Impossible

Reader reviewed by Misty (Book Rat)

Lucy Scarborough has a fairly normal life for a 17 year old.  That is,
until she is attacked and finds herself pregnant and under a curse that
has plagued the women in her family for generations.  Now, Lucy has 9
months to figure out a way to perform 3 impossible tasks and break the
curse before her daughter is born and Lucy is taken by madness.  Lucy
must break the curse not just for herself, but to keep it from happening
to her own daughter, just as it did to her mother and all of the lonely
Scarborough women, and now to her.

But unlike her own mother, and their mothers before them, Lucy is not
alone; but will it be enough?

Based on the "Scarbarough Fair" ballad, Impossible is a retelling with a
disturbing twist.





  You may recall from a past Friday Face Off that I was excited for this
one because of this gorgeous winning cover.  And in some ways, it lived
up to my excitement, while at the same time, falling short in others. 
Werlin presents a very modern, disturbing slant on the age old ballad. 
She layers the book with enough realism and negativity (nothing is ever
falsely sugar-coated; Lucy is a realist, if nothing else) that I was
able to believe that things may not be wrapped up with the expected
"happily ever after."  I like having that doubt when I read a story,
because I like thinking that an author is going to do what's right for
the story and the characters they have created, and not cop out with an
easy, happy ending.  Because of this realistic streak and
clearheadedness from Lucy, the magical elements of the story, no matter
how far-fetched, seemed more balanced and true, which I definitely
liked.  Lucy felt real, and I cared about her and the plight of the
Scarborough women.



And I liked what Werlin did with the ballad.  In her afterword, Werlin
talks about how the book came about, saying she loved the Simon and
Garfunkel version as a kid, but as she got older and really listened to
the words (in which a man requests that a woman complete impossible
tasks to be his true love), she had an epiphany: he doesn't love her, he
hates her.  Faced with this new 'understanding' of the ballad,
Werlin set about fleshing out their story; clearly, there was once
something between them, but something soured it.  Her story of
Impossible grew from this seed.  This idea really struck me.  I liked
the idea that she was revisiting something and approaching it from a
fresh angle, and that whole "thin line between love and hate" element
was brilliant, I think, and a very adult take for a YA novel.  I really
liked this aspect.



Unfortunately, it was inconsistent.  Werlin's adult application to the
story wasn't carried throughout.  Sometimes the writing was very adult
and forward, and sometimes it was almost juvenile and a bit weak for
me.  The characters, too, were inconsistent.  The Elfin Knight (bad guy
of yore) was very villainous, for sure; at times he made my skin crawl,
which was great*.  But there are more fine lines than the one between
?/hate, and his villain-line was occasionally crossed into cheese
territory.  I wish she would have dialed it back just a bit at
the end.  And though Lucy felt fleshed out and real to me, the other
important characters felt occasionally cardboard.  Not always, by any
means, but I just found myself wishing for a little more from them.



Now, all this being said, I didn't dislike the story.  It didn't live up
to the excitement generated by its cover or the subject matter, or to
the really good threads I saw running through it -- but it wasn't a
failure, either, and I don't regret buying it.  I could tell it was well
researched and plotted out, but it just had a tendency, especially in
the beginning, to feel a little clunky and young.  In spite of this, I
found myself engaged, and I didn't ever not want** to read it; I found
myself thinking about Lucy and the tasks, and the story in general, and
that's a good sign. With a little more finesse, I think I'd give it an
enthusiastic recommend, but instead it's a reserved one.  If you like
fairytale retellings and stories that make you a little uncomfortable,
you'll like this one and will likely be able to overlook the issues; if
you don't, I'm just not sure...



*Yep.  Great skin-crawling.  But that means it was effective, so that's
a  + in my opinion.

**If that made any sense...

Originally posted:  http://bookrat-misty.blogspot.com/2010/04/impossible-by-nancy-werlin.html

Reader reviewed by Super Reader Girl





The
premise is something like Rumpelstiltskin. I enjoyed the story and the
writing. I love strong female protagonists and this story had one. I
laughed and cried along with her. I also loved her solid and loving
adopted parents and fiercely supportive friends.



