. They help each other grow as individuals and together to overcome their heartache.

[Nancy Mcclenathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this teen novel. Two teens, who have suffered tragedies and see ghosts, meet. As implausible as it seems they meet and find themselves instantly connected through their pasts.
Thank you Hatchette for this ARC.

[Aaryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet YA romance that deals with grief and loss. Recommended for ages 12+.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was both good and not good... I have complicated feelings. The characters were interesting but the growth felt unnatural.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compare something to Nicole yoons writing I'm going to expect everything everything and then be unfairly let down when I don't get it

[Priscila Vera Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great book! This shows how couples could go through anything if they learn to communicate. I would love to read more from you... if it's a sequel of this book it would be awesome.

[Shauna Yusko · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You are art. You are love.” This book is art and love and joyousness.

[Richele Guest · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. It is unique but nothing super memorable.