Cora Lee is a woman with two hearts. Literally, two hearts. New York City, in the mid 1800's, was a city on the verge. Buildings are popping up over night, society was full of wealthy families and the poorest of the poor. Cora Lee lives below 14th Street and works as the only female resurrectionist. She has created a niche for herself, procuring bodies afflicted with the strangest of anomalies. Schools and anatomists will pay exorbitant sums for such specimens—dissecting and displaying them for the eager public.

Suddenly, Cora's marks are dying strangely. Additionally a new museum of oddities has opened, with an owner who wants the strangest of the strange. A fish-girl, giant men, tiny women....and most of all, he wants the Girl with the Two Hearts.

The Impossible Girl is a thriller wrapped into historical fiction. There's romance, there's murder, there's mystery and betrayal. Lydia Kang has written a story full of adventure and gives a heart to one of the darker parts of medicine's origins.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I loved this book!

It's been awhile since I've come across a book that really grabs me, but this was one of those "stay up til 3am to finish it" kind of books.

Set in New York at the turn of the century, Cora is born with a medical anomaly that could leave her open to her body being used for examination if she fell into the wrong hands. To get around this, her family raise her as a boy, Jacob.

As an adult, Cora appears as either Cora or Jacob as need dictates and to everyone around her, the two are twin siblings rather than the same person. Working as a ressurectionist (read: grave robber), Cora makes a living selling cadavers to universities and anatomy museums.

This book was unique, and quirky and something quite special. I loved the little glimpses into the medical world of the early 20th century, including appearances from real life characters. The author is a doctor by profession, and her knowledge and expertise comes across in the pages.

This is a smart book, and a fun read. I look forward to reading more from Lydia Kang!

Cora Lee is a female resurrectionist (grave robber) in 1850's New York City. Cora was raised by her aunt and their maid as a boy until she is a teen to squash rumors about a girl who was born with two hearts. Cora takes up her profession to keep and eye on those who may be searching for her for her special anatomy. When people with extraordinary physical anomalies start dying prematurely, Cora becomes the next target.

This novel has a bit of everything: morbidity, murder, mystery, romance, and twists. Cora is an intriguing heroine, made more interesting by her double life as her twin brother, Jacob, as she navigates through society as a woman of some social standing and a ruffian who mixes with lower society.

I greatly enjoyed this novel, but there were two things that did not go over well with me. First, each time someone dies, there is a short chapter from the deceased point of view. It was weird and did not assist in the plot. The other was how SLOW the middle went. I had to push through from 40% to 60% and then the story picked up again.

Even with the the slow bits and the off-plot point of views, I would recommend this read. Thanks, Netgalley, for the chance to read this book.

In the end, Cora Lee isn’t quite impossible – merely highly improbable. But those improbabilities lead her to a fascinating and dangerous life on the margins of mid-19th century New York City in a way that makes for marvelous fiction – especially because it’s the most improbable aspects of her life that are based in fact.

There really were resurrectionists, not merely in New York City, but certainly in other places where the supply of corpses for anatomical study was insufficient to the needs of doctors, surgeons and their trainees to learn as much as possible about the ins and outs (so to speak) of the human anatomy before going into practice on living bodies.

While the practice of haunting graveyards and digging up recent corpses seems unsavory at best and disgusting at worst, it was necessary – if a bit ghoulish. As distasteful as the concept of digging up bodies for medical study may seem, the idea that all those would-be doctors and surgeons learn anatomy from dead bodies before they start cutting up live ones seems prudent, at least in retrospect.

And for anyone who thinks the practice of opening up the gallery to the general public seems prurient at best and obscene at worst, we still have plenty of examples of more sanitary versions of the same practice, such as the Bodies exhibition currently touring the world. (it’s here in Atlanta at the moment and no, we have not attended and have no interest in doing so.)

