Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa

Publisher: Balzer and Bray
Release Date: September 8, 2015 
Synopsis:

Mira is starting over at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to pretend that she could act like a functioning human this time, not a girl who can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby.

Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn, it’s as if he’s been expecting this blond, lanky boy with mischief glinting in his eye.

Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and impromptu road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives.

As Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira’s world, he begins to understand the secrets that they hide in order to protect themselves, to keep each other safe from those who don’t understand their quest to live for the impossible. 

Review: 

This is a book which will make your heart ache. It is beautifully written without using overly flowery language. Each of the three main characters is compelling in their own way. It also includes important discussions about mental illness. The narrative ensures that it is clear that mental illness is never the fault of the person with the illness. 

The book also includes several gay characters who think about their sexuality uniquely and while some of them suffer with it, not all of them do. Even though Sebby is referred to as Mira's "gay best friend" in the synopsis, this is not how he is portrayed in the book. The narrative doesn't shy away from the fact that Sebby is gay, and he's also an unapologetic flirt, but he isn't written as a caricature. 

Each of the three main characters is written in a different point of view, which I found very interesting. Jeremy's chapters are in first person, Mira's are in third and Sebby's are written in the second person. I'm sure there are other books written this way, but I've never read one written this way. Playing with point of view can be difficult but I think Scelsa did this really well. It helped differentiate between the characters and each character's voice was unique, though the overall tone of the book was cohesive. 

There aren't very characters who are explicitly characters of color but Mira comes from an interracial family. It is explicitly discussed that her father is black and her mother is white. It discusses her sister embracing her natural hair and a host in a restaurant assuming their mother is not related to them. She is also drawn as biracial on the cover despite the fact that only her legs are visible. 

This book is not a page turner, but rather keeps you invested emotionally. The end was gripping in its own way and it was a powerful and fitting ending.