Thank you to Netgalley and Algonquin Young Readers in exchange for my honest review. A Pretty Implausible Premise it was a mixed review for me. I did overall enjoyed it

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this advanced reader copy in return for an honest review.

Let me begin by noting that I thoroughly enjoyed the plot. It's intriguing and engaging, and it piqued my curiosity. I only read YA on occasion, but this premise captivated me.

So, what happened then? I feel the author did an excellent job of transporting readers into the minds of two grieving kids. Grief is a powerful tragic feeling, yet the author accurately depicts it. We are also given access to their minds and everything within them, which is a great approach to getting to know the characters better.

Unfortunately, the exchanges between the major characters do not occur until later in the novel, which is excellent when we consider how well we came to know them but not so great when it comes to the progression of their relationship.

A Pretty Implausible Premise by Karen Rivers, 384 pages. Algonquin Young Readers (Algonquin Books), 2023. $19. lgbtqia
Language: R (126 swears, 39 “f” + British swears); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Hattie (17yo) and Presley (18yo) are living tragedies: separated parents, lost Olympic dreams, and dealing with grief over deaths close to them. Do two tragedies equal a happily ever after or a bigger disaster?
Rivers translated Hattie and Presley onto the page very well, which has its pros and cons. Readers have the opportunity to know and connect with the characters on a deep level, but the characters’ thoughts and emotions became discombobulating—which made sense for the characters but made for a difficult reading experience. Furthermore, Rivers is honest in the title, and I felt how implausible the story was being set up to be and lost interest. Until the end. The ending came together beautifully, and the more I think about it the more I like it.
Hattie is implied White, Presley is Scottish-Canadian, and Calliope is implied Black. The mature content rating is for underage drinking, partial nudity, innuendo, and mentions of genitalia, condoms, and sex. The violence rating is for mentions of suicide.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

🦇 Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

❝ “I think ghosts exist because we’re not ready to stop loving the people who died, and that kind of love doesn’t have a form to take, so it takes the shape of the person who was lost.” ❞

⚠️ Content Warnings: Abandonment, Car Accident, Child Death/Death, Chronic Illness, Grief

❓ #QOTD What memory do you associate with your favorite taste? ❓

🦇 Hattie and Presley are both haunted by ghosts. For Hattie, it's the young swimmer she couldn't save from drowning. For Presley, it's his twin brother; the one everyone seemed to love more. Between sharing grief, ghosts, and lost Olympic dreams, Hattie and Presley have more in common than they realize, leading to an instant connection that almost seems as implausible as love. When the ghosts of their pasts become too much, can they work through their trauma together, or will it tear them apart?

💜 Karen Rivers does a stunning job of slipping us into the minds of two grieving, traumatized teens who have turned those traumas into their form of normalcy. This is a story that, months into the future, I know will linger in my mind the way many books about grief do. Despite the heavy themes, however, the book is never really emotional in a way that causes us to grieve alongside the MCs. The lyrical, head-spinning prose forces readers to feel the weight of what Hattie and Presley feel, but many of these moments are fragmented. The story covers beautiful lessons like healing and forgiveness; feelings that are as messy as our MCs' minds.

🦇 Unfortunately, it's not until 45% of the way into this book that Hattie and Presley have any real interaction with one another. The book focuses on their individual traumas long before we see how their ghosts bring them together. Unfortunately, there's no real action in this book until readers are halfway through. The writer also relies on a long-winded, run-on sentence structure that, while reflective of how thoughts spiral in our heads, can become dizzying to read on the page. I've bit my tongue about this for a VERY long time, but I'm done. Too many books I've read, especially in the past year, rely on Taylor Swift references to get you to love the MC. Try anything else to make an MC relatable (because for many of us, it's not). Literally, anything else. There is so much to love about Hattie and Presley (who are beautifully weird in their own ways), that gets lost to thought spirals and references. There are also segments from the book Hattie is obsessed with (reading it helps ease her anxiety), that show us Hattie is living more in the book than she is in her own life. Those segments don't really add to the story until the end, though, and therefore steal too much space on the page. As a result, a lot of the character development felt rushed and unnatural.

🦇 Recommended for Fans of I'll Give You the Sun or The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson (which still weigh heavy on my heart), The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R Pan, or All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven.