Making arrangements for the bodies to become corpses in an untimely fashion, however, is still murder. And that’s where this story gets its mystery from. Resurrectionist Cora Lee just keeps a watch on people who will make interesting (and lucrative) corpses. Someday they will naturally come into her hands, so to speak. Well, at least they’ll die of natural causes. The process by which Cora obtains their fresh corpse is fairly unnatural, not to mention downright criminal.

But someone is anticipating nature and killing the people on Cora’s list. And she fears she’s next.

Cora’s body should prove just as unusual a specimen as any of the recent victims, because Cora has two hearts. Doctors have been interested in “ottomizing” her since the day of her birth. That someone might want to hasten her death in order to open her chest is a fear that she and her family have lived with since the day she was born.

It’s ironic that her business as a resurrectionist gives her a finger on the pulse (so to speak) of any trade in unusual specimens in New York City. It should give her some warning if someone starts looking for her.

But she never expects that her greatest danger lies so close to home – or that her biggest rival may be the instrument of her deliverance.

Escape Rating B+: The story of The Impossible Girl is fascinating and creepy in equal measure. The tone at times feels almost like one of the “penny dreadfuls” so popular at the time, or like that of one of the Gothic mysteries that became so popular.

The character of Cora is one of duality, and not merely as a result of her two hearts. Cora also lives two lives, by day the consummate “lady”, and by night the hard-bitten resurrectionist. In order to maintain that separate between her daily life and her business life she also has two faces. By day she is Cora, and by night she is Cora’s twin brother Jacob. While Cora is a lady, Jacob is no gentleman, being rough, a bit brutish, and ruling their gang with an iron fist while Cora holds the velvet glove.

Jacob is both Cora’s disguise and her protection – as well as her instrument of freedom. As a man, Jacob has the ability to go wherever he wants, do whatever he wants, see whatever he needs to see and punch out whoever needs to be punched.

Even without the need to conceal her anatomical aberrance, Cora, as a female in mid-19th century New York City, is never, ever free. She is constantly hedged around by the restrictions placed on women in her society, restrictions that Jacob allows her to escape whenever she needs to or she must.

While the central mystery of this story is creepy and chilling, it was unfortunately a little too easy for this reader to figure out. I’ll admit that I guessed what was going on, and who was perpetrating it, just a bit too early to give The Impossible Girl an A grade.

But the story is imminently readable. Cora’s character, intelligence and rather unique solution to her own multiple dilemmas is absolutely absorbing. And the portrait of mid-19th century New York City on the margins draws the reader into the center of its mass of contradictions from the very first page.

Cora Lee was is born with two hearts, in a time when seemingly impossible aberrations such as this lure spectators into New York's museums filled with curiosities. To keep her second pulse a secret from graverobbers hunting for the lucrative maiden rumoured to hold two hearts in her chest, she spends her childhood disguised as a boy. Now past puberty and trying to make a living, Cora employs that persona by posing as her own rugged twin brother Jacob, who digs up freshly buried corpses by night and sells them off to medical institutes - after scouting for interesting cases and attending funerals as her female self during daylight. When the patients on her observation list die under mysterious circumstances one right after the other, she knows it's only a matter of time until someone comes after her.

My poor attempt at a summary makes it sound far too complicated... If you've watched The Alienist though (I sadly haven't read the novels yet), you can get a picture of that late 19th century American crime atmosphere also emanating from The Impossible Girl! It's a fast-paced, dark, and engaging one-shot. The resurrectionist business is a topic that I had never seen tackled in (young adult) literature before, and just when I thought every theme has already been done to death, there comes Lydia Kang with this exciting new historical thriller. And let me get this out of my system: Thank god this author is an actual doctor and knows what she's writing about! And somehow manages to work as a physician while simultaneously writing medically correct murder mysteries and being a mother of three, a feat I have utmost respect for.