What I learned:

Trust your gut

Don't shake hands with strange, beautiful men

Listen to your dog

If you find you have been cursed, it is best to tell your family :)

And best of all, true love is a pow...more
The
premise is something like Rumpelstiltskin. I enjoyed the story and the
writing. I love strong female protagonists and this story had one. I
laughed and cried along with her. I also loved her solid and loving
adopted parents and fiercely supportive friends.



What I learned:

Trust your gut

Don't shake hands with strange, beautiful men

Listen to your dog

If you find you have been cursed, it is best to tell your family :)

And best of all, true love is a powerful thing



While not graphic, there is a rape due
to Lucy's curse to become pregnant at 18. Not recommended for young
teens.

Reader reviewed by Hannah

Lucy Scarborough is 17 yrs. old when she was raped and impregnated. The women throughout the generations have been cursed. They must complete 3 tasks and if they fail, forever will they be the possesion of a charming elf. But Lucy is not alone she has her loving foster parents and Zac by her side. This book keeps you turning the pages wondering what will happen next. A book you should definetly read.

Reader reviewed by Suzanne

This novel had a ton of twists, turns, and surprises, and that made it all the better ! Lucy's mom abandoned her when she was young, and left her to her grandparents. Now she's all grown up, and going to prom. Right on time, comes her lifelong friend Zach comes along,and figures out that he's in love with her. While getting ready for prom, a man shows up at her house claiming to be her grandmother's new co-worker. Everyone is a little suspicious, but it claimed over by the excitement of prom. After prom, when her and her date are heading to an afterparty, her date takes her into a closet and rapes her. Now she is pregnant, and she doesnt know what to do. Then she finds her mom's old diary and gets wrapped up in what her mom was like before she went crazy. But then the man who claims to be her grandmother's co-worker keeps getting closer and closer, and one day catches Lucy by herself. He renew's the curse that has taken down all the women in her family for centuries. She has to follow a poem to try and break the curse. With help from her family and soulmate, she beats the curse and ends it forever. Based on the Scarbourough Fair poem, this story has it all !

Reader reviewed by msicce.

Impossible; awful.

It was predictable. From the very first page till the last I guessed every single event way ahead of time.

Although it was fantasy, it blew the lines of reality completely away. Zach became aware of his love for Lucy and a week later he proposed? It would have been so much better if maybe it had been steady increase of feelings instead of all at once.

This book was promising at first but the farther you go the more predictable, and the more rushed it gets. I give this book two thumbs down.

Reader reviewed by Sara

From book jacket: LUCY HAS ONLY NINE MONTHS IN WHICH TO BREAK AN ANCIENT CURSE. Lucy Scarborough is seventeen when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or to fall into madness upon their childs birth. How can Lucy succeed when all of her ancestors have tried and failed? But Lucy is the first girl who wont be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents beside her. And she has Zach, whose strength amazes her more each day. Do they have enough love and resolve to overcome an age-old evil?

Favorite characters, quotes/lines: Lucy: very brave, and though these things couldnt, or at least most likely wont, happen to me, I could still relate to her; Zach: amazing, amazing, amazing. There is nothing else to be said!

When I finished this book I felt: I really liked this book. I read it really quickly and was surprised when I finished it. It seem like it was only one hundred pages long instead of nearly 400& the story was totally engrossing.

Other books to read by this author: The Rules of Survival, Double Helix, Black Mirror, The Killers Cousin, Locked Inside

I would recommend this book to: Readers of retellings, this book was modeled around the ballad Scarborough Fair (The Elfin Knight)

Reader reviewed by Sara

Title: Impossible
Author: Nancy Werlin
Publisher: Penguin
Date published: 2008
Type of book: Young Adult (Curse, Teen Pregnancy, Teen Marriage, Impossible Tasks, True love)
Pages: 376
My interest in this book is: plot

Ideas expressed/message/plot: From book jacket: LUCY HAS ONLY NINE MONTHS IN WHICH TO BREAK AN ANCIENT CURSE. Lucy Scarborough is seventeen when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or to fall into madness upon their childs birth. How can Lucy succeed when all of her ancestors have tried and failed? But Lucy is the first girl who wont be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents beside her. And she has Zach, whose strength amazes her more each day. Do they have enough love and resolve to overcome an age-old evil?

