Had this on my tbr list for nearly two years and not sure what prompted me to read it now but I’m so glad I did what a little gem. Not my usual genre at all being almost a romance/sci -fi but I loved it from start to end. It’s very clever both in plot and characterisation and I will certainly be recommending it to my fellow book group members.

I’m just cross with myself for not reading it sooner as I would like to try more from this author.

Nick is a failed writer in an unhappy marriage while Bee is a serial dater and dressmaker. They start communicating with each other when he one day accidentally sends a rather rude email to her which was intended for someone who owed him money. She responds and the connection is instant, electric, something definitely worth pursuing.
After amusing messages bounce back and forth, they decide to meet in real life – but that’s when they discover there’s a major impediment standing in their way. Will they be able to overcome it?
I’m not going to reveal what it is but it’s a humdinger of a plot twist. British writer Lotz, who lived in SA for years but is now back in the UK, is known for her thrillers and horrors but with this book she serves up a romance with a difference – and has great fun doing so. I love the way she writes dialogue – it’s just so effortless and funny. A clever, unforgettable read that will have you laughing out loud.

I didn't know what to expect from this book but I really enjoyed it. My first read by this author but it definitely wont be my last

Impossible, also titled The Impossible Us, is a novel by British author, Sarah Lotz. It’s a missent email that puts Nick Belcher in touch with Bee Davies, but they quickly have each other’s measure and the silly banter they swap is fun. They bond over everyday nonsense, there’s a natural spontaneity to their exchanges: somehow they just connect.

And, as is often easier to do with strangers, they share things about themselves that they might not have done in person. Bee has a successful business repurposing wedding dresses to order, and often ends up being part tailor, part therapist during client fittings.

Nick considers himself a failure: a failed writer, teacher (confirmed by his continued misuse of personal pronouns, I/me) bread-winner, and husband. He has a sinking freelance career editing self-published novels, and the only thing he’s OK at is being a step-dad and dog owner. But together, they’ve managed to, as he puts it, “lance some inner emotional boils”.

They agree to be Strangers on the Interweb, initially as DB and Bee. Eventually, they progress to first names, and then a series of small occurrences sees them deciding to meet, at midday, under the clock at Euston Station.

They both turn up, but can’t find each other, despite descriptions, messages assuring each other they are right there, calling out, waving. Mobile calls don’t connect. Eventually, a very disappointed Bee decides Nick has been scamming her and blocks him. Nick, heart-broken, realises he’s been ghosted.

And that’s where it should end. Except…

Except some things about their conversations have Nick puzzled. Clutching at straws, he ends up meeting with a bunch of very strange individuals calling themselves the Berenstain Society. Nick is highly sceptical of their theory, and later, when he and Bee reconnect, they agree the whole thing is funhouse-mirror weird.

Much more can’t be said without massive spoilers, but the four hundred-plus pages fly by with twists and surprises keeping the reader enthralled. Th characters are much more than one-dimensional; the dialogue is smart and snappy; and the plot is clever and imaginative. A very entertaining romcom.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Collins UK.

This was my first time reading a book from the author but I am delighted to say I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I look forward to reading more books from the writer in the future!

A great premise but something just did not sit right with me in the execution. Nevertheless ti was a good read and I enjoyed myself but at times found the book difficult to return to.

This was an excellent romance and sci-fi mesh, with lots of romantic tropes but with a really intriguing plot line that separates the lovers, and which is tied down in a satisfying way, although I'd have loved to see the actual resolution of that too.

A mix of different genre, mainly sci-fi and romance. A couple of interesting character, an eccentri and lovely plot that kept me hooked and turning pages.
The author is a talented storyteller and I strongly recommend this book.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Nick and Bee meet via an accidental email rant and quickly hit it off. After messaging each other for a while they decide to meet up in real life, but their meeting doesn't go as planned and will affect them both more than they could ever have imagined.

A great premise, which is what drew me to it, and it started really well. I just sadly don't think the rest matched up, but it was an entertaining read nonetheless.

Wow, what a twist in this book! I don’t usually pick up romance novels so i was unsure whether i would like this, but it exceeded my expectations and more. Fast paced, full of intrigue, kept-me guessing, very unputdownable. I loved the characters. A great read and one I will happily be recommending to friends!

I am always hesitant to try out rom-coms because if I don't enjoy them then I feel like an absolute Scrooge at the party, failing to enjoy something which is deliberately written to be enjoyable. So it was to my delight that I did enjoy Impossible, the irrepressible tale of a pair of star-crossed lovers with only a very teensy obstacle in the way of their finding true romance. Bee is a kind-hearted seamstress who up-cycles old wedding dresses (business name For Frock's Sake) while Nick is a failed writer and former teacher. Their paths cross when Nick sends an angry email to a client who has failed to pay him for some ghost-writing work and it hits Bee's inbox instead. Cue much messaging to and fro which gradually becomes flirtatious. But then they finally arrange to meet under the clock at Euston station, it becomes clear that matters are not what they appear.

I'm reluctant to spoiler what was actually going on here because I somehow missed the twist and actually really enjoyed the surprise factor. Suffice to say that it's a biggy. Hard to get round. But they do try. It was an interesting read for me because there is a lot happening which I am fundamentally opposed to. I dabbled in online dating back in the day. The experiment was successful in that I met my partner and we now have two children. But I am really not a fan of extended periods of messaging before you actually meet up. It is incredibly easy to build a 'rapport' through virtual chat which does not translate to the real world. I can remember on more than one occasion going to meet someone who had seemed interesting in my phone only to realise as soon as we locked eyes that there would be no date number two. As Nick and Bee prepared to meet at Euston, I was thinking to myself just you wait, he may not seem like all that in person ... But then it became clear that this was the least of their worries.