I will say that it's not a perfect novel; it almost followed the pattern of a Cold Case episode, where every acting character is suspected to be the culprit at least once. The mystery itself wasn't flabbergasting either and I often found myself not very convinced of the characters' actions. But The Impossible Girl is sure to win its audience over with a protagonist that is diverse in more than just one way. The leitmotif of "two hearts" is reflected also in Cora's search for her racial identity, as she is half Chinese, as well as the conflict caused by her double capacity as both twin brother and sister. I found it interesting how Jacob seems to be more than merely an alter ego for Cora, and how each of her "personalities" is confronted with different societal restrictions - or not.

Above all I found joy in the period details, especially the talk of anatomical Venuses, a favourite subject of mine! If you liked the Diviners series and want to pass the time waiting for the next installment, I believe The Impossible Girl could be right after your fancy.

First, this book cover is absolutely GORGEOUS! That is what immediately drew me to this book.

Second, the blurb. It seemed to be different and I was so here for that!

But then I began the book. I had so many high hopes, but in the end, it came across as a slightly more adult version of Stalking Jack the Ripper, except I didn’t love the characters as much (or in some cases at all).

It was a book that seemed super long, and in the end the payoff wasn’t quite there for me.

This was a book that I was excited about when I got the pitch and then I kind of forgot about it until closer to the review date. I wasn’t entirely excited to read it when the time came to start it, but that slight was rectified almost immediately when I started this one.

This book had a little bit of everything, romance, mystery, fantasy, and history. I loved this one almost from the first word! It made an excellent early fall/Halloween read.

Manhattan, 1850. Born out of wedlock to a wealthy socialite and a nameless immigrant, Cora Lee can mingle with the rich just as easily as she can slip unnoticed into the slums and graveyards of the city. As the only female resurrectionist in New York, she’s carved out a niche procuring bodies afflicted with the strangest of anomalies. Anatomists will pay exorbitant sums for such specimens—dissecting and displaying them for the eager public.

Cora’s specialty is not only profitable, it’s a means to keep a finger on the pulse of those searching for her. She’s the girl born with two hearts—a legend among grave robbers and anatomists—sought after as an endangered prize.

Now, as a series of murders unfolds closer and closer to Cora, she can no longer trust those she holds dear, including the young medical student she’s fallen for. Because someone has no intention of waiting for Cora to die a natural death (summary from Goodreads).

This book touched on some of the most interesting aspects of Victorian society. While this book is set in Manhattan, the English influence can still be seen in this book. The controversial busy and selling of dead bodies to science and medical students as well as grave robbing is predominantly featured in this book and I absolutely loved it! So I have a macabre curiosity? Yes, absolutely. But as a social historian I also love how resourceful people and students were. The whole body snatching industry was quite the operation and took quite a bit of ingenuity if you ask me. Not to mention this book explores quite a bit about the medical profession during that time and I absolutely loved that….beyond words!

While I found many of the medical anomalies captivating as well as some of the moral ambiguity discussions, I was quickly diverted by all the interesting characters. I loved that there were feminist characters like Dr Blackwell, though I would have liked to have seen a little more of her. I easily loved Cora, as the protagonist she was perfect and interesting. As a resurrectionist, that should make her stand out, but for me it was her ethnicity that stood out. To me being a resurrectionist was just part of her job rather than who she was. I loved that she was a minority in a time when minorities weren’t widely trusted or accepted and that she wanted to be a doctor. She was memorable and I loved her.

There are some paranormal elements to the story, but to me it wasn’t the focus. At the heart of this book, it’s a mystery. The mystery outshines the paranormal. It also features a good deal of forensics and I found that it captured my imagination and intrigue.

This book took me by surprise and I was hooked from the first chapter. I loved it and read it in one weekend. I would highly recommend this book, especially in time for Halloween! And can I just say how in love with the cover I am? If that doesn’t say Victorian then I don’t know what does. That cover is perfect for this book and made me want to read it not to mention buy a hard copy for my bookshelf to display!

