An advanced reading copy has been kindly provided by Harlequin Teen via Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest opinion
5 stars!
First some facts about this book:
-it’s a page turner;
-it’s high school drama BUT among Boston Blue Bloods (Gossip Girls much? Love it!);
-a near disaster was averted;
-everyone is hiding something so have fun guessing the secrets;
-the heroine is resilient beyond anything else. You’ll wish to have a daughter just like her. Or to be her;
-brooding hot guy on the horizon. Mysterious, distant, more than handsome and … hiding secrets of course!
-this is a coming of age story really well executed with characters diversity.
So let’s get in the nitty gritty of some of these facts.
–Page turner.
I did not want to stop reading. Of course it happens when the kids are hunting you to help with the finals, the dog is making “puppy eyes” to have her walk and hubs just has to have his shirt ironed. This called for extreme measures. I pretended going to the gym and hid in the parking lot just to finish this story. One pound more maybe but I was so relieved!!!
I was the first surprised by my addiction!
I’ll be honest here: so far I only had read “On Dublin Street” by Samantha Young. Everyone was raving about the book. I really did like it but could not totally grasp all the fuss. Sure it was a very good story and I enjoyed myself. I just wasn’t wowed by it.
I was not prepared to be knocked on my butt by this YA story! Yet the bruises on my left cheek are testimony to me falling head over heels for this book 😉
-High School drama among Boston Blue Bloods.
When I read the blurb of “The Impossible Vastness of US” I was really intrigued. I love YA and this seemed my cup of tea: a teen uprooted from her low-middle class life to enter Boston high society thanks to her mom marrying a Blue Blood. In her new school she’ll discover she is not alone hiding secrets. A step-sister and her gorgeous boyfriend plus high school “clique” complete the cast.
Of course you have students lashing at others, rumors being spread all this while wearing Prada and walking in Jimmy Choo. This is sinfully decadent for me! I never gossip but my guilty pleasure is reading gossips and witnessing girl fights in High School halls. You won’t have real cat fights but claws are out and tongues are sharps!
-Near disaster averted.
The first pages were not promising. I began rolling my eyes, thinking the heroine was just a brat and that teenagers did not really speak like that “Eau de Teenage Turd”, “Freak with me”, etc.
Really I was all: “Oh Hell what have I done requesting this book?”
Well Hell must be frozen because soon enough I was really sucked into the story.
-Everyone is hiding something.
Well the title is “The impossible vastness of Us”, implying there are many depths and layers to the character’s lives.
If India’s secret is soon uncovered we have to wait a little longer to find what Finn’s aloofness hides and even more to get to Eloise’s secret. Honestly I did guessed most of the secrets but it was heart breaking nonetheless.
It reminds us sometimes we can be trapped in our life, buried under guilt and shame. But we are our own enemies as often we should not hide but shout. Everyone has a right to be accepted for who he/she is. No matter what.
–The heroine is resilient beyond anything else. You’ll wish to have a daughter just like her. Or to be her;
India had suffered so much and it was really hard reading about her suffering as a kid. She is scarred and keeps reliving her past from time to time. Never again will she be so helpless. Control is of the utmost importance. India was a wonderful character to get to know. She’s been through so many things but refused to turn into someone bitter and self-centered. She has a huge inner strength and she really was the pillar of this story. Any mother would be proud to have a daughter like her.
Strong, independent, determined, smart, beautiful and caring.
-brooding hot guy on the horizon. Mysterious, distant, more than handsome and … hiding secrets of course!
Finn was gorgeous. I mean male model gorgeous. His family was also crazy rich. He had everything he wished right? Right? Well no. Even star students hide something and can feel lonely inside.
Trapped even.
–Coming of age story really well executed plus characters diversity.
I won’t spoil your fun but the diversity of topics featured in this book is one of its main assets. Readers looking for complex and diverse issues affecting teenagers and people in general won’t be disappointed.
What Samantha Young achieved was really brilliant: changing my perception. The character’s evolution or rather the character “reveal” was faultless. From a preconceived idea about many of them I discovered right alongside India that no matter what, everyone has secrets and can hurt. Wealthy or not you still suffer the same. You sometimes hurt others just to protect them. Hell’s road is paved with good intentions.
These engaging characters hurt. They hate, they love, they forgive…they grow up. It’s life. It’s messy. It’s just beautiful.
So did I love it? A thousand yesses!
Would I recommend it? Definitly.
I even plan on buying it in my mother language as a gift to my teenage daughter. I love bonding through books with my kids!
Last parting note just for Samantha Young: pretty please Mrs Young if you could give me even more of these characters I would be in heaven!
Amazing review Sophie!
Thank you so much Mia! 😉