Ante Vojnović's Reviews > The Impossible Girl

First and foremost, I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for my first ever ARC.

''Many things are possible. The human body's mysteries are finite but not yet solved.''

I can wait the day Goodreads will change it's rating system, because it's so hard to put a rating, especially when a book leaves you with your feelings split. This one is actually 3.5.

I always found 1800s an the first half of 1900s pretty interesting, because there is always something new to discover, something that was left out of history books. With this book in my hands I discovered some gross details about ressurectionists, or body snatchers. They were usually operating in small groups, digging out bodies of freshly buried people and selling them to medical schools for medical research or museums, all for a fair price. They also had a woman in the crew, and her role was to infiltrate the mourning family on funerals, during which they could confirm the exact burial site and make an assessment about potential risks.

Ressurectionism was Cora Lee's specialty. She was the ''weeping one'' on the funerals and the first to start digging under the night cover. But she was not doing this for the sake of money. This job was Cora's cover so she can sense the pulse of other body snatchers and the market requirements. Because her life depended on it. Because she was the girl with two hearts, the legend among resurrectionists.

I can hardly remember the last time a book left me with my feelings split. There are really so many things I liked in this book, but also a couple of things I didn't like.

The setting was really impressive. I haven't encountered New York in 1850's so many times. In The Impossible Girl you can almost feel the way life was flowing in the 19th century New York. Social picture and it's division, when it comes to question of female doctors, the manners, the life of the city. Everything was put masterfully.

Next to that we have a really mysterious environment, especially when the night falls and our body snatchers begin with their activities. And Cora Lee, who needs to be careful on every step she makes, because she can't never be sure enough someone hasn't connected her with the legend.

Also, medical precision. Lydia Kang is a physician herself, so it doesn't surprise me she did her research well when it comes to all the anomalies mentioned in the book, although I believe she did know a bunch of thing before.

The thing that bothered me the most is the romantic part. In my opinion, it watered down really interesting idea and the book that was promising to be a very good mystery. In those parts I could hardly recognize the main character, Cora. I know love can make people do some silly stuff, but this was beyond imaginable . Not only did it water the plot, it watered Cora. It's such a shame this romantic part took a large portion of the book, it really is. Don't get me wrong, although I'm not so much into romance novels, I like when romance entwines into something bigger. But romance in this book, to be honest, made some of the characters look like a silly teenagers in love.

I wouldn't like to end this review with negativism, so I must say, although some parts are slightly predictable, the final twist and the ending was really spectacular, the way a mystery should end.

After everything I've said, I think a decent rating for this book is 3,5 (just a small nudge to Goodreads to change their rating settings ;) )