Challenge/Book Summary:

Book: The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang

Kindle Edition, 364 pages
Expected publication: September 18th 2018 by Lake Union Publishing
ASIN B07BDHGKJX
Review copy provided by: Publisher/Author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Recommendation: 5 out of 5
Genre: paranormal, Victorian lit, mystery
Memorable lines/quotes:

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for the free review copy. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. The setting was something I had never read about before in a fiction book. Being a resurrectionist and a woman makes Cora one of my favorite characters this year. She is strong, able, and independent during a time when it was hard for women to be on their own. 

I also enjoyed the look into what medicine was like in 1850. This is when grave robbers supplied the cadavers for medical schools and exhibits. I think this book being set in New York City helps make it more believable. The entire book was extremely realistic - I never doubted Cora and her story. Her two hearts also added some suspense to the story. I had to keep reading because I was invested in Cora's story and really wanted her to survive as the hunt for the girl with two hearts was started. 

This book is out now. I recommend it to anyone who wants to read about a time in history that isn't as well known. There's a little for most people in this book and would say read it because it has such a strong female protagonist.

Cora is an amazingly smart woman. She not only is shrewd but also tough as nails. She even dresses as her “twin brother” to make life easier for her. She is a resurrectionist. What is that? She is someone who procures freshly dead bodies out of the cemeteries for dissection for medical schools and cabinets of curiosities. Cora also has an anomaly. She has two hearts. This puts a price on her head. $500 for the girl with two hearts!

Cora is a complex character. She dresses as a man and maneuvers around the underworld. She can definitely hold her own in a fight! I admire this about her…but I also admire her intelligence and wit. These “smarts” keep her alive.

There is so much I want to say about this book. I am still thinking about it. You talk about action packed! This story is so creative and unique. It is fast paced and full of science and medicine. That is right up my alley. Add the historical aspect and you have a fantastic read. Superbly done! Grab this one today!

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Manhattan, 1850. Born out of wedlock to a wealthy socialite and a nameless immigrant, Cora Lee is born with two hearts. Now, her life is in danger and she must find the person who is killing people with strange anomalies and selling their bodies for a profit.

Great gothic story. The writing flowed nicely and the story was interesting to read. Great imagery of 1800's medical practices and the murky city streets of New York.

4☆

Full disclosure: I had no idea until I read the Author's Note that Lydia Kang is a physician! As a physician myself, I kept thinking, "dang, this author really did her research". The medicine in this story was great! I loved the historical setting; it boggles the mind to think about what medicine use to be prior to our current technology. It makes me curious what people will think of our current practices 50 years from now!

This book is historical fiction, romance, mystery and medicine all wrapped into one great read! The plot continued to have unexpected twists. There were a couple of parts in the story that could have been expanded on a little more (Leah?!?). However, I thoroughly enjoyed Cora/Jacob's growth and discovery of new moral.s.

This is a recommended read for anyone! However, if you're into medicine it's a must!

The story of a girl with a secret that she must guard closely, or else. There is something different about Cora. Something you can't quite put a finger on, something she will go to great lengths to protect and keep close to her heart,quite literally.

Cora Lee lives a life filled with secrets that no one can know. To hide her most dangerous secret, she lives her life as two people. Cora is content living with her secrets and working as a resurrectionist until a list of oddities a museum wants to see starts circling. The list that contains her most dangerous secret; she is the girl with two hearts.

Cora was an interesting character among a cast of intriguing people. Set in Manhattan in 1850, Lydia Kang colorfully describes the atmosphere, bringing the setting to life. I found the entire book fascinating.

Wow! Finally, an original idea for a story that is executed perfectly. Lydia Kang is a helluva writer! Her prose is beautiful but it also flows well from page-to-page, making it an absolute pleasure to read. I would describe this as an historical medical mystery in terms of genre, it sort of defies categorisation, mainly because it is such a unique book. I thought the medical elements of the plot were authentic, detailed and realistic, and after discovering Kang is actually a doctor, I realised she has used her deep knowledge of the sciences to create an accurate and intriguing narrative.

