DNF - read to Chapter 4 + skimming

The Impossible Us if for readers who enjoy books that defy expectations: it's a mixture of science fiction (or perhaps magical realism?). It deals in some darker experiences and themes than I am used to in a book labeled romance. Perhaps fans of dark humor may enjoy this one.

I struggled in the first chapter with the verbal harassment that Bee received, but I really couldn't handle that Nick was still married and emotionally cheating on his spouse. If he had been a little less blase about it, I might have been able to get past this, especially if his spouse also believed that the relationship was truly over.

From my skimming, it seems that the book will continue to cover themes that I am not interested in reading. I may have misunderstood the blurb or marketing when choosing this book for myself, since I expected a lighter romance.

I love books with misstexts like this, and this one was no exception. I loved getting to know Nick and Bee, especially with the obstacle of them being in "alternate universes", which is NOT what I was expecting at all!

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

LOVED this book!!! Rom Com to the max! This would also make an amazing movie. Let's do it! It pulled on my heartstrings in all the right ways.

I liked this book. A lot, actually. It was smart, it was clever and it was DIFFERENT than anything else I've read... which says a lot because I read a ton. Two people that have a great "meet cute" - a wayward email. They connect, they click and they get along...

Only they can't be together.

How frustrating to have met what you believe to be your soulmate, but you can't be with them!

The way this story was told was clever. It had both narration and emails back and forth between Rebecca and Nicolas. The chapters alternated between Rebecca and Nicolas as well. You got a sense of each of them and felt their frustrations... and I had no clue how this was going to end... Nor did I know how I wanted it to end.

The eventual ending? Perfect.

I loved the premise of this story. One of my favorite tropes is the “wrong number,” but then it turns into something more. I loved it! This story was unpredictable and totally unexpected.

Unique and completely unexpected! The Impossible Us by Sarah Lotz sent me on an emotional trip. Two individuals with great chemistry are separated by seemingly an insurmountable hurdle: alternate dimensions. Continue reading to get my full take on this upcoming novel.

The Impossible Us was written really well. Even though I knew from the plot synopsis that it was going to be about people living in alternate realities, I was still crushed when they set up their real-world meeting and it ended in failure. The way that Lotz creates the characters is masterful. Bee, Nick, and all the others are so human with all the flaws that it entails. I often found myself wondering would I have reacted in similar ways?

The inclusion of an alternate reality did at times make The Impossible Us frustrating. Throughout the story, I didn’t know how this was going to resolve or end! I’m sure other readers, like me, were trying to figure out possible ways to solve the conflict of their predicament. Lotz did a great job of guiding the reader with their eyes blindfolded up until the end. Few books have me thinking of them at 5 am making me wake up to finish.

I will admit, I was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. I thought it would be a cutesy rom-com, but it was a lot more complicated than that. Lotz has created such real characters in an unrealistic (I’m assuming) situation that you cannot help but root for. If you get the chance, be sure to check out The Impossible Us once it comes out!

I now understand why desperate people find religion, or end up believing in aliens or conspiracy theories. Because sometimes the rational answer doesn’t cut it. Sometimes you have to look outside the box. And my hope-desperation twofer had led me way outside the box, all the way to a Willow Green allotment in fact, where, God help me, I was waiting to meet a bunch of people who even the most charitable among us would label “raging nut-job weirdos.”...I just loved this quote. I think as a whole this story was smart, it was enjoyable, and it definitely was outside of the box of normal romance books which I think is fitting.

There were so many things I loved about this book, I don’t know where to start. The premise is so unique – a mistaken email makes its way acoss the multiverse and sparks a friendship that turns into more – yes please! I loved Bee and Nick, and Lotz did a fantastic job with the pacing, the plot, and the emails pinging back and forth between characters. I really didn’t see how Lotz was going to wrap this novel up and leave the reader feeling satisfied, but she found the perfect ending.

While the book has a fun premise, Lotz delves into some tough topics and handles them well. Both Nick and Bee have to face sides of themselves that they don’t expect, and even side characters, such as Bee’s best friend and Nick’s not-so-trustworthy crew show character growth and change. This book was full of twists and turns and I found myself continually trying to guess how things would turn out only to be wrong … repeatedly. This book was thoroughly enjoyable and my only wish is that I could read it again for the first time.

This was almost too many things. I wanted it to feel a bit more romantic even with all the twists, sometimes it felt a bit unclear what the ultimate goal was.

I am a sucker for epistolary novels and I did greatly enjoy the back and forth banter between Nick and Bee. At first, I didn't think Nick was a likable character, which can be fine except for a romantic situation. But I think once he really hits his stride, he transformed a little for me.

Perhaps if I had known it was more speculative fiction than romance when I started it, I would feel more satisfied. But overall this was very fun to read and I would read another by this author.

I really liked the concept behind this book, but unfortunately, it fell flat for me. There were a lot of things happening, and I couldn’t quite tell what the book was meant to be—a love story, a political statement, a cautionary tale, a multiverse sci-fi epic? And despite all that was happening, it still felt slow and drawn out and left me feeling unattached to the main characters, even after 500 pages. I know this book will find its readers, but sadly, I’m not the reader it was meant for.

This was a really interesting premise! I really liked the alternate reality storyline. I am not usually one who enjoys paranormal kind of stories, but this one really worked for me. I thought it was a little cringey at times, but overall, I found it to be really enjoyable and captivating all the way through!