Impossible is playing around with a lot of dating tropes. The novel seems to rely on the concept of 'the One' - the soulmate. Nick and Bee are meant to be, destined to be together. But Lotz does play around with whether this is really true. There is Bee's best friend Leila who is married to Lev and has twins. She has given up her career after a long road to motherhood via IVF. The question mark hovers over her marriage. When Bee is asked if Leila is happily married, she answers yes but internally adds sort of. Lotz makes clear that Leila could just as easily have not ended up with Lev but yet the two of them remain together at the novel's finale. Bee's elderly upstairs neighbours Magda and Jonas are dealing with his Alzheimer's but again it becomes clear that Magda will be all right without him. Yet still Nick and Bee hang on to each other as something 'extra'. Bee forges a relationship with someone else who moves in, shares expenses and always remembers to take out the recycling. Still Bee is dissatisfied. While I enjoyed the novel, at this point I was rolling my eyes. To make a life with someone, to actually go through the daily nitty gritty of laundry, online grocery deliveries and other life admin takes a heck of a lot more grit and determination than some flirtatious emailing. And I couldn't quite past the fact that Operation Doppelgänger really was very cruel and manipulative.

I would emphasise here that Impossible is a clever and funny romantic comedy with a great supporting cast. I loved the rumblings of the Berenstein Society and found the concept very clever. I turned up to this book expecting something far less inventive. But I do have a sneaky suspicion that the shade of my beloved Presbyterian grandmother still hovers on my shoulder for these kinds of things. The truth is that online dating can be a slog and a half. Lotz captures Bee's utter disillusionment with Tinder all too well. Finding a genuine connection amongst all the ghastliness can feel miraculous. Maybe it is not so strange that the characters should wish to jump at it. Despite the moments of moral queasiness, this is a fun and likeable book - a great pick for a beach read this summer.

Impossible is a genius bit of storytelling. It is a quick read and the twist will take readers by surprise. It's best going in knowing nothing besides the romance genre. Very heartfelt. Highly recommended!

Love the idea, but I'm not so sure of the execution. The twist is great as is the storytelling approach, the alternate povs and use of messages really add to proceedings. There's a delicious moment, very late on, when you realise how it all ties together - but at times it felt a bit of a slog getting there.

I read this one quickly and it did take me a while to understand what was going on in it. I was also reading this alongside another book with a similar concept which I didn’t realise until I had committed, but I actually really enjoyed this. I’m not usually into this kind of book and the unnatural, almost fantasy aspect, but I did enjoy this one.

I have mixed feelings about this one.

Nick and Bee meet online, and quickly establish a rapport. Bee is fed up with online dating throwing up mis-matches and, as their texting continues, really begins to feel a connection with Nick. They share the same sense of humour and, eventually - but not without reservations - they arrange to meet. However, despite being at the same place at the same time on the same day, they cannot find each other - what is going on?

This was heavily reminiscent of the film The Lake House with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves and I felt it wandered into the sci-fi genre (not one I'm fond of). However, the writing is excellent and the budding relationship between Bee and Nick is so strong and quite mesmerising at times - the reader couldn't help but root for them. There are so many moments which got to me - both happy and sad - that I would definitely recommend this one. For me, four stars.

Without giving too much of the plot away, Bee and Nick make accidental contact online and a sparky, quirky relationship develops.. but when they arrange to meet in person, its complicated.

This was different to my usual choice of books, I'm not a big rom com fan but this is well written and witty.

There was more of a sci-fi ish aspect than I'd anticipated but that makes a refreshing change to the genre. Solid 3 stars from me.

A twisting tale told through an email exchange, with funny and thought-provoking events but clearly a love story at its heart.

Nick and Bee start emailing by chance, but soon their daily updates become the highlight of both of their lives and they look forward to the next message to ping.
But something about their situation is … as the title suggests… impossible!

I enjoyed this book, it felt modern and fresh while being the sort of irreverent fun that reminds me of the mid-late 2000s and the media of the time.
If I were to make a film version of Impossible, which I’d love to see, I’d make it in the vein of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost like Hot Fuzz/Sean of the Dead style.
In fact, the motley crew members of the Berenstain Society gave me that kind of suburban busybody vibe and I kept imagining a screen adaptation.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access a copy of this book in exchange for my review.

This book started so well. It really kicked off in the heart of the action. The big confusion/plot twist that happens towards the beginning of the book was brilliant. I obviously wasn't expecting it and it was super intriguing. However, the confusion was resolved far too quickly and then the rest of the book has the characters trying to 'find a way.'
I would have liked the confusion to have lingered on for longer as this was the part that was interesting me the most. The final two thirds of this book lost my interest because of this. I was gutted as the book started so well, and it made it so original - it just turned into just another romance book.
Disappointing!!

🤯 Could not put this down after the first section. My god. What a book. I feel like no review can do it justice because it’s so complex, but perfectly so. It’s also impossible to review without spoilers 😬 Maybe best to sum it up as an epic tale, kind of like a cross between Layla, The Time Traveller’s Wife and One Day? But at the same time I’ve never read a book quite like it! Utterly heartbreaking and hopeless seeming at points. That epilogue though 😩

When a misdirected email lands in Bee's inbox she replies and so starts a wonderful friendship. Bee lives in London and Nick in Leeds, so when Nick splits from his wife they decide to meet because life is too short isn't it? Bee wears her red coat and stands under the clock in Euston Station, Nick wears his tweed suit and gets off the train to look for Bee...
It is 'impossible' to write a review of this book without including spoilers, and that's one of the in-jokes for those who've read it! The book starts as a bit of a sub-'One Say' but the twist comes early and it's a great one. The plot is full of holes, the tone very schmaltzy at times but it is a brilliant book - just read it!