There was plenty of action thoughout, and the twists in the tale were not predictable, even for a seasoned crime reader like myself. As soon as I opened the book to start reading I was completely riveted and found it impossible to put down. It didn't take long for me to be totally invested in the story and I was appreciating every single word. I read quite a lot from the historical fiction genre and strongly felt like this was a believable and realistic portrayal of what went on in the mid nineteenth century. It felt very much as though this was written by a nerd for other nerds to enjoy - this pleases me a lot being the geek that I am! Ultimately, the story is based around a secret underground society who dig up bodies but also actively search for people with deformities in order to either study them or put them on display to the public.

In relation to the characters, each was likeable, affable and completely believable. Cora is a strong female lead who was born with two hearts. This leaves her susceptible to the aforementioned society. Each character was developed well and I found myself feeling like i'd lost a friend when I reached the end of the novel - definitely a sign of a great story! I also appreciated that the characters were diverse with Cora being half-Chinese and there was a fabulous African-American character. This is a fascinating, impactful and thrilling read that is unmissable to those who love historical fiction and a wholly original premise.

Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Looking for something a bit darker to read for the fall season? How about some grave robbing and human anomalies? The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang just might be that book you are searching for then. A historical fiction tale with a bit of mystery this one is certainly fitting for the time of year.

In 1830 Charlotte and her maid Leah were helping a young mother with the birth of her baby as the family wanted nothing to do with her or the out of wedlock child she carried. After the baby was born however the mother suffered some complications so a doctor was called but it was too late to save her. While there the doctor examined the baby and found she was born with two hearts and suggested she become a specimen for testing in which Charlotte of course was immediately offended.

By 1850 that baby had grown into a young woman named Cora who had come to know she had to remain hidden. Charlotte was now gone but she had done her best raising Cora by pretending until her teen years she had been a boy to hide from the rumors of the girl with two hearts. Now Cora has gone into the business of procuring corpses with anomalies to sell for medical studies to keep an inside eye on the business and whether or not anyone still believed the rumors of her own birth.

The Impossible Girl had a bit of everything wrapped into it really. You get transported back to the mid 1800’s during a time when the medical field was full on learning how to treat patients and a time of the side show spectacles. There’s danger and murders which brings in action to the story, a splash of romance and the touch of just plain creepiness thinking of trolling the graves. Wrap all of it together with one tough as nails main character making her way in a man’s world as she dodges threats from all angles and this one definitely would be one I’d recommend checking out.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

The Impossible Girl by Lydia is a Historical Medical Mystery. The main character Cora has medical knowledge and skills but supports herself as a female resurrectionist in 1850 New York City. This book is full of action and wonderful characters each with their own secrets. I enjoyed the many medical facts, anomalies, practices and history. I was interested to read about the first US. female physician since my great grandmother was also one of the early female physicians. I look forward to reading more books by this author and hope they include Cora. I have purchased A Beautiful Poison also by Lydia Kang and believe it will be just as exciting as The Impossible Girl. My thanks to the author, the publisher and netgalley for making this book available to me to read and review.

This was a super thrilling book that was chock full of suspense, danger and a bit of romance. Cora/Jacob are thrust into so many perilous situations that this is an edge of your seat, can’t stop reading kind of story. I suspected that one of Cora’s friends or family members would betray her but I did not make the correct guess. I truthfully was blindsided by it and feel like a twit for missing any clues. I don’t even recall there being any clues, that’s how surprised I was! Events leading up to the end were so full of tension and I was honestly unsure if it was going to end well or very, very badly. I found I was attached to some of the characters to an unexpected extent and I got a touch teared up over what transpired.

