EyebrarianPrize winnersGet the app

Books › The Summer of Impossible Things

Cover of The Summer of Impossible Things

The Summer of Impossible Things

432 pages

A poignant, magical exploration of grief, sisterhood, and the ultimate sacrifices we make for the ones we love.

What it feels like

Reading this book feels like stepping through a doorway between grief and wonder. It blends the heavy, grounded reality of losing a mother with the breathless urgency of a magical second chance. The narrative moves at a brisk, suspenseful pace as it navigates the complex bonds of sisterhood and the profound weight of family secrets. There is a deeply nostalgic and bittersweet mood that permeates the story, contrasting the sorrow of the present with the vibrant, impossible hope of the past. The prose is emotional and atmospheric, drawing the reader into a high-stakes emotional journey. It will deeply satisfy readers who crave poignant family dramas where love is tested by the boundaries of time and the ultimate cost of sacrifice.

Mood
  • nostalgic
  • magical
  • poignant
  • suspenseful
Tone
  • earnest
  • urgent
  • bittersweet
  • reflective
Pace
brisk
Themes
maternal bonds · sisterhood · the weight of the past · sacrifice · grief and healing
The writing
Emotional and atmospheric, blending the grounded reality of grief with the wondrous impossibility of magic.
The arc
Moves from the heavy sorrow of loss and unanswered questions into a desperate, magical race against time, culminating in a profound choice about love and sacrifice.
Who it's for
Readers who love emotional family dramas woven with a touch of magical realism and high-stakes time travel.
Content notes
  • death of a parent
  • grief

About the book

If you could change the past, would you?

Thirty years ago, something terrible happened to Luna’s mother. Something she’s only prepared to reveal after her death.

Now Luna and her sister have a chance to go back to their mother’s birthplace and settle her affairs. But in Brooklyn they find more questions than answers, until something impossible — magical — happens to Luna, and she meets her mother as a young woman back in the summer of 1977.

At first Luna’s thinks she’s going crazy, but if she can truly travel back in time, she can change things. But in doing anything — everything — to save her mother’s life, will she have to sacrifice her own?

Description from Open Library.

Books like The Summer of Impossible Things

See why they match