Novel: The Impossible Boy
Author: Anna Martin
Genres: Romance, Mental Health, Music
Released: 2017
Part of Book Series: Series/Duology (The Impossible Boy #1)
Summary: This is not your average love story.
Ben Easton is not your average romantic hero. He’s a tattooed, badass, guitarist in a band, working in a perfectly horrible dive bar in Camden Town. His life is good, and he’s totally unprepared for how one man will turn it upside down.
Stan isn’t your average heroine. As a gender-fluid man, he proudly wears his blond hair long, his heels sky-high, and his makeup perfectly executed. A fashion industry prodigy, Stan is in London after stints working in Italy and New York City, and he quickly falls for Ben’s devil-may-care attitude and the warm, soft heart Ben hides behind it.
Beneath the perfect, elegant exterior, Stan has plenty of scars from teenage battles with anorexia. And it only takes the slightest slip for his demons to rush back in while Ben is away touring with his band, Ares. With Ares on the brink of a breakthrough, Ben is forced to find a way to balance the opportunity of a lifetime with caring for his beautiful, impossible boyfriend.
Post’s Author Opinion:
Note: This is a personal opinion, it does not reflect YaoiOtaku’s official position towards the novel.
I would like to see books like The Impossible Boy more. My book repertoire could be limited, but I have only encountered a handful of M/M books that feature gender fluidity and eating disorders. Commonly, eating disorders are associated with a girl mc, but, as the title suggested, this book features a gender fluid male that goes by the name Stan.
I like that, instead of dealing with villainous characters, the mcs are dealing with social issues. Most of the characters that appear are decent and I especially like Ben’s best friend, Tone. He serves as a comic relief as well as a voice of reason throughout the book.
The eating disorder part is only partially highlighted. I have to say the main incident came as a surprise. In other words, it was like the author only decided to throw it in there at the last minute. I think the book focuses more on Stan and Ben’s relationship and Ben’s rock band than the issues Stan has with his body.
To be honest, the book is not a literary gem. The language is simple and relaxed which, in a way, is good because I do love uncomplicated books. It tries to discuss some of the social themes in the LGBT community, but they aren’t too strong. To me, this book is just another boy-meets-boy storybook. Despite their compatibility, Stan and Ben both have insecurities, fall in love and realize they mean so much to each other that, even with the challenges, they are willing to work them out because the other person is worth the fight.
If you want to read a book that will give you the “aww that is so sweet” kind of feeling, I would suggest reading this novel. Writing-wise, it wasn’t the best piece out there, but the story was compelling enough for me to like it.
What’s your opinion on The Impossible Boy novel? Please let us know in the comments below.
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