The Life Impossible is a multifaceted story following Grace Winters, a retired and widowed maths teacher from England. She is a person cocooned by grief in many areas of her life, but upon the arrival of a letter from a former student, she decides (eventually) to take a chance. A chance that shifts the direction of her life and herself as a person completely, most notably, to the island of Ibiza. Matt Haig creates such a strong sense of place that it almost felt like I could smell the sea air or the sun on my skin as I was reading. Aside from being a love letter to Ibiza, a place Haig has a strong connection to, it is also a love letter to the power & potential of life that resides in every human. A life not contingent on capitalism or the many other systems we humans participate in daily, but a life connecting us to each other as humans on this planet which we all share.

A beautifully written story of life, love, regret, loss, and the power of human connection. This book was so different than anything else I have read and it left me feeling so many things. Empathy, gratitude, and compassion for others to name a few that stood out.

It reminded me that we’re all human, we all make mistakes, and that we are all on limited time here on earth. What we do with our lives is up to us. It made me want to live each day without regret. I loved the multi-generational relationships and the quirkiness of the two main characters.

Thank you to Net galley and Penguin Group Viking for the ARC.

Matt Haig crafts a poignant love letter to the natural world, with a special focus on the island of Ibiza. The story centers on Grace Winters, a retired teacher and widow, who receives an unexpected email from a former student struggling with life's challenges. In response, she shares a manuscript recounting how her own life was profoundly transformed.

Grace’s life had been marked by tragedy—the loss of her only child in a devastating accident at the age of eleven left her without hope, dreams, or purpose. She had resigned herself to a life devoid of meaning. But everything changed when she learned that someone she had known forty years ago had left her a house on the island of Ibiza. This unexpected inheritance led Grace to Ibiza, where she experienced a life-altering moment in the sea.

*The Life Impossible* masterfully blends science and mysticism, creating a joyful narrative that both entertains and challenges our worldview—just as it does for Grace. The story’s themes of connection, grief, and forgiveness resonate deeply, drawing parallels to Margaret Schlegel’s famous line in *Howards End*: “Only connect!” These ideas reverberate throughout the narrative, emphasizing the bonds between humans, the natural world, and even the countless other worlds that might harbor life.

As Grace embarks on a journey filled with action and mystery, she discovers that her life is far from the dead end she once believed it to be. This book is highly recommended for fans of hopepunk, offering a story of renewal and connection.

I don’t quite know how to characterize this book—fantasy? Paranormal? I many ways it is realistic fiction, with one exception.
Grace Winters was a retired math teacher, and a woman with many regrets. She felt responsible for her 11 year old son’s death, despite the fact that it was an accident. And she felt that she had been a far from perfect wife.
But one day she learns that she has inherited, from a friend, a house in Ibiza, and she decides to go there. She wants to investigate her friend’s death, but once there, she goes on a dive to an ancient bed of seagrass, and is changed. Suddenly she feels connected to all of nature, and has the powers to influence people around her. Grace feels compelled to help fight a developer who wants to ruin all of the natural beauty of Ibiza, and her newfound talents may just help her to do so.
This story makes me want to savor every moment of beauty and joy.

I love this author. His book, The Humans, is one of my favorites ever. I was hoping for great things from this book, but it didn't deliver for me. I may give it another go a little later to see if my opinion changes.

When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.

Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.

This was a really interesting and well-written story, though I must admit it wasn't exactly the book for me. There are a lot of paranormal/fantastical elements and I just don't really enjoy those. The concept was interesting and I did like the message of letting go of the past and that you're never too old to make changes in your life. I think this will appeal to many readers and I expect it will get many five star reviews. For me, it just wasn't it. But I think this is a worthy read if you enjoy magical realism and can suspend belief.

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for the ARC!

This book was good, but not as good as “The Midnight Library.” It had loveable characters, a great plot, and all the heartwarming features of a feel-good book. This book really hits you with the thought that little moments matter and how they can shape your life in different ways. Haig’s writing is of course great and keeps you captivated throughout the novel. Overall, if you like Haig’s other works, I think you would enjoy adding this one to your TBR. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for this amazing ARC!

Matt Haig is an expert at uplifting tales that read a bit like philosophical manifestos. While I found the setting and characters interesting, the epistolary approach made the text feel too self-aware, so I stopped at the 20% mark. I'll recommend this for the store, but I personally needed a faster hook to really engage with the novel.

While I appreciated the author so diving into themes of life and death, living and grieving, and loved the coastal setting, this book just wasn't for me. I didn't mind the psychic, paranormal slant, but it just got too bizarre for my tastes. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Viking Group for the opportunity to read this eArc. 3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book started with a lot of promise but somewhere along the way I could not wait for it to be over. It just had too many tangents that seem to compound and spiral.