✨ The Vibes ✨
🐋 Lots of Taylor Swift References
🦈 Unique, Winding Prose
⛸️ Young Adult Romance
🔥 Processing Grief/Trauma
📚 Book Within a Book

🦇 Major thanks to the author @karenrivers and publisher @algonquinyr for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #APrettyImplausiblePremise

It was both good and not good... I have complicated feelings. The characters were interesting but the growth felt unnatural.

I couldn't get past how this is written. So unfortunately for me I can give this a review that it deserves.

I was lucky enough to get an Arch copy. I enjoyed it so much. Love and dealing with past Trauma. I can’t wait to purchase this book.

It did take a bit to get into the story but over all, really nice.

Thank you NetGalley.

A Pretty Implausible Premise is a story about two young people who have gone through traumatic experienced. When I picked up A Pretty Implausible Premise I thought this was going to be a heavy and emotional read. Where two teenagers are dealing with an unbearable grief, absent parents, and haunted by the ghosts of their loss.

But as the chapters unfolded the book began to veer in a completely different direction. Let me give some context. The author chose to write a book within a book. Instead of flushing out the emotional turmoil the two main characters were experiencing, Rivers’ focused more on Hattie’s favorite book. There are literal chapters written in A Pretty Implausible Premise from Hattie’s favorite book and I kept thinking every time we stepped out of Hattie’s reality, why am I reading pages of another book within this book?

It was jarring when Hattie what equated to a panic attack and she stopped everything to find someplace she could go to read a chapter from the book. I understand that characters in books escape into the chapters of the books they love, but you’re usually not thrown out so frequently.

Although the book within a book didn’t work for me, and I had mixed feelings with the execution of the last quarter of the book, I was rooting for Hattie and Presley to find inner peace and a way to cope with their grief until the end.

Happy Reading ~ Cece

A Pretty Implausible Premise is a beautiful love story which deals with the trauma of grief and loss. Although this is a slow start I strongly recommend sticking with this as their are great twists and beautiful lessons to learn as the characters develop themselves and also fall in love. Overall I thought this was a wonderful story with uniquely fun characters and an interesting premise.

This story took me a second to get into, but when I did I fell pretty hard for it. Both Hattie and Presley have traumas in their past they need to work through, and both feel the impacts of these tragedies daily. When they meet, they seem to fall in love at first sight, which is not always my thing but I think the story does a good job of not making it feel as instant. I enjoyed some of the smaller plot twists in the story, as well as how the characters learned to deal with their griefs. The story is told with parts of another book in it, one that Hattie has become obsessed with since having a breakdown in the airport. I liked that both that story, and this one, taught how to deal with loss but also the forgiving oneself.

the author really said “i’m gonna take your heart, twist it, stomp on it, cut it in tiny pieces, glue everything back together before ripping it on 2 again” and honestly i let them. add taylor swift to that and of course i will give it a 5⭐️, i have to!

I have read Karen River's other books (All That Was is one of my absolute favorite books) so I was super excited, counting down the months to read this one! Even without seeing the name of the author i was instantly interested in it based off the cover.

I was no disappointed. There is something so unique about River's books that leaves me thinking about them for days after I finish them, and this one was no different. I am already looking forward to reading her next book. Also loved the Taylor Swift references.

This is a sweet YA romance that deals with grief and loss. There are ghosts, synesthesia, and Taylor Swift in this unique story. Recommended for ages 12+.

This book just was not for me. While I personally didn't enjoy it, I think others may. For me, this book was a bit triggering due to my past experiences, which heavily contributed to my dislike. I also felt like the romance wasn't very believable. Things escalated quickly, and the pacing was too fast for me. The book did have good elements to it. I really liked the side characters (Bug, Calliope, etc.). They were a fun addition. I liked how the book described synesthesia as well. Again, while it wasn't for me, I do think there are people who would enjoy this.

I loved A Pretty Implausible Premise. It was a real and raw YA love story, The characters both had their struggles within themselves that impacted their love, I love how this love story reflects more love in real life versus a love story wrapped up in a perfect bow.

I can understand the premise of finding someone right when you need them most. Hattie and Presley are both complex characters with broken dreams and bad pasts. I rooted for each of them and was hurting for their dreams because I know how hard it can be to have it all taken from you and you can't do anything about it. It was a good YA book for young adults trying to get into romance.

A Pretty Implausible Premise is a great young adult romance. This book grabs you from the start and you are hooked instantly. Hattie and Presley are amazing characters and their story is so heartbreaking it stays with you long after you’ve finished it. I can’t wait to read another book by Karen because this one was so good.