Really enjoyed this book. I hadn't read anything by Imogen before but I will definitely be reading more. The story and style of writing were just up my street.

The story took my back to my uni days living in halls and the nerves of those first few weeks, not knowing anyone. I went to a uni roughly 100miles from home so I knew absolutely noone, I felt the same as Maggie at the beginning.

I love the growing friendships made and some of them lasted through some really tough times.

The Mother/daughter bond between the two characters (not saying who, no spoilers here) is so beautiful. I love there bond.

This book is emotionally beautiful and shows that good friends and relationships do last.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this book. It was the first of Imogen Clark's that I've read and it won't be the last. This book is about a group that meets at university and how their lives weave and intertwine throughout the years. We learn the history of their friendship and why each was chosen for the role they play for the daughter of one of the characters, when she passes away and asks them all to be a guardian of her 18 year old daughter. The story unfolds and it is easy to become invested in the stories and what happens. How the characters grow and change is integral to how they share their duties for the daughter. It is a great story, and I highly recommend it.

EXCERPT: August 2018

My dear friends,

If you are reading this, then I must be dead. (I've always wanted to say that - so very Agatha Christie! And please don't cry, Leon. It's only a bit of fun. X)

Seriously though, I want to thank you all for being there for me over the last couple of months. It's been pretty tough, but having you lot in my corner has made it easier to cope. To be honest, I don't know what I'd have done without you. I couldn't have wished for a better bunch of mates.

But there's just one last thing I need to ask you to do for me.

Obviously, my biggest concern is my beautiful girl, Romany. I will never understand a universe that lets a parent die before they have finished preparing their child to live. It's all kinds of wrong. Yet we are where we are.

Without me, Romany will be left all alone. Even though she's about to turn eighteen, she's really still a child with so much to learn about the world, good and bad. She needs someone to be there for her, a guardian if you like, to guide her until she finds her feet. It won't be forever, just until she finishes her A levels and gets a place at university, but I can't bear to think of her struggling through school on her own. I had to do that, and I don't want history repeating itself.

That's where you come in. I charge you, my dearest and most trusted friends, with the vitality important task of steering her through the challenging months ahead.

I know it wouldn't be fair to suggest that just one of you shoulders this massive responsibility, so I've decided to ask you all to play to your individual strengths.


ABOUT 'IMPOSSIBLE TO FORGET': Just turned eighteen, Romany is on the cusp of taking her first steps into adulthood when tragedy strikes, and she finds herself suddenly alone without her mother, Angie, the only parent she has ever known. In her final letter, Angie has charged her four closest friends with guiding Romany through her last year of school—but is there an ulterior motive to her unusual dying wish?

Each of the four guardians possesses an outlook on life that Angie wants to give her daughter as a legacy. Three of them have known each other since university: the eternally nomadic and exotically named Tiger; the shy and practical Leon with his untapped musical genius; and Maggie, a brilliant lawyer who doesn’t know her own abilities. But the fourth guardian is a mystery to the others: they’ve never even heard of former model Hope before…

As the guardians reflect on their friendship with Angie, it becomes apparent that this unusual arrangement is as much about them as it is about Romany. Navigating their grief individually and as a group, what will all five of them learn about themselves, their pasts—and the woman who’s brought them all together?

MY THOUGHTS: Impossible to Forget is a nice read about a mainly nice group of people, but it's nothing special and, honestly, I was expecting so much more.

I never became fully invested to the point where the characters felt real to me, that it mattered what happened to them. I picked up other books in preference to this, and yet I didn't dislike it, it just failed to move me.

One of the problems I think, was that there was far too much backstory, chapter upon chapter of it; in fact, it makes up the majority of the book. A lot of it was unnecessarily repetitive and could have been done without. For all the background given, the characters still fell flat.

The premise is interesting, but I believe that this could have been a far more emotionally fulfilling experience than what I had. Unfortunately, this is not impossible to forget.

⭐⭐.8

#ImpossibletoForget #NetGalley

I: @imogenclarkauthor @amazonpublishing

T: @imogenclark @AmazonPub

#comingofage #contemporaryfiction #domesticdrama #sliceoflife

THE AUTHOR: Imogen initially qualified as a lawyer but after leaving her legal career behind to care for her four children, she returned to her first love - books. She went back to University, studying English Literature part-time whilst the children were at school. It was a short step from there to writing novels.