Grace Winters is contacted by a lawyer that she has an inheritance of a home in Ibiza. She is astonished to learn that an old friend gave her this small dilapidated house so far away. As a retired widow she decides to be brave and travel to Ibiza to see this house and explore Ibiza. Mysteriously, her friend leaves her a note telling her to go to various places in Ibiza and signaling she knew of her imminent death. Grace wants answers to what happened to her friend and discovers there is more than this world than she anticipates.

I normally love Matt Haig’s fiction but this book disappointed me. The magical realism felt a bit silly (which is not always a bad thing), but what I struggled with most is how slow the story moved. The main plot and themes were introduced too late in the story that it was difficult to keep my interest. That being said, I always enjoy his writing style.

Grace Winters inherits a home in Ibiza from an long-lost, old friend. Dealing with decades of sadness and shame, she journeys to Spain to learn what happened to her friend, only to discover that she vanished under peculiar circumstances. In order to go on, she will need to face her past as she searches for explanations regarding her friend's death.

I adore Matt Haig's works because they simply force you to consider life from a whole new, original perspective. This one is a fantastic voyage into magical realism that also tells a tale of love and rebirth.

I really liked how Haig captured the people, the scenery, and the azure waters of Ibiza. He constructed a world in which it was incredibly simple to accept the existence of the Mediterranean's magic. The combination of reading this in the summer with the ethereal, lovely setting was perfect.

I found this novel to be incredibly endearing, thought-provoking, poetic with a hint of magical realism. You will undoubtedly find this book to be moving if you have already read and appreciated any of the author's other works.

Grace Winters is a 72-year-old widow and feeling worthless in her England home. She visits a cemetery and speaks to her deceased husband plus her son who died at age nine in a tragic accident. Grace seems to be waiting out her time until she discovers she has inherited a house on the island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean. With a leap of faith Grace heads to Ibiza only to find a crumbling cottage and weird people with whom she has little in common. The story loses its initial promise as the novel’s second half seems to be a stretch of imagination when Grace is tagged by a supernatural presence in the ocean and now has the power of telepathic insight enabling her to read minds. What starts off as a Hallmark-y type of a story of an elderly woman finding purpose in life morphs into something resembling a save the world type of Marvel thriller film. The author has a habit of forming paragraph length lists of things Grace observes such as island animals, people in a protest crowd and the many Ibiza nightclubs which bogs down the narrative. The paranormal plot shift can be jarring to readers who may be expecting a cozy tale about woman pulling herself out of despair.

No doubt this book will be popular with those who have loved Matt Haig's previous books. This one maybe didn't hit for me as well as The Midnight Library, but it also isn't my usual kind of read. The setting was lush and evocative, and the character's journey surprising.

The Life Impossible was well-written. Often, the layout of the story reminded me of The Midnight Library, although a completely different story line. I believe those who enjoyed The Midnight Library will enjoy this book as well.

I enjoyed the adventures and hints of realism while moving through Ibiza, but at times I found it hard for myself to connect to the story.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Another lovely novel from Haig. I see how some people feel a little let down by the novel in comparison to The Midnight Library, but I don't feel the same. I thought it was well-written with a hint of magical realism. I think our patrons will really enjoy The Life Impossible, so we will be purchasing several for the collection. Thanks!

After Grace, a retired Maths teacher, receives a letter from a former student seeking direction and meaning after the death of his parents, Grace decides to write back. The novel is the letter, of course, and although I am not a fan of the format, I did enjoy Grace’s life-affirming journey from apathetic senior citizen who stews in guilt and regret from mistakes made over the course of her life to become the hero of Haig’s sometimes corny yet often endearing novel. The novel is a bit as if Spielberg’s Cocoon was rewritten as a cozy mystery eco-thriller set in Ibiza. Haig’s writing remains solid and quotable for those looking for philosophy and guidance, but I found myself reflecting on The Midnight Library as I finished The Life Impossible. Both have strong stories, endearing characters, and a lot to say, but… sometimes I wish the messages were not so explicit. I wish Haig trusted his readers a bit more. I will keep reading his books because they are fun, memorable, and poignant, and because I think as a writer, he will get there.

This was a great follow up to The Midnight Library. Loved the retired teacher Grace and the whole setting. What adventures awaits her as she finds out more about herself and her dead friend’s life. Another book rooted in hope in a time when we desperately need it.

Unfortunately, this book just didn’t do it for me. I usually love Matt Haig. He understands and articulates my anxiety and depression in a way that few authors can. However, this book was too out there for me. I tend to like up-lit stories of lonely old people who find that they aren’t alone, but the aliens were a bridge too far for me. I don’t love fantasy but can handle a touch of magical realism, but I found this too much of a stretch and somewhat hard to follow.