I usually have a hard time with books that feature alternate realities but this love story between Nick and Bee is an exception. It's so touching and the impossibility of the plot is embraced in a way that makes it work. It's clever and sweet and completely sucked me in. Does this mean I'm a romance-science fiction-fantasy lover now?

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the copy to review.

What would happen if you accidentally start to communicate with someone through text and then when you try to meet you can’t because you find out you are not living in the same parallel world? In the impossible us Bee and Nick meet through a mistake in text and start to communicate with one another. The issue is when they actually try to meet they can’t meet up and eventually they realize that they are not actually in the same world.

How are they try to solve this issue and then actually try to make their lives better in the actual world they live in is the crux of the story. This book be heartwarming funny sad as well as thought-provoking all at the same time. It’s a really interesting book and if you are in the mood for thought-provoking story I recommend this book

This was one of my most anticipated books of 2022 and it did not disappoint. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know this year and I think it will rank in my top 5 books of the year.

If like me you are a sucker for parallel worlds, this book is for you. If also like me you are a sucker for characters with amazing chemistry and witty banter, this book is also for you. If you have a beating heart and a soul, this book is for you!

Funny, thought provoking, and page turning. The only thing I will say is I could imagine the audiobook being hard to listen to given the vast number of emails (or iMails, ha) in the book, but I love reading epistolary novels in print. It's not entirely written in letters, but a lot of it is.

SO HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me. It started off strong but then because repetitive and almost dark/whiney. I DNF’d it. Perhaps someday I’ll try again. I prefer a lighter feel to a romance book and this one just took a melancholy turn too quickly in the storyline for me.

So. Where shall I begin? When I first read the synopsis I was super intrigued and was very excited to get the e-arc from NetGalley. Let’s just say that the excitement was short-lived.

The book itself is about two people who meet online when one of them sends an angry email to the wrong email address. They begin to communicate and eventually form an online relationship until one day they decide to meet. But something happens and they miss each other. And I’m gonna stop there.

The synopsis contained a pretty big spoiler. And I’m not gonna lie, as I got farther into the book, having that knowledge took away from my enjoyment. So I put the book down fully intending to pick it back up again, and when I did, I was dreading reading this book.

But the thing is, it’s really well written. The characters are dynamic, the premise is superb, and for the part I read, the pacing was great! If this book hadn’t have been ruined, I would have loved it.

But, alas, spoilers. Now, I don’t know how this bookends. It may, and if the writing is anything to go by, will, end beautifully. But I don’t know because spoilers!!

Basically, what I’m trying to say is, don’t reveal a major plot point/twist in the synopsis!

Also, I can’t give this a star rating because I enjoyed what I read but I also couldn’t get through it.

Nick and Bee are complete strangers that suddenly come into contact via a misdirected email. They have similar personalities and hit it off right away. The anonymity of it all allows their quirky, but fun-filled conversations to run wild. After several weeks of talking to one another via email, they decide to take a leap of faith and meet under the clock at the Euston train station. What happens next leads to a whirlwind of questions. You won't see it coming!

This book is amazing! I can't tell you enough that you need to read this book. It would make a perfect film!

Thank you to Ace Books and NetGalley for an e-arc for review.

5 out of 5 stars!

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for the early read! Star-crossed lovers, time travel – The Impossible Us by Sarah Lotz is hard to categorize.. It starts out innocently enough. Bee receives an email from someone named Nick that is clearly not meant for her. On a whim, she answers it, and surprisingly Bee and Nick hit it off. They carry on this online correspondence for many weeks, neither wanting to ruin what they have built by meeting in person. Eventually though, they agree to meet. But when they both show up for the meeting, but can’t seem to find each other, they have different reactions. Bee, from years of bad Tinder dates, thinks she is being catfished and blocks him. Nick goes looking for an explanation, but what he finds will change everything. He and Bee are actually living in different worlds, times, universes – however you want to put it. Bee is living in our time, Nick in an alternate but similar time. They can never meet in person. But they don’t want to give up what they have found, so they hatch a plan. This is where “meet cute” becomes a bit more serious, as some of their possible solutions (ok, maybe all of them) are not so black and white, but tinged with more than a little gray. Despite that, I liked the characters of Bee and Nick very much. And I enjoyed thinking about Nick’s version of the world – slightly different than ours, with some things that are recognizable and some that are not. If you like the idea of time travel, if you liked Oona Out of Order, then this might be one to try.

While I love my rom-com and women's fiction stories, I tend to shy away from the sci-fi genre. But every now and then, I do try and expand my reading horizons, so when I heard of a story that is women's fiction and sci-fi genre together, I HAD to give it a try. Out now is The Impossible Us by Sarah Lotz.

This book was an amazing read. From start to finish, I was so drawn to both Nick and Bee and their emerging relationship that I found myself rooting for their impossible love to find a way. If characters of a story can make me feel emotions so strong that I am either screaming at my book or furiously turning pages to find out what happens next, then the book is a winner in my eyes.

This story is told from the alternating viewpoints of Nick and Bee. At the end of most of the chapters is the email correspondence between the two of them, or sometimes another conversation or document that helps propel the story forward. I loved how it all flowed together. Sarah Lotz was incredible at balancing the narrative of all 3 styles of writing where it was not confusing.

I found myself rooting for both Nick and Bee where I became emotionally invested. As the romance part was predictable, what made this story fun were the twists and turns I never saw coming (and that was from the sci-fi angle!) I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that what sealed this as a 4-star review for me was the very last line in the book. Don't skip ahead! Just start reading it now!