BOOK REVIEW: The Impossible Story of Olive in Love by Tonya Alexandra

Stephanie O'Connell | 3 July 2017 | Reply

BOOK REVIEW: The Impossible Story of Olive in Love by Tonya Alexandra

Harlequin
April 2017
Paperback, $14.99
Reviewed by Steph O’Connell

Young Adult

7.5/10

I get that I’m impossible.
I get that I’m mad and rude — perhaps even a drama queen at times.
But you’d be impossible if you lived my life … You’d be impossible if you were invisible.
Shakespeare was an idiot. Love is not blind. Love is being seen.

Plagued by a gypsy curse that she’ll be invisible to all but her true love, seventeen-year-old Olive is understandably bitter. Her mother is dead; her father has taken off. Her sister, Rose, is insufferably perfect. Her one friend, Felix, is blind and thinks she’s making it all up for attention.

Nobody has seen her — until she meets Tom: the poster boy for normal and the absolute opposite of Olive. But how do you date a boy who doesn’t know you’re invisible? Worse still, what happens when Mr Right feels wrong? Has destiny screwed up? In typical Olive fashion, the course is set for destruction. And because we’re talking Olive here, the ride is funny, passionate and way, way, way, way dramatic.

This story is for anyone who’s ever felt invisible.
This story is for anyone who sees the possible in the impossible.

‘I just want the truth, Adonis!’ I call out.
He turns back and flings it at me. ‘Loneliness, okay?’ I flinch. His words are like shrapnel. ‘I see goddamn loneliness!’
‘You can see that?’ I’m completely dumb-struck.
He blinks, doesn’t say a word. There is nothing to say. I’m a loner, a loser, a freak—and he can read it clear as sunshine in my eyes.”

Olive is undoubtedly abrasive, selfish, and a little unbalanced, but that’s not too surprising given the circumstances. Hers is a tale of a kind of instalove, but again, this cannot really be avoided, based on the set up and her “condition”.

The miracle of it hits me again. If the curse is true, Tom is my true love. But is he? What other explanation could there be for him seeing me? Nobody has ever seen me before, not Ma, not Dad, not me. To everyone in the world, besides Tom, I’m invisible.
But he doesn’t have to know that. Right?

It may take a little while to get into the story, as readers will likely find themselves viewing Olive’s behaviour through a more traditional lense, but as they read on they’ll start to understand just what this curse means for her, and will start to walk in her shoes.

Tom looks like he wants to punch him. He passes me his popcorn but I can’t take it. The guy will freak out if a box of popcorn is floating in mid-air. I let it land on my lap and it spills all over the floor. I don’t move to pick it up.
‘You’re not going to help me out here?’ Tom says to me, incredulous.
I keep my mouth shut. I can’t say anything. The guy moves away and whispers something to his friends, and they all turn to look at Tom. ‘He’s talking to his “girlfriend”.’ They laugh.

But once you’re in, you’re bound to share some laughter and sadness with Olive, as she deals with things we never will, and other things we’re only too familiar with.

Though the main catalyst here is Tom’s ability to see Olive, there is a lot more to this story than the instalove. Here you’ll find friendship, family, heartache, and a curse that is rather more complicated than “meets the eye” so to speak.

The Impossible Story of Olive in Love is ultimately an uplifting, hopeful story, with a decent dose of raw heartache and loneliness to balance it out.