The book took a little bit to get into the groove of the writing style, this is my first time reading this author's work so It may be down to that. However, once I got into the story and the characters I found it to be a really good story about the end of life and what being in a hospice can be like. It does what it sets out to do, there's a little bit of everything and although you know ultimately where things are heading, it's no less enjoyable to go along for the ride.

Wow, what a book! Even though we all knew the ending to this one I still couldn’t help but want to read a few more pages to find out what was happening.
This book is so beautifully written it had me laughing, rolling my eyes then sobbing. Although it’s a story set in a hospice it’s not all doom and gloom. It’s life affirming and shows the power of friendships.

Sadly, this book did not work for me on a number of levels.

As someone familiar with loss and grief, I expected this story about the death of a young woman in end-of-life hospice care (and based on the personal experience of the author) to be illuminating, handled with sensitivity, and above all to connect with something deep inside me. Instead, I got a writing style that was brash, disjointed and difficult to follow, unconvincing characters, and a story that just didn’t resonate.

I struggled from the beginning, as I couldn’t get on board with the idea of a loving husband sending his dying wife away to a distant hospice, where her best friend of 40 years — rather than he — would be the one to oversee her final days. Notwithstanding the fact that a child was involved and that he could get there in a matter of hours, the very notion of this appalled me.

I understand that the aim was to show what it would be like for someone to undertake this onerous task. The necessary coping mechanisms, the emotional upset, the juxtaposition of everyday responsibilities with the demands of caring for someone in hospice. And to some extent, these ideas did come through. Just not in a way that moved me.

What’s more, I really struggled to warm to Ash, the carer and narrator of this sad tale, whose behavior (especially sexual) frankly baffled me. I get how disorienting such an experience must be, and I wanted to sympathize with her, but I couldn’t understand her enough to care.

Another criticism — minor, some might argue — was the naming of the characters. There’s a lot of them, which can be a challenge for readers at the best of times. So why give three of them names beginning with J — Jude, Jonah and Jules? I had a problem with this, and it definitely affected my ability to follow the story.

At the end of the day, this should have been a heartbreaking, thought-provoking read. For me it was neither. Even as an empath and a ready weeper, I didn’t shed a single tear. And I couldn’t help comparing it with two other books I’d recently read on a similar theme: Richard E Grant’s A Pocketful of Happiness and Fiona Scarlett’s Boys Don’t Cry, both of which conveyed the essence of the topic with the utmost tenderness and beauty.

Sadly, We All Want Impossible Things pales in comparison.

A heartbreaking read as we follow the last days of Edi who is dying of cancer. It's an emotional read but I found myself not fully falling into the book as it felt like we didn't really get to know Edi to connect with her and I wasn't able to truly warm up to Ash, the narrator. Thank you to to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

A touching poignant story of love and friendship, when one of the friends is diagnosed with terminal cancer and the other must accompany her through her final days squeezing joy out of everything they can. A tough but beautiful read.

I read this book in a day, such a heartbreaking read but full of love and celebration of friendship. I laughed and sobbed. Have only just finished and know I’ll be thinking about it for some time.

A tragi-comedy dealing with the end of life and how we support friends and family. Ash is helping her best friend Edi die in a hospice due to ovarian cancer. Edi has a young son, which makes the situation even more complex and harder to deal with. The story is from Ash's perspective and shines on a light in the darkness of loss, death, grief and the dark humour that can bring.

Having lost a family member a few months ago from cancer who went to a hospice 3 times, this was at times very close to home, but so well written.

I requested this book after a recommendation from a friend, and I have to say I felt a bit anxious about reading it. As someone with metastatic breast cancer, it looked like it might be a difficult read for me. As it turns out, I loved it.

The story centres on the few (very few) weeks that Edi spends in a hospice. Her best friend, Ash, is supporting her, and trying to manage her own messy, chaotic life alongside all this. It's funny, it's moving without being sentimental, it's engaging and absorbing, and it doesn't shy away from the messiness of dying - leaking stoma bags, changing sheets - and the way life carries on even when someone you love is dying.

I loved the fact that Edi is an absolutely three-dimensional person. She's not a saint, she's not a representative of "the dying" - she's grumpy, she's sad, she retains enjoyment of small things, she's as honest as it's possible to be. And Ash is great - caring, chaotic, messed up, doing her best to be a mother and a friend.

