Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC of The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekultak. As a teacher, it always enlightens me to take a look at the struggles and hopes of teenagers, and take a look back at what we thought were struggles in our lives and how we survived. The characters in this book struggled with the usual teen angst of dating, being popular, and finding their inner selves and what they believed in. The main character, known as Mass, suffers from face blindness, but doesn't tell anyone, until he meets that one special girl, who shares his love of computer technology. Together, they explore friendship, death, abandonment, values and goals for the future. This is a delightful book that I will share with my young readers.

I taught English from grades 9 to 12 for many years, and was always on the lookout for books that would interest my students, especially the BOYS, because so few books do interest boys. I think "The Impossible Fortress" would be a good choice to have on the bookshelf for that age group. The story is fast-paced, hits the right note of adolescent angst, and has enough action, drama and adventure to keep the reader interested and engaged. Some ultra-Christian schools might take issue with the plans to steal a Playboy magazine for its photos of Vanna White, but the crazy scheme is the impetus for the story. Anyway, if one is honest about the nature of adolescent boys, they are indeed interested in the nude female body, and their raging hormones can push them to do nonsensical things with sometimes disastrous results!

"The Impossible Fortress" stands out for the quality of its writing, and the ability to capture authentic reactions to the stresses of teenage life. The characters are likeable and well-delineated. There are also several instances of teenage "lack of judgement" and the consequences thereof. The book may provide a cautionary tale about allowing your friends to drag you into situations that you don't feel right about. It is a learning experience.

All in all, I highly recommend this book for young adult as well as adult readers who enjoy the YA genre. I certainly enjoyed the book!

Mid way through the book I was wondering what will happen as it seemed to be coming close to the end of the story when the twist came and it was like a gut punch just like the character felt and then when the reason for the twist came you were like "WOAH!" and then it all fell into place and it was awesome!

When I saw this book was set in the 80's, that involved young love, and computer programming, I thought I would give it a shot. I am glad that I did. This book was an interesting read and I appreciated the opportunity to read it.

The best part of this book was the amount of action filled pages that the characters get themselves in. I would love to see this made into a movie because there is alot of it! I enjoyed that the characters have to make decisions about their loyalties and that everyone learns something in the end.

If you enjoy books that are a little off the beaten path, then this may be the book for you. Thank you for the opportunity.

Disclaimer: I was awarded this book from the publisher. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.

This is my favourite book of the moment. A heart warming story of love, friendship, geeks and the uncool kids in life. Brought back memories of early computer games and all things retro. Wonderful read.

Loved this book. Had some pretty high expectations, after Ready Player One, but this book was different enough to both set it apart and make me really enjoy it!

I just think the pregnancy surprise was a little ham-fistedly handled. Not too plausible. But not enough to make me dislike the title.

Delightful, amusing, and totally entertaining. For all ages.

The Red Headed League + the Commodore 64 + Wheel of Fortune + the 80s = greatness!
However, this is tempered by the fat-shaming and inherent bullying found in that decade too.
The consequences of that, or lack of them, is the one thing dragging this book down.
4.0/5