tiny book review.2025.n4 -- The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

 

The first I'd heard of Matt Haig was when a friend recommended The Humans last fall. Read it. Loved it. Then I read another--How to Stop Time--which was ok, but not my favorite. Then Valerie recommended The Life Impossible and it was, again, lovely. My favorite of the three.

What Matt Haig succeeds at is writing a fun, easy-reading novel that somehow packs a punch full of thought. I wanted to write a philosophical punch, because it is, but sometimes that big p-word sort of scares people off, or makes it seem weightier and more dense, and that's not the feel you get reading these novels. The undertones are of weighty stuff, but served with such fun stories that if feels light. All three of his books I've read do this, so I assume that's his thing. 

Beyond that goodness, The Life Impossible is set in Ibiza, which I love (I haven't been to Ibiza, but I'm a regular visitor to Mallorca, so, you know, kinda the same feels...) And the taste of oranges is a bit that is central to the theme, and, well...American oranges just plain suck compared to Mallorcan oranges, so I get it. (Seriously, I love them so much. The oranges and the olives. They're everything.)

Anyway... This book is a strong recommend. It's a fun story told in a lovely voice with undertones of profundity that made reading it feel like dinner and dessert all in one.

5 of 5 stars.