Hello and happy Tuesday. When I was in my early 20s, I decided I’d write a novel with one of my best friends. Now that I’m revisiting it because I’m back into writing and I want to see what is salvageable, I am faced with the reality that it is extremely pretentious. This is what I found with Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa. It’s not a bad book, but it tries so hard to be deep that it becomes dense.

I think one can call this a slice-of-life novel told from the perspectives of Jeremy, Mira, and Sebby as they navigate a year in high school. The epigraph is a quote from Brideshead Revisited, and it was evident that this was at least somewhat inspired by the novel which was then adapted to movie format. I mean, there’s a character called Sebastian. It deals with mental health issues and other heavy topics, but it does so in a way that is almost ridiculous. Again, it’s not a bad book, but it was clear that it lacked depth and tact.