Imogen's great love is travel and she is always planning her next adventure. She lives in Yorkshire with her husband and children.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Lake Union Publishing via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Impossible to Forget by Imogen Clark. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

LOVED it!!! Imogen Clark's books never disappoint. She is one of my favorite authors and I always look forward to reading her books. I had a hard time liking Angie at first. I can understand how Maggie felt when she met her at college. It wasn't until after college that I finally started liking her and she really grew on me. By the end of the book I loved her. She was one smart cookie and knew exactly what she was doing when she made all her friends guardians. I wasn't sure why she made Hope a guardian until there's a flashback to Hope's birthday party. Then I put all the pieces together. Then there was Tiger. I thought he would be the worst guardian for Romany. He pretty much hated the idea of having to stay in Angie's apartment for a year. He is the Tiger that can't be tamed. He pretty much was a bum and relied on his friends for a place to sleep and food to eat when he wasn't galavanting all over the world. I LOVED how Tiger changed. He was a perfect house father and the apron sealed the deal. All I can say is Angie knew what she was doing. I feel like I got to know Tiger, Maggie and Angie pretty well. Leon on the other hand, not so much. He was absent from Maggie and Angie's life for many years while he was with Becky. Angie always wanted Leon to play his sax and finally got her wish with Romany's help. Maggie was the best friend anyone could have. She bought everything Angie needed after having the baby and was always there for her friend. Angie and Maggie started out rocky but ended being the best of friends. All I can say is I LOVED this book and the characters. Angie was definitely smarter than anyone could have guessed and put her daughter in the hands of the best people she could have ever wished for.

Definitely recommend the book. I was sad when I finished because I wanted to keep reading about Tiger, Maggie, Leon and Angie. I felt like I was part of their group and I was one of Ramany's guardians. I loved the characters, story and writing style. It was beautifully written and a magical story. It made me laugh, smile and even shed a few tears. Look forward to reading more books by the author. Love the cover of the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Amazon Publishing UK through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I loved this book with a dual timeline that was well written, had a good storyline and had well developed charcaters that were bioth relatable and likeable. It was both heartwrenching and heartwarming in its own way and I couldnt put it down. I loved it,

“Impossible to Forget” is by Imogen Clark. This book begins with the reading of a will, and then zips back in time and, after setting the stage for the friendships over decades, returns to the present. While I understood why the author chose to start with the reading of the will (shoot the sheriff in the first paragraph to grab the reader’s attention), I felt that Ms. Clark spent a long time in the past (college days and setting up the friendship) that I honestly forgot who had died for a number of chapters. Eventually, things became clearer, but I wish that the past had been interspersed with the present, opposed to one large chunk. This is mainly a book about friendship and how friends become your family. I liked how these strangers came together and despite their differences did care about each other, even 30 years later. The pacing was good and this was an easy to read book. I found it interesting that the lawyer, Maggie, was dismissed from her firm for the reason stated; as Ms. Clark has worked in the law arena before she should know if that’s a legit reason for dismissal, but I just found it an odd reason (meaning that it wasn’t tied to monetary reasons). I’d give this book a 3.5 star rating, rounded up to 4 - it was an engaging read (after I untangled things).

I really enjoyed this gentle, poignant story.

Romany finds herself without the only constant in her life, her mother, Angie. She has never known her father and even though she is nearly 18, it is still tough to negotiate her way through life completely alone. Luckily for her, Angie has thought of everything and has appointed 3 of her closest friends to help guide Romany through the next phase of her life. Plus Hope, who is much younger and a more recent friend, and whom no-one can really figure out.

The story starts when Angie, Maggie, Leon and Tiger meet at University, just starting out in the world. They are all very different people and Angie in particular is divisive. She is brash, rude and confident and all the men want to be with her. Women don't particularly like her much, but Maggie, despite herself, finds herself being drawn to Angie anyway.

I enjoyed reading about the different paths that the friends took and how Angie came to befriend Hope as well. Angie clearly had a very high EQ and that was her special gift. She also dearly loved her daughter, so that was endearing as well.

Lovely story about friendship, love, acceptance and the ability of friends to see something in you that you don't necessarily see in yourself.

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing.

This book was a surprise for me. A group of kids become friends in college, even though they are all completely different! The story follows this group of friends to show how they come together in a time of need and use their strengths to help a young girl. While this is the first book I’ve read by Imogen Clark, it will not be the last!

Impossible to Forget it's a book that will literally be impossible to forget. a book that will fill you with hope, make you smile, and cry from time to time.

This is the story of Angie and Romany a story that starts when Romany finds herself all alone, not knowing what will happen to her. four strangers are ready to take over and teach her things her mother Angie would love for her to learn and know.

Romany is not so excited to live with anybody especially with a guy who doesn't seem to have a clue about life and spend his entire time traveling to exotic locations but never settling down, she is not sure her mother knew what she wanted when she left so many things unsaid but she trusted her mother and knew this was the best.

In Impossible to Forget we get to meet each character and learn more about them how they became friends with Angie. we get to dig into the past and learn everything about Tiger, Maggie, Leon, and Hope.

