Wednesday, June 21, 2017

The Possible by Tara Altebrando-- Podcasting + Telekinesis Got Me Hooked

The Possible
Kaylee's past has been left behind and moved on from-- until a podcast producer shows up asking questions about it.  Suddenly, Kaylee feels like she needs answers to questions she didn't even know she'd been asking.

When Kaylee was 4, her bio-mom murdered her baby brother.  The thing is, before all that, her bio-mom was sort of infamous for being telekinetic-- or pulling a telekinetic hoax??  Now with Liana looking into both the murder and the telekinetic events, Kaylee feels like this is the opportunity she's been waiting for to find out if telekinetic powers run in the family.














The Possible was an interesting book that intrigued me because of that maybe supernatural element.  Was Crystal (Kaylee's bio mom) able to move things with her mind?  Was it all fake??  I love reading a whole book not knowing if it's going to be something other.

While I really liked the story and just HAD to know what was going to happen-- the characters??  Not so much.  Kaylee was harsh.  She doesn't know if she inherited powers from her bio-mom or not, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that she inherited sociopathic traits from her.  Not to say that Kaylee is evil, but she definitely doesn't have a lot of empathy or thoughts about how things will effect other people.

The other characters weren't much better.  There are the 2 best friends (Chiara and Aiden), a love interest (Bennett), and the podcast woman (Liana)-- and literally NONE of them are the type of characters that you root for.  As soon as I thought one of them was going to be that person-- BAM, they did something callous and indifferent that made me be like: NOPE.

In spite of that, I still really liked this book.  It reminded me a lot of The Leaving, which I read last year.  It was full of characters that I was just NOT feeling, but the story was compelling enough to keep me reading and wanting to know.

The ending was interesting-- but I definitely thought it could have been better.  Like with The Leaving, I was a tad underwhelmed.  Some of it was a bit far-fetched, but getting there was a fun and page-turning ride.

The best part-- I loved all the text, script, and news article elements.  I'm a huge sucker for epistolary elements in books.

The worst part-- OMG Tara Altebrando totally dissed Pittsburgh (my hometown city).  Kaylee flies to Pittsburgh for a brief visit, and she makes it sound like it's a place people go to fail.  I'm just going to leave this link HERE for Ms. Altebrando to let her know that people indeed do travel to Pittsburgh.

OVERALL:  The story, not the characters, drove this book.  I got really invested in the MAYBE supernatural elements-- and the sort of murder/mystery.  I didn't vibe with any of the people in this book, but I didn't really need to??

Date Published: 6/6/2017
How I got this book: Thanks to Bloomsbury for providing me a copy to read and honestly review
Publisher: Bloomsbury


Add it to your to-read list!!

My Rating: 4/5







Character: Kaylee Novell
Book: Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn

  • I guess I think the characters and the messed-upness would appeal to Kaylee.  Plus, there's the adoption in this book and the family secrets.







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11 comments:

  1. I have this out from the library right now. I'm intrigued by your mixed feelings. :)

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    1. It's definitely worth reading... can't wait to see what you think!

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  2. Apparently she hasn't been to Pittsburgh since the 90's because RUDE! But still this does sound interesting. I usually love unlikeable characters and the podcast stuff sounds cool for obvious reasons!

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    1. You would probably like this. It's about the podcast A LOT-- plus, it was sort of cool that all the characters were not likable.

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  3. I'm adding this to my wishlist right now! I love a book that isn't strictly supernatural but could be....

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    1. I love that too!! It always makes me fly through it because I HAVE TO KNOW!!

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  4. Interesting. I usually struggle with books when the characters are prickly. I am glad you got along with them okay. I too am a sucker for the epistolary format. I love it. Obviously the author isn't a fan of Pittsburgh, that isn't cool.

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  5. I can see why you'd be interested in the telekinetic mystery, but that's too bad you didn't like the characters. I think it can be done, but it's a tricky thing to write characters with sociopathic traits and make them likeable or the kind you root for. Especially if all the characters are like that. Glad you still enjoyed the book though!

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  6. I've read one of Tara's books before (The Leaving) and was NOT a fan, but this one sounds sooo good, even though I usually don't like books with the dystopian aspect. That cover is to die for. lolol. I haaaate when my hometown/homestate is dissed, too. I've never seen my hometown mentioned in a book before, sadly. :( It was mentioned in Remember The Titans! (Old reference gah.) NJ is always looked down upon tbh haaa. So glad you liked the book!

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  7. Interesting ... I struggled with the Leaving but I would definitely try this!
    Jen @ YA Romantics

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  8. It's too bad the characters aren't as great as the concept. I do find this to sound interesting though and may check it out soon!

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