These Impossible Things – review (AD)
I was kindly given an electronic copy of These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany in exchange for an honest review*.
These Impossible Things book blurb
A razor‑sharp debut novel of three best friends navigating love, sex, faith, and the one night that changes it all.
It’s always been Malak, Kees, and Jenna against the world.
Since childhood, under the watchful eyes of their parents, aunties and uncles, they’ve learned to live their own lives alongside the expectations of being good Muslim women.
Staying over at a boyfriend’s place is disguised as a best friend’s sleepover, and tiredness can be blamed on studying instead of partying.
They know they’re existing in a perfect moment. With growing older and the stakes of love and life growing higher, the delicate balancing act between rebellion and religion is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate.
Malak wants the dream: for her partner, community, and faith to coexist happily, and she wants this so much she’s willing to break her own heart to get it.
Kees is in love with Harry, a white Catholic man who her parents can never know about.
When he proposes, she must decide between her future happiness and the life she knows and family she loves.
Jenna is the life of the party, always ready for new pleasures, even though she’s plagued by a loneliness she can’t shake.
Through it all, they have always had each other. But as their college years come to a close, one night changes everything when harsh truths are revealed.
As their lives begin to take different paths, Malak, Kees, and Jenna—now on the precipice of true adulthood—must find a way back to each other as they reconcile faith, family, and tradition with their own needs and desires.
These Impossible Things is a paean to youth and female friendship—and to all the joy and messiness love holds.
My overall thoughts on These Impossible Things
I really enjoyed These Impossible Things which follows three best friends, Kees, Malak, and Jenna as they navigate leaving university into that strange transition period into true adulthood while also navigating love, religion, faith, and maintaining their relationships.
Kees is in love with Harry, a Catholic man who if she marries means losing her family who will disown her.
Malak desperately wants to live up to her family’s expectations so she leaves what she knows she wanted and
Jenna is the “wild child” of the group who is trying to figure out what she really wants but wants to save her virginity for marriage.
All three women are trying to figure out how they fit into the expectations of their families and of Muslim women.
They have incredibly complex and different views on how their religious views affect their relationships, social lives, sex lives, and, ultimately, all these create tension among their own friendship.
I really resonated with the big fight and losing touch for a long time having experienced this myself, it is incredibly painful to miss out on each other’s lives after such a long friendship.
Salma El-Wardeny perfectly writes the feeling of loneliness as people transition into adulthood. I really felt like I got to know these three women and was taken on an emotional rollercoaster.
I was rooting for all three of them and just wanted the best for them.
Please be warned this book does have some trigger warnings: sexual abuse, domestic violence, gas lighting and abortion.
Female friendships are so powerful and I loved that about this book. I know I would be lost without my two best friends.
And like Kees, Jenna and Malak we’re all different but without a shadow of a doubt if one of them asked me to get on a plane I’d do it because these girls are my best friends and through thick and thin we will always have each other’s backs.
I also really liked Harry, Jacob and Lewis and their friendships, they actually gave me faith in men (which gets lost in this book) and made me feel so lucky to have my own good man who is my biggest supporter.
This book will have you thinking about it long after you read it with its beautiful writing and powerful storyline.
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*Disclaimer
This review has been written with 100% honesty.
I was not financially compensated for this post. I was given an advance copy of this book for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own based on my own experience.
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