The Impossible Girl

By: Lydia Kang

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Two hearts. Twice as vulnerable.

Manhattan, 1850. Born out of wedlock to a wealthy socialite and a nameless immigrant, Cora Lee can mingle with the rich just as easily as she can slip unnoticed into the slums and graveyards of the city. As the only female resurrectionist in New York, she’s carved out a niche procuring bodies afflicted with the strangest of anomalies. Anatomists will pay exorbitant sums for such specimens - dissecting and displaying them for the eager public.

Cora’s specialty is not only profitable, it’s a means to keep a finger on the pulse of those searching for her. She’s the girl born with two hearts - a legend among grave robbers and anatomists - sought after as an endangered prize.

Now, as a series of murders unfolds closer and closer to Cora, she can no longer trust those she holds dear, including the young medical student she’s fallen for. Because someone has no intention of waiting for Cora to die a natural death.

©2018 Lydia Kang. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

A well-told story!

This was quite good. I became aware of this book from a few positive reviews and once I read the book’s summary, I knew that I would have to give it a try as well. This was one of those books that I liked more and more as I read. It really didn’t take too long before I reached a point where I didn’t want to put the book down. I really had a great time reading this book.

Imagine living each day with the knowledge that you are worth more as a corpse than you are alive. That is exactly the situation that Cora deals with every day. Cora was born with two hearts which makes her very valuable. A fact that she has worked extremely hard to hide. She leads a double life posing as her twin brother, Jacob, when fitting. Cora/Jacob helps support her family by acquiring bodies for research and dissection along with her team.

Individuals with unusual physical features start dying at an alarming rate and bodies are disappearing before Cora’s group gets the chance to try to get their hands on them. Something is obviously going on and I had a great time trying to figure it all out. Just when I thought that I knew how things might go, something would happen and I would realize that I was completely wrong. I loved that this book kept me guessing. There were several mysteries happening at the same time and I found them all equally interesting and quite complex.

I thought that the characters were very well done in this book. Cora was smart, tough and resourceful and I found her to be really easy to like. I liked the fact that she was able to really put on a different persona when she was acting as Jacob. Theodore Flint really shook things up a bit in this story and I loved what his character brought to the story. I was never quite sure who should be trusted or which characters would prove to have their own agenda.

This was my first experience listening to Saskia Maarleveld’s narration and I think she did a fabulous job with this story. She really brought the story to life and did a great job with all of the character voices. I think that she was able to express a lot of emotion into her reading which made it possible to really feel what the character is going through at the time. I found that she had a very pleasant reading voice that I found easy to listen to for hours at a time.

I would highly recommend this book to others. This book had a girl with two hearts, a double life, some grave robbing, a rather complex mystery, a fantastic 1850’s New York setting, and even just a bit of romance. I found this to be a highly enjoyable read and cannot wait to read more from this talented author.

Book source: Kindle Unlimited

Great book!

I haven’t read a book that has been this unique in quite some time. The use of historical situations contribute to the uniqueness of this book tremendously! The authors medical and historical knowledge combined with the subject matter made for a fantastic book! Narrator was
Perfect for this book also!

wonderful!

An interesting intriguing story that twists and turns in many different ways - delightful, bizarre and heartbreaking. Deeply satisfying.

She is impossible in all ways but believable.

Macabre but so engaging. Great story telling. Performance perfectly matched. Recommended enjoyment. Thanks to the author.

Wonderful tale!!

The more I read by Lydia Kang, the more I’ve come to love this strange but magical genre of hers. It’s not totally mystical or fairy tale it’s not totally drama it’s not totally comical it’s not totally mystery or romance. It’s a strange scarf of these elements knitted together to wrap around you, warming you and enveloping you with it’s twisty plot and cast of unforgettable characters. The narrator is just perfect for the book! Don’t miss this one!

Modern Victorian

Well written, descriptive writing and intriguing female lead. I am a sensitive person and while there are some creepy & violent scenes in this book I didn’t feel to disturbed and these parts weren’t too gratuitous. The novel was more focused around the main character’s development. Living a life of paranoia, secrecy and isolation it is seemingly impossible for Kora to allow anyone to get close to her and yet allowing a select few into her inner world becomes paramount to her survival. I very much enjoyed the romance, blending some sweetness in with the darkness creating satisfying contrast.

Impossible Girl -

It was a good story but ending was a little abrupt. The narrator was good.

Engaging and haunting

Lydia Kang does it again, weaving a haunting take of magical realism, family, society, and romance into an un-put-down-able tale that will linger well past the final words.

Overall not engaging.

I found this to be pretty boring and juvenile. About the only thing I liked were the words and saying they used that pertained to the period the book was set in but some of those the author overused. Mab and reticule are two I can think of off the top of my head. The betrayal Cora experienced by two people that cared for her for her entire life seemed unrealistic and just thrown in as plot twists. Narration was good.

Overall I liked it

I loved the main character, but I wasn't thrilled about who the villains were.

An original story

I did find this book gripping in terms of story line. The setting is great and the historical and medical context in New York City during the late 1800s given in glimpses really attracted me to pick it up. Focus on resurrectionists of the time and the popularity of the illegal trade for medical advancement also drew me in.

I enjoyed the story overall, it wasn't morbid or too scary, which I appreciate, but there was suspense and action and there were some good twists. A lot of the time, though, it felt like the main character(s) were suspended on their own. Cora-Jacob character development was great, but I felt the test were lacking a little.

Overall I really liked the book and recommend it!