This brought up some really interesting issues over the medical use of human bodies and tissue and who owns a body after death. Is it a moral requirement for someone with a physical condition that could be used to teach or even help cure others to do so? Does everyone have an inalienable right to their own body and tissue? I’m an archaeologist and I admit that we find anomalies in human anatomy fascinating. Our physical anthropology lab in university had many human bones that had been marred by disease or injury. (Syphilis is the best, look it up!) Some of these specimens were from people who had donated their bodies to science but most were from India. I questioned why this was the case and was told a story not entirely dissimilar from that of the resurrectionists. So despite all the advances in procurement and regulating laws it appears this practice isn’t as far removed as we might like to think.

Looking at the author’s bio I see that she is a physician and this is pretty evident in this book. The medical knowledge is meticulous and accurate. I feel like the historical details were also researched thoroughly, right down to the patois of Five Points at that time called “flash.” All of this was incredibly immersive and I felt like I was there with Cora walking down the street or digging a grave with Jacob. This is historical fiction done exactly right and the added element of forensics just makes it all the more appealing.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.

I loved The Impossible Girl. The setting is expertly laid out, detailed and realistic, and the characters are relatable and likable. It was everything you want when you pick up a young adult read; a level-headed and intelligent young woman as the female lead, and a strong but subtle romance to swoon over.

Calling Cora Lee an enterprising young woman is to say the least. Born out of wedlock to a wealthy socialite and an anonymous immigrant - neither of whom she ever meets - Cora Lee has made a life for herself as one of the premier resurrectionists in Manhattan, keeping tabs on the list of the island’s most interesting people with the most abnormal maladies. The irony is, Cora Lee has been keeping her own malady a secret; she’s the rumoured girl with two hearts.

Her mother, who cast out by her family when her pregnancy was revealed, dies in childbirth and Cora is left to the care of her aunt, her aunt’s lover and their maid. The doctor who comes to examine the infant instantly latches onto a second pulsation in her stomach, callously telling Cora’s aunt that the baby won’t live long and he’ll be back to buy her corpse to study the rare malady. In an attempt to save Cora Lee’s life by discrediting the claims of the doctor, her aunt decides that they’ll raise her as a boy until the rumors have subsided and they can move out of Brooklyn.

As a young woman, Cora lives in Manhattan and is able to mingle with high-society, using her innate ability to schmooze with the best of them to gain the best intel and make all the connections a resurrectionist could need. But by night, Cora continues part of her life as Jacob Lee, the alter ego that was her disguse as for her entire childhood, and runs the gang of resurrectionists that exhumes and delivers the bodies to their recipients. Despite living what is essentially a double-life, Cora manages to keep everything running smoothly; she makes ends meet for her and her maid, she's running the most successful resurrectionist business in Manhattan, and she's able to keep tabs on those who might be after her two hearts. That is, of course, until she meets a handsome and charming young man while casing a new job, a new museum curator becomes aggressively interested in crafting a unique collection, and a series of murders begins to hit close to home.

The idea of a young woman with a mysterious malady and her job keeping track of those like her until they die may seem a little far-fetched, but Lydia Kang is not only a great writer, she’s also a practicing physician. The novel feels very realistically grounded in both time and place; Kang does an excellent job placing her characters and describing the differences in class that weigh so heavily on Cora Lee’s moves. The world in which medical students need and benefit from the work of resurrectionists like Cora, as well as the medical knowledge Cora and her colleagues have, seem very authentic.

The romance here is subtle, and the entire plot isn’t riding on it. There are no lusty scenes to knock your socks off, but hell, if there isn’t something spectacular about a love interest who sees through all the secrets, breaks down all of the carefully crafted walls, and apologizes when he knows he’s been a jerk. But I really liked how this story was about Cora, and Theo (her young man) is only a supporting character. She’s a character you want to follow the whole time without scanning pages to see how long before her love interest returns because you need the feels.

My only qualm with the book is how easily Cora seems to have been able to fool nearly everyone in her adult life into believing she is a pair of twins, a male and a female. Kang is sure to walk the reader through Cora’s elaborate transformation into Jacob at least once in the novel, detailing how expertly Cora hides away her more feminine features and makes herself appear more traditionally masculine, but it does seem like someone who might feel less than kind towards Cora and her success could have discovered her secret earlier.

