The general consensus seems to have been that this was an inoffensive if not exciting or inspiring book and the average score was 5.5. Individual reviews are below.

Rachel
Very evocative with pretty prose. I felt myself wanting to spend the summer in the town! I liked the protagonist grappling with her emotions and her relationships with the other characters - but the plotline with the lights fell a bit flat and petered out. I thought the story would have been better without it. The pacing also felt a bit slow at times. I also found the relationship between Natasha and Marcus a bit confusing, not really understanding why they stopped being friends. 7/10

Eve
Beauty of the Impossible Things. I read most of this book but really could not bring myself to finish it. I found that towards the end, the dialogue became so similar that it was impossible to know if I was reading something I had read before. The characters were rather wishy washy, none of them particularly likeable or not likeable. It was an easy book to read, but I fear it did not encourage me to finish the book, as nothing seemed to happen and the conversations were so similar. Disappointingly, I can only give it a score of 3.

Arleen
I will give it 5/10. I found it an easy read but with not much substance.

Cat
I enjoyed this book. Most of the characters were odd or written in an odd way. The supernatural element of the story was held in doubt all the way through but maybe what mattered more was how the main character Natasha felt about her 'gift' rather than whether it was real or not. I didn't see the point of the therapist meetings - they didn't seem to add anything to the story or enlighten us in any way. I felt that the story of what happened was enough. I thought the atmosphere of the seaside town was brilliantly done. There was a bit too much of a build up of 'what happened that summer' so it felt a bit anti-climactic but still a good read so 6/10

Selina
This was not a genre that I would normally read and had no idea what to expect. The story centres around just one summer in the life of Natasha, a 15 year old girl who has precognitive abilities. It is told retrospectively 30 years later when Natasha looks back on her life during sessions with her Therapist.
She is a lonely child, living with her young, beautiful, Mother who keeps herself and Natasha isolated, seemingly because she is ashamed of being an unmarried Mother. The story is set in a small seaside town in Ireland where such things possibly assume greater importance than readers elsewhere would expect.
Characters in the book are described only from Natasha’s perspective and lack any real depth. They are there only as a backdrop to the events that are unleashed as a result of decisions made by Natasha over that one fateful summer.
How Natasha reacts to her abilities, coupled with the difficulties of adolescence, cause anguish both to herself and to her Mother, as jealousy, fear of separation and manipulation by others all play their part. All of those things are relevant to the decisions she then makes.
It was not a ‘page turner’ but neither was it a difficult read. I read to lose myself in a good story and whilst I found the basis for this one quite interesting, for me it needed to go deeper. I did not feel involved. The impact of all that had happened was never really felt. The therapy angle suggested that the repercussions were huge, but these were never explored. I wanted to know more about what happened afterwards (and even before), both to Natasha and all the other characters, that fateful summer. For that reason I felt very dissatisfied when I came to the end.
This would not be an author from whom I’d eagerly be awaiting the next novel, or one I’d pick up out of choice. I award it only 5 for that reason. I could not identify with the main character and really did not like her very much - but maybe that was the point?

Ffion
Within the opening pages I thought this book would be right up my street, especially with the mention of therapist and client- a link to my job! But alas that didn’t last, the therapist made only had a handful of mentions in the book.

It was an interesting idea, and I liked all the characters and the heaviness to their lives. Yet, the story felt incomplete at the end. I still had so many questions. I do think it was a well written story, likeable characters, an interesting dynamic between mother and daughter- I just wanted a little more from the story.

I’d give the book a 7/10



Carolyn

Although I wouldn't normally have chosen The Beauty of Impossible Things to read I found it easy and quick to read and quite enjoyed it. I liked most of the characters and felt sympathetic towards Natasha who had a lot going on in her head, her Dad leaving, thinking she wasn't as attractive as her Mum, foreseeing events, guilt about Marcus and Lewis dad's deaths etc.
Doctor Black seemed a bit odd and not very helpful. I didn't find it haunting or scary though.
I give it 6

Sonia
I did not expect to like this book as it is not a genre I would normally pick but I found that as it went on the more I enjoyed it but I would find it hard to explain why!. None of the characters were particularly likeable but that didn't matter and I found Natasha cruel in many ways. Several of the characters seemed a bit pointless to me - Dr Black for one and the therapist for another. Both seemed to come in and then out of the story without adding to it and the lights seemed irrelevant in the end. A strange story but not unpleasant, well written and easy to read. I would give it a 5