ARC Review: Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood

Title: Six Impossible Things Author: Fiona Wood Published: August 11, 2015 by Little Brown Books for Young Readers  (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: Fourteen year old nerd-boy Dan Cereill is not quite coping with a reversal of family fortune, moving house, new school hell, a mother with a failing wedding cake business, a just-out gay dad, and an impossible crush on Estelle, the girl next door.  His life is a mess, but for now he's narrowed it down to just six impossible things...

**** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ****

I went into this book not really sure what to expect, I was a little nervous to say the least. I'm not a big fan of contemporary romances but something about this book seemed interesting to me. I'm glad I gave it a chance though because because despite the fact that I think this is a book that will appeal to fans of contemporary romances a little bit more than it appealed to me, I did enjoy it.

For me it was a compelling coming-of-age story, something I do actually enjoy in my YA contemporary. Dan, our main character, is going through a tough time. Life as he knows it just got upended and he takes this as an opportunity to start fresh. Which I can definitely understand. It also led to some interesting character development. Yes this was about Dan becoming his best self but it was also about him figuring out who that is, but it does kind of come off as cliche at times. While it's genuine to the teenage experience, the desire to be cool didn't come off well at times. And I think that's because while Dan is described as being sort of a nerdy kind of guy that's not to way he really comes off. He's more of your average guy next door, an Everyman. But he's also not easy to like at times and wow, does he make some really bad decisions. And despite never really connecting with him and his choices, seeing him grow and evolve throughout the book was one of the must satisfying things.

The romance too was not something that I fully connected with but in the end, had a satisfying conclusion. I think my problem is that I also never really connected with Estelle either. She just seemed kind of bland to me. She had the trappings of being a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but thankfully she wasn't that way at all. Though unfortunately I didn't really feel like I got to know her very well. She was honestly most likable in the beginning when she and Dan had barely met. Then suddenly they were friends and it made the relationship between her and Dan seem a little superficial. But that being said, I did ultimately liked the way it ended. And I think that it was teenage romance done right though. Instant attraction, but an actual relationship grows with time. Although there were some really frustrating moments on the characters' part when it came to the romance. 

On the whole it was well-paced and surprisingly well-plotted. Six Impossible Things isn't really light and fluffy, which I prefer in my contempt, but it's also not super serious either. It took me through an interesting ride that was both a romance and a coming-of-age story and kept me reading until the very end. It was a quick read and I breezed through it. I enjoyed the experience despite the fact it didn't quite blow me away. If you are a fan of YA contemporaries that walk the line between serious and lighthearted, pick this one up.

I give Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood 7 out of 10

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. If you are a contemporary fan then maybe pick this one up from the library. It's an interesting book that is definitely readable and a you'll finish it in no time at all but it didn't quite blow me away.

Have you read Six Impossible Things? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!