This book is all the cliches - it made me laugh. It made me cry. It's life affirming even though it's about dying. It's hopeful, even though it's about grief. It is all the cliches, and yet it's not a cliche - it's a warm, vulnerable, life affirming read, and there are lots of people I'm planning to give it to. So, thank you, Catherine Newman for writing it, and thank you NetGalley for letting me read it. I will re-read it, it meant a lot to me.

This book feels truly authentic and as such is relatable and very moving.

We all have to deal with death and the end stages of life at some point and the writing in this book is sad but also funny and uplifting.

It’s a very simple premise executed brilliantly.

Welcome to 2023 everyone! I have been so excited to share this review. We All Want Impossible Things is sure to be one of my very top reads of 2023 and is most definitely a book I will be recommending to anyone who will listen. It is one of those stories that genuinely grabs you and burrows into your heart and remains. As you’ll see from the blurb, this is the story of Ash and Edi, two women with a friendship that is almost as long as their lives and has taken them through highs and lows but now is reaching a devastating ending. Edi is in a hospice and Ash is supporting Edi through the final stage of her life whilst trying to make some sense of her own. Ash is struggling, doing her best, but struggling.

The friendship between Edi and Ash is a special one, and one that I don’t think many people ever truly experience. All too often life gets in the way and whilst there’s often good intention, people can drift apart. I adored seeing the little looks at events from their past and seeing how these have shaped their relationship.

The writing in this story is exquisite – there are times where I have wanted to (but I don’t write in books so haven’t) highlight sentences and paragraphs and store to return to. So often Catherine writes something which made me go ‘THIS, one hundred percent this.’ Her use of language is wonderful and so many emotions are evoked whilst reading her words. I had a lump in my throat through many parts of this story and needed some tissues more than one. But there were plenty of parts where I laughed and felt joy whilst reading. It is a true emotional rollercoaster in the very best possible way.

If you want a story to draw you in, grab your heart and connect you to some fabulous characters then this is the story for you. This book is everything. Truly everything.

It’s a rare kind of magic to find a book that makes you laugh out loud, then cry your eyes out a page or two later. This book had me sobbing and laughing and sobbing again, and though it’s only 2 January, I’m confident it will be one of my favourite books this year. Katherine Heiny meets Nora Ephron meets Meg Mason. If you loved Sorrow and Bliss, you’ll love this.

I’ve had an advance reader copy of this book for quite a while now but I put off reading it several times knowing it was set mainly in a hospice and is about a woman whose best friend is dying of cancer.

There will be lots of people for whom this is just too sensitive a topic. If this is something you think you can read, you’ll find a book so lovingly written, so full of humour and warmth, so clever and witty, so human. It’s heartbreaking but it’s worth it.

Set in the US between Massachusetts and New York, this book is an ode to friendship, to family, to complicated lives, to messy death, to those who work in hospice care, to the bottomless pool of grief we’re plunged into when we lose someone close to us. It’s so funny, and so sad, and so good. Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? Most definitely. 5/5 ⭐️

*We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman will be published on 12 January. Sincere thanks to the author, @doubledaybooks and @netgalley for the ARC. As always, this is an honest review.*

I am DNFing this at 30% as this isn't the story I was anticipating based on the blurb.

My expectation was that the plot would revolve around Ash AND Edi, focusing on their relationship and the time they spent together making memories and learning to cope with Edi's imminent death. What I actually got was a story that talked about food A LOT and had a female protagonist (Ash) who was very self-centred. Her internal monologue and reflection on past events made me suspect this wasn't just a coping mechanism in the here and now but was part of who she was.

Rather than the touching, gentle, moving tale of a terminal illness, the book felt brash, loud and, at times, sleazy. This just wasn't for me, due to personal preferences, though I am sure others will enjoy the book.

Oh wow, you really need a box of tissues to read this book! It is narrated by Ash, whose friend Edi has terminal cancer and is receiving end of life care in a hospice. We get a glimpse into Edi's last few weeks, as her husband and friends take it in turns to keep her company and help care for her. Their grief and anguish is reflected in different ways and hits them at different times and we see how they all support each other, whilst trying to make the most of every moment.

This is a  harrowing read, but  it is sensitively approached with the tongue in cheek wit of main character Ash. Beautiful, yet heartbreaking at the same time.