Favorite characters, quotes/lines: Lucy: very brave, and though these things couldnt, or at least most likely wont, happen to me, I could still relate to her; Zach: amazing, amazing, amazing. There is nothing else to be said!

When I finished this book I felt: I really liked this book. I read it really quickly and was surprised when I finished it. It seem like it was only one hundred pages long instead of nearly 400& the story was totally engrossing

Other books to read by this author: The Rules of Survival, Double Helix, Black Mirror, The Killers Cousin, Locked Inside

I would recommend this book to: Readers of retellings, this book was modeled around the ballad Scarborough Fair (The Elfin Knight)

Reader reviewed by Lauren

Impossible is an enjoyable young adult book written by Nancy Werlin. Anyone who loves fiction, fantasy, or romance would find it enjoyable.

Lucy Scarborough lives with her foster parents because her biological mother is mentally insane. She goes through a pretty normal life, until she turns seventeen and she goes to prom. The night before she goes to the prom with a friend of hers who she kind of knows, her real mother attacks her date's car and everyone saying good-byes to Lucy with glass bottles. Lucy still goes to prom, but gets raped. She swears that when her date did it, he was possessed or something.

Lucy soon finds out that this is all too coincidental. Her family has a curse. If the girl cannot solve three impossible tasks listed in a version of the song "Scarborough Fair" before the birth of her daughter, she will go insane like her ancestors. Scared, but determined, Lucy decides to fight back and solve these tasks. Loyally, her adopted parents and her friend, Jake, stand by her side, helping as often as possible to help make a shirt without sewing or needlework, find a land between the sea and the sea line, and plow the land with a bullhorn and plant a field with one grain.

During these fantasy tasks, there are also real-life problems Lucy faces, all to do with responsibility and growing up. She starts to have to make choices for her future, including getting married and doing what's best for her daughter.

This balance of realistic fiction and fantasy makes the book enjoyable to a wider audience of readers. This book was fantastic, and is one of those must-read books. Amazing!

Reader reviewed by wdebo

(The summary is from my book blog): Lucy Scarbrough is a seventeen year old, with the most supportive foster parents, Leo and Soledad, and a super sweet next-door-neighbor-slash-best-friend-who-might-be-in-love-with-her, Zach. Just one thing to ruin this perfect picture life, her crazy mother, Miranda. Lucy wants nothing to do with Miranda and just wants to live her life in peace, but when a new worker comes to work for Soledad, something just doesn't seem right. Then she finds out about a curse that haunts all the women in her family. They have to solve three impossible tasks before their first child is born, or else they turn crazy. When Lucy gets raped by her prom date, who later kills himself, after a couple of weeks she finds out she's pregnent. With that, she finds out that her crazy end is coming, whether she likes it our not.

Review: I loved this book it was amazing, though I did think the beginning was a bit boring and kind of hard to get into then after a while, the story got really good and it followed along well and at the end you just found yourself cheering for Lucy. I wish everyone can read this book, because it is a very memorable read indeed...a very memorable read, perfect teens!

Reader reviewed by Yan

I fairly enjoyed the book. However, it is definitely not suitable for Grades 6 and up since it talked of rape.

Lucy has just approximately 9 months to break her family curse or else her daughter will have the same fate as the previous women in the family. To break the curse, Lucy must complete 3 impossible task and free her family from the clutches of the Elfin Knight.

I loved how the book was inspired by the lyrics of the song, "Scarborough Fair." However I would have liked the ...more I fairly enjoyed the book. However, it is definitely not suitable for Grades 6 and up since it talked of rape.

Lucy has just approximately 9 months to break her family curse or else her daughter will have the same fate as the previous women in the family. To break the curse, Lucy must complete 3 impossible task and free her family from the clutches of the Elfin Knight.

I loved how the book was inspired by the lyrics of the song, "Scarborough Fair." However I would have liked the relationship between Zach and Lucy be further developed. It was somewhat unbelievable seeing as how they got married early in the novel, even though they are childhood friends. The book also got a little predictable toward the end and the birth of Lucy's daughter, Dawn, was completely unrealistic.

Lucy was rather non-complex compared to some other minor characters. I feel as though her mother, Miranda, was rather interesting to read as well as Zach.

I think it would have been better if the novel was targeted to an older audience to make things more believable. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend this book to those interested in an fantasy book with a bit of adventure