I’d recommend The Impossible Girl highly.  I know that in there is some steep competition out there when it comes to YA romances, but Lydia Kang’s writing is great and Cora Lee is not a character to soon be forgotten.

Buy it at: Amazon

WOW! This book had me more hooked than any other I've read in a long while!
It is a brilliant, original novel that looks into grave robbing and body snatchers in the mid 1800s. It follows the story of Cora, the only female resurrectionist in New York, as she and her team dig up recently buried bodies and sell them to the highest bidder. Cora has built a network of doctors who tell her of unusual cases among their patients, for Cora specialises in those that are afflicted with anatomical anomalies, and institutions will pay a higher price for those bodies. She has compiled a watch list of people that suffer from these afflictions and watches them from afar, waiting for them to pop off from their mortal coil, attending their funerals, and later that night returning to the gravesite to dig them up. However, people from her own watch list have started disappearing or dying of unnatural causes before their time.Then one day Cora receives a wish list from one of the buyers, it's a list of desirable traits in a body, and the prices to be paid for them. Cora's isn't the only team to receive this list, and it includes, among other things, a girl with two hearts. There has been a bit of a legend around body snatchers that such a girl exists, but nobody knows for sure. Nobody except Cora, for Cora's closely guarded secret is that she is that girl, the girl with two hearts!
I found myself racing through this book, having to find out what happens to Cora, as those that mean her harm get closer to discovering her secret, and how she would thwart them. Lydia Kang has crafted an unputdownable novel, full of intrigue and suspense. It's well researched, I am now enlightened on many matters of grave robbing and human anatomy, and gives a good inkling of the lifestyle of our characters at the time the novel is set in. I highly recommend this book to all lovers of mystery, intrigue and suspense.
My thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I usually go into books with a fairly good idea of whether or not I’m going to like them. Sometimes I’m proven wrong, but generally I’m in the ballpark. With The Impossible Girl, I had no idea what to expect. I had not read anything by Lydia Kang, and I wasn’t quite sure if this book was adult or young adult or had supernatural elements or was just straight historical fiction. But I knew I needed to read a book about a half-Chinese female ressurrectionist. And I’m so glad I did!

I was blown away immediately. Lydia Kang’s writing style is my favorite kind: beautiful, but not at all distracting or pretentious. It fit well with the story, and was a pleasure to read. Just really good writing. I also loved that Kang is a doctor; her medical knowledge was evident, and I think it added a lot to the story. She also did a great job with the twists. I am pretty good at predicting twists, but I don’t think I saw any of these coming. There were a few I had a bad feeling about, but I didn’t quite know what was going to happen. That is a huge feat in my book, and it made me so happy.

The story itself was completely engrossing. I was invested very early on, and it just got better from there. I thought Cora’s story was really creative, but fairly realistic for the time period. It feels like something completely outrageous, but when you take a step back you see that it’s not. The mid-nineteenth century was a weird time, when P. T. Barnum was making mermaids out of monkeys and everyone was running over to California in search of gold. So it’s not completely unfathomable to have an underground society not only digging up bodies (a widespread common for decades – just ask Leonardo da Vinci), but actively searching for bodies of those with deformities to study or display.

As for the characters, I think it’s safe to say I loved them. I enjoyed the fact that the main character is half-Chinese, and there is a really great African-American character as well. Not an incredible amount of diversity, but I think it’s pretty good for a historical fiction novel. All of the characters have a lot of depth and each added to the mystery, which was so fun. I’m not going to spoil you and say who, but there were a few characters who started off good and turned out to be completely awful, and I did really like that sort of reverse character growth. It was so interesting and exciting. And (again, not saying who is involved) I loved the love story so much. It’s definitely not the main plot of this book, which is perfect, but it’s one of the things that stuck in my head the most. Overall, this was just a great book. Fun to read, impactful, and interesting.