I'm not sure why I loved this book but I did. Maybe it's because of you've suffered the loss off a loved one you can equate better to the idea of loving someone and being able to let go. Best friends since early childhood , Ash seemed to cope well with providing end of life care to terminally ill Edi but was she just expert in putting up a good facade to help mask her inner grief? Seemingly having affairs with any man with a pulse, including the doctor helped to control her outward emotions. Although a very moving roller coaster of a story, it didn't leave me sad at the end.

Edi and Ash have been best friends since they were three years old. They've seen each other through all of life's ups and downs - relationships, marriages, divorce, childbirth, fertility struggles, grief - and now Ash is helping to take care of Edi at the hospice where she's receiving palliative care for terminal cancer.

I do not know what possessed me to request this ARC, because I've been avoiding books on grief - and this was definitely that. It's absolutely heartbreaking, and if you've had a loved one with a terminal illness or you've been involved with palliative care, I would warn you that this doesn't hold back. It's unflinching.

But it's in that unflinching rawness and pain that we find so much love, and indeed humour. This book is so, so funny. The banter between Ash and her daughter Belle, the realisation that hits the characters that they're concerned about completely mundane things during a crisis, the love they have for Edi in her declining state - it's just so powerful and beautiful. To be loved so much - what a joy that is.

The author dedicates this book to her friend, Ali Pomeroy, who she lost at a young age. The love she has for her friend shines through in the friendship between Edi & Ash - it's just gorgeous. Their little in-jokes, their little code words, their pure reliance on each other to get through life. It's a gorgeous tribute.

There was a part in here that floored me, made me bawl, and is making me cry again now while typing it - in this bit, Edi is upset about not being there to see her son growing up, about how she won't be able to comfort him or look after him. Ash tells her:

"All of that caretaking... all of it's in his bones. It's the actul stuff of his body and brain. The placenta you made from scratch. Your milk from nursing him. All those pancakes and school-lunch sandwiches, all of that food and care. Everything you've ever fed him. His whole self is made completely out of your love."

A beautiful, beautiful book.

This is a stunning book - full of messy emotion, wonderful connection, extended families and lifelong friendships. its quite short but not one to be rushed, each page is beautifully constructed and makes you think about your own life in quite an assessing way. It left me feeling emotional , its full of messy, beautiful, loving and delicious scenes and it is an utter treat to read

Edi has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and her best friend Ash has taken on the role of organising her end of life care, as Edi's husband is looking after their young son and supporting him through it. Edi has a place in a hospice, and her friends and family stay with her there all the time, swapping memories, supporting one another as well as Edi in their grief. There are happy silly moments too, Ash's teenage daughters are wonderful as is her estranged husband and i wanted to know all of them in real life,

I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a love letter to friendship and life - thank you!

My thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday publishing for the opportunity to review this novel.
How can a book be both heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measure.
I would recommend this to absolutely anyone, a truly memorable read.

Catherine Newman is an excellent story weaver. I admire an author who jumps straight into a potentially traumatic tale with both feet and guides the story smoothly. It felt effortless. I felt very comforted reading this novel, though it begins just before the inevitable grief of losing a beloved friend, it felt like a privilege to be allowed into the hospice during Edi’s last days alive. I enjoyed the dark humour with fondness, remembering my own experiences of losing someone in a hospice; it felt very real (the relationships and the conversations between friends) but also, there is a lot of love there near the end and Catherine dealt with that subject admirably. I also love the detailed visuals of memories and the scenes they share together. They felt very natural and real and awkward and funny. The main characters were flawed and not always liked for what they did or said, but this only made them more real for me. Thank you for allowing me to read this beautiful novel

I didn’t love this one, there wasn’t enough connection with the characters for me, which is important in a book like this where not a great deal happens.

We All Want Impossible Things is simply exquisite. A testament to friendship and to the glorious and tragic nature of life.

Told by Ash (who is an amazing narrator and who I want to be friends with myself), we are invited into that rarest of relationships - a true soul mate. Friends since preschool, Ash and Edi have the kind of connection rarely found. When Edi receives devastating news, it is Ash who stays by her side. It is Ash who takes the utmost care with her. Still able to smile together, to show love in a myriad of ways and to simply hold her hand, this time will have a profound effect on Ash.

Supported by a wonderful group of friends and family, this poignant story never becomes maudlin. It is bitterly sad, but also filled with moments that made me smile wryly. And it is ultimately life-affirming and a reminder to hold those we love that much closer.