My favorite character was Romany, she was never a petulant child, she was in her 18 teens and she was very mature for her age, I was waiting for her to be the typical narcissistic teenager that will make problems for everybody, a living hell but I'm glad this was never the case. she was always very respectful and kind and very smart for her own age. In the last pages of the book, Romany really shows everybody including the reader that she is a very strong character who deserves happiness. I love her strength, her faith but mostly that she was a strong character without being a problem.

The "secondary" characters more like the main characters as all of them are very involved in this story are amazing, each one has a great quality or thing to share with Romany, Tiger was the first one that I was skeptical to like him but at the end, he turned out to be great, always traveling and changing places and live like a nomadic, he was always flirting with Maggie but never made a move.

Maggie at first gave me a vibe that I thought she was going to be a problem in the story, but she was non of that, she was kind and always ready to help, a successful lawyer that is searching to find more on herself.

Leon, was the quiet one, shy, brilliant, a rare talent in music, he was a great friend to have around, Leon gave me the views as if he was a loner or prefer to stay in his silence, especially around his wife.

I couldn't stand Becky she was the worst character of the book, she was a terrible liar, always creating conflict around her friends and the typical insecure woman trying to separate Leon from his friends because she didn't understand the friendship.

Impossible to Forget is a book that will be Impossible to Forget, I love everything about this book, the freshness of the story and the characters, the light tone of the book, the strength of the women shown in the story, especially Romany.

Thank You NetGalley and Lake Union for sharing this digital copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Impossible to Forget is an enthralling book with an unique premise. Angie requests four of her friends to take on the roles of guardian to her 18 year old daughter after her passing. She has individual responsibilities for each one and they are all a bit baffled as to what to do next.

The story then jumps back in time to when Angie, Maggie, Tiger and Leon first met. The reader gets to know them all through the first hand accounts of Angie and Maggie. Twenty years later Hope befriends Angie so we get a new narrator.

When the timeliness returns to Angie's daughter Romany then she joins in the storytelling. However, Leon and Tiger seem like background characters because we never get to know them beyond how the women view them. I found it a bit disappointing that we don't learn about their pasts or motivations because they are both fascinating characters.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all readers interested in good women's fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book. This is the first book by Imogen Clark that I have read and it didn't disappoint.
I instantly warmed to the main characters and as the book starts, you already know that Angie has passed away and the story takes you back in time before she had passed.
I loved the idea of Angie having the guardian idea for her daughter, how each one of her closet friends can influence her daughter's life for the better.
I didn't know what to expect from this book, but it was a heart warming book, which I could imagine people reading on the beach this summer.

This was not for me.
The writing was good and had an easy flow but for what the story was should have been quite a bit shorter. I thought the plot was going to follow Romany and her new guardians which it did, eventually. After about 300 pages of background. I think it would have worked a little better if the flashbacks were interspersed with the story, as a double time line instead of just all dumped at the beginning right after the initial revelation or even was just alluded to and Romany made the main focus of the entire story.
I found most of the characters really unlikeable? Angie is supposed to be carefree, hippy dippy type but really comes off as inconsiderate and rude. Same with Tiger. Maggie was the most likeable of the bunch and I still found her distant as a character and did not like her later treatment of Leon and her cliché life of career focused and not able to find a man and regretting it life. I do not think the portion where they were in university sounded like anyone at that age and there literally was no distinction between their behavior, thoughts and development through their 30 years of life. They seemed 50 at 20.
This got a lot of positive reviews so it seems to work for some people as a found family type of deal but it just did not work for me. The author seems to get a lot of love but I just might not be the audience. Sorry, I tried, Imogen!
I received this copy from Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in return for my honest review.

The characters grew on me. Clark writes with a sense that renders each one of the central characters humane. Right from the beginning, there's a pull that keeps the entire story centred and yet, each character stands out on their own. The bitter-sweet equations they share is as real as life can be. The book celebrates a space that people eke out to fend for themselves. The back stories do justice to the plot. Totally recommend it.

This was a gentle but heartfelt read based around Angie who tragically died just as her daughter Romany turned eighteen so she appoints four if her friends to be guardians to Romany to help support her during her last year of A Levels, each tasked with a different area in which to support her. The story then rewinds to when Angie was at university and takes you through the friends and how the relationships formed and how life went for them in the intervening years. I found this really drew me in and it was fascinating to see how Angie’s guardian requests were as much about her friends as her daughter and both get to know them during her younger years and see how her death and requests impacted on them. The characters are great and the pace of the story was great, it gave you a great insight into them without dragging things out, overall I found this a very absorbing read.

Imogen Clark is amazing. Her characters seem to live and breathe - and grow. We follow a group of unlikely friends from university days into middle age, relating to each of them more and more along the way. I did not want this book to end.

Calling all Imogen Clark fans! She has just released a brilliant new adult fiction book "Impossible To Forget". The title is fitting. Readers will remember this dazzling book for a long time.

