Thank you NetGallet for this ARC! Always put Matt Haig's books at the head of the class! Thought-provoking, inspiring, soul-reaching and immersive. You'll get everything you need from this title about your grief, your guilt and your life. He entwines the reader into playing along, searching for answers you didn't even know you needed. You will feel alive and ready for the next chapter of your life!

I thoroughly enjoyed Matt Haig's latest novel! Grace is retired, widowed, and still mourning the loss of her young son years earlier--her life is both boring and gloomy. When she learns that an acquaintance has left her a house in Ibiza, Spain, she impulsively decides to go there. Thus begins an incredible, inexplicable tale of hope, beauty, and impossible possibilities. The setting is lovely, the characters are memorable, and the story sweeps you up and stays with you long after you've finished reading it. Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!
Highly recommended

Thank you Netgalley and Viking for a gifted copy of " The Life Impossible". I have loved everything Matt has written, and the way he can describe living in the most beautiful prose is such a gift. Grace is a retired , widowed math teacher who hasn't seen the beauty in life since both her son and husband passed away. When she receives a letter from a lawyer telling her that a house in Ibiza was left to her by someone she hasn't seen in decades, she decides that since she has nothing better to do, she'll take a trip and see the house. What happens after she arrives in Ibiza is pure magic.. It makes you realize sometimes you have to open your eyes to see the beauty in the mundane, and appreciate every day.

This is my third Matt Haig book, and I continue to love his work. Sure, there are moments where the messaging can be a little too much on the "just change your thinking and life is great!" side. Overall, though, The Life Impossible serves as a great reminder that the smallest act of kindness can have a wave of an effect on others and the world in general. You're never too old to do the right thing or make a difference, and you're never too old to live for yourself.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it didn't disappoint. Matt Haig writes such a compelling story that brings together magical realism, Ibiza and a lovely cast of characters. I enjoyed going on this journey with 72-year-old Grace Winters as she moves to Ibiza after an old acquaintance leaves her a home on the island. This novel encourages celebration of life (even the small things we tend to take for granted) while also dealing with grief management.

Wow! This ethereal feeling novel is so hard to describe. I do not want to spoil it for anyone but it brings on feelings of gratitude even while dealing with such concepts as grief.

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin Group Viking for the eARC!

Grace Winters is a 72-year-old widow who believes life does not have much left to offer. She feels constant guilt due to the accidental death of her young son and some poor choices she made during her marriage. When she unexpectedly inherits a home in Ibiza, she feels compelled to make the trip overseas. Once there, she becomes wrapped up in a mystery involving the (possibly psychic) friend who left her the house, a scuba instructor, and a nefarious land developer. The rational, logical, and mathematically-included Grace must open her heart and her mind to the possibility of supernatural phenomena well beyond her imagination in order to make sense of her new life and to form new relationships.

This book had a heart warming message, but it was hard to get past the repetitive nature of the plot and the mawkish writing. The plot felt somehow both contrived and needlessly convoluted, and the supernatural/alien element didn’t feel fully fleshed out. Matt Haig has a strong following so I imagine his fans will still greatly enjoy this book, but I would not give this book a blanket recommendation.

When Grace Winters inherits a house in Ibiza from a long-lost friend of her past, she decides to take a trip there to uncover why. What she finds, though, is bigger than life itself, and Grace is quickly enveloped in an impossible reality.

In Haig’s newest novel, readers find guilt, grief, humanity, and a world of unknowns. This book had a strong start; I really enjoyed the general plot and found the sci-fi/fantasy aspects riveting. As someone who does not read a lot of sci-fi, the "science" explanations in this book were completely understandable! However; the story was very fast-paced which took away some of the intensity and mystery of the book for me. The ending just felt like it sped by. Definitely a cool read with a lot of thought-provoking moments, but I wished it was just a little longer!

Thank you NetGalley and Viking for this ARC!

We move through life at such a fast pace, barely taking the time to appreciate everything around us. La Presencia helps us appreciate life around us. It helps heal us and helps us to be content with life. At least that’s what it did for Grace Winters. Grace, a widow who is sitting on the sidelines of life gets a letter that an old friend left her a property in Ibiza. What Grace didn’t account for was all of the amazing mystery involved with traveling to Ibiza. This book was beautifully written and kept me interested and intrigued until the end.

This book, unfortunately, didn’t consistently hold my interest. The pacing is off, going into perhaps too much detail in certain points and not enough in others. The format of the story being told as a response to an email felt more like the narrator was talking to the reader. The point of view felt more like “telling me” the story than “showing me.”

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love Matt Haig's philosophy of life. This is a book on late life second chances, redemption, and forgiving oneself.

Awesome read.

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.

I am not a regular reader of fantasy, but when I read The Midnight Library by Haig, I found his writing and mixture of reality and fantasy that I really enjoyed. When NetGalley offered this one, I reguested it to see what it was like, and I was hooked again! I thought he wrote again about reality mixed with fantasy, and enjoyed it immensely. He writes very interesting characters in addition to the main character. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this very interesting author again.

Magical realism is difficult to do well and this one just misses the mark. The characters and details of the island and people’s inner monologues were great, however the book seemed to rely on “tell me” instead of “show me”. Between Alberto’s experience and Grace’s math, too much of this story was the two of them explaining things to one another. It should also have just been a story, not an email. I kept having to remind myself who Grace was talking to because it didn’t seem to add anything to the narrative. I know there is an audience for this, it’s just not for me.

A woman inherits a house in Ibiza from a colleague who she hasn't seen in decades. So begins a journey of self discovery that includes a lot of magic offset by evil doers. This book is definitely the author's love letter to the environment and an island that he holds dear.

If Matt Haig’s brand of story telling is your cuppa, then you will be satisfied with his latest novel, The Life Impossible. It features another lead character who’s given up on life, and the plot is filled with detailed maps of the road not taken, or roads that Grace, a 72 year old retired mathematics teacher, refuses to consider. She is a recent widow, though an old hand to grief and guilt caused by the tragic death years ago of her young son. Now she wants nothing more than to fade into oblivion. But this is not in the cards. An barely known acquaintance, Christina, has willed her a rundown house in the lush getaway of Ibiza, Spain. But the house comes with a heavy dose of mysticism and suddenly there are too many confusing and inexplicable events occurring for the depressed but hyper-rational Grace. Her self proclaimed guide is Christina’s old friend, the maddening and perhaps mad, discredited scientist, Alberto, who pushes Grace well beyond her comfort level in exploring these mysteries. And then something happens, and Grace must come to terms with the nature of reality, the reckoning of her past, and a new menace that threatens to destroy the natural world of Ibiza, as a start. The villain here is often seen without a face and never seems to transcend the contour outline of his character. And Haig does have a tendency to over explain, which creates a lot of redundancy. Still Grace’s growing self-awareness of her strange new powers and of life itself, makes for lively reading and an all-around good yarn.

This was so boring; I just could never get into it. The devices used also were not really convincing, and ultimately felt awkward. Framing the book as a response to an email, and it's the email, is ... weird. Why not just write the story? And the story itself just didn't seem to take off for me. I was excited to see a new book by Haig after the "Midnight Library," but this one fell flat.

This story of a widow in England being given a house in Ibiza started out strong. Once the book turned into the fantasy realm, it felt overwritten and preachy. Interesting concept but I did not care for the execution.

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.