Romany age-18, has just lost her mother Angie to cancer. Angie was a single parent and Romany was Angie's world. At the reading of the will, Romany finds out Angie has left her an unexpected gift. Angie requests that four of her friends Maggie, Leon, Tiger, and Hope, act as custodians of Romany during her last year of high school. Maggie, Leon, and Tiger have been Angie's best friends since college, but who is Hope? Why was she named as the fourth guardian?

This is a incredible story of loss, love, and friendship. Readers will immediately be taken in by events as they play out in this thought-provoking novel. Imogen Clark fans are aware of her place as one of the most respected storytellers. This exquisite book is another example of the depth in which she brings the characters to life. Adult fiction lovers, this is for you. Don't miss it!

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK, for the honor of reviewing this superb e-book. Applause to Imogen Clark for writing this 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ masterpiece!

Imogen Clark has become one of my favorite go-to authors for character-driven family drama, and this latest endeavor lived up to all my expectations. Featuring a cast of engaging, wholly authentic characters and a poignant but uplifting storyline, Impossible to Forget tells of friendship, loss and new beginnings, and ticks all the boxes for an engrossing and satisfying read.

The premise is brilliant and heavy with intrigue.

Angie has died leaving her 17 year-old daughter Romany an orphan. The reading of her will brings together three of her closest friends from university — Maggie, Leon and Tiger — and a mysterious fourth, Hope, whom the others know only vaguely. Angie's dying wish tasks all four “guardians” with specific, individual responsibilities in guiding Romany into adulthood.

What follows is a brilliantly executed dual timeline that segues back and forth between the past — detailing the back stories of the four friends and the evolution of their friendship — and the present — how things play out in the wake of Angie’s death.

I absolutely loved this story of friendship; an unlikely alliance between four very different people and the tenacity of the bonds forged even as they wax and wane over the years. And the intrigue! Who is Hope and what does she have to do with this tight-knit group? Who and where is Romany’s father? These questions add a delicious intensity to the narrative, the answers revealed only slowly and with a clever deftness of touch.

What I loved most, though, was the idea of Angie reaching out beyond the grave to bring about positive transformation in the lives of the people she loved the most, in a way that added extra meaning to her own shortened life. I reveled in their discoveries, as they tentatively tested new ground, settled into their new skins and adjusted to their role as Romany’s “family”.

I finished this book on a joyous high and applaud Clark for once again delivering a fabulous read. .

Imogen Clark has done it again! Impossible to Forget gives us a story about friendship – how it begins, how it endures, why it lasts. From the outset we know that Angie has died and requested that her oldest friends – Maggie, Leon, and Tiger – together with a new friend, Hope, act as mentors to her almost adult daughter, Romany. Angie has assigned each friend a specific role in Romany’s life, which at first seems strange, but we later find benefits both Romany and her four mentors. And where is Romany’s father in all this?

The story follows Angie, Maggie, Leon, and Tiger over 30 years from the beginning of their friendship through their journey into adulthood. It gives a true picture of how friendship waxes and wanes as friends go through life changes – careers, marriage, relationships, children. Through it all, Angie is the glue that holds the four friends together and even after death, her influence continues. As Maggie, Leon, and Tiger navigate their new roles as Romany’s guardians, their lives change in ways they never anticipated. There is an element of mystery as well. How does Hope figure into the story? Why would Angie include her as a mentor? Angie has been a single mother throughout Romany’s childhood and neither has been interested in finding Romany’s father. Will losing her mother change Romany’s mind about find her father?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are relatable and real, the pacing is good, the story flows, and the ending is satisfying. I have read all of Imogen Clark’s books and was lucky enough to read an advance copy of this one. I look forward to her next one!

I was a little sceptical about reading this book as it starts with the death of someone who had received a stage 4 cancer diagnosis. As I am currently undergoing treatment for incurable stage 4 cancer I thought reading it may be too much. However, I carried on and am pleased to say it wasn’t all doom and gloom!
The majority of the book is about the relationships between, and lives of, a group of characters who met at University, spanning over 30 years.
One of the things I really liked about the book is the attention to detail of descriptions of places. They make you feel you are actually there.
I also became absorbed in the lives of the characters and how they related to and interacted with each other.
I fully recommend this book. I’m sure you will consider it a 5 star read.

I thought I had submitted a review of this wonderful book, but ...so, I begin again! Utterly readable! Loved the development of each character through the memories of the pivotal characters responsible for Romanie's welfare. The concept of placing her lifelong friends in charge of her daughter's welfare after her death, leads not only to meaningful changes in Romanies life until her graduation,, but leads to re-examination of each friend's life as well.. Made me feel part of each person's recollections, and wanted nothing more than to find out how this would end. I think we all yearn for such steadfast, non-judgmental friends. Wonderful read, highly recommend to absolutely all ages.