When a harsh email demanding payment for work done ends up in the wrong inbox, what starts off as two strangers musing over bad clients quickly grows into a casual friendship. From there, the conversation evolves into the start of a serious, albeit completely virtual, relationship. The pair soon learn a lot about each other's lives. Rebecca "Bee" Davies is a niche fashion designer with her own store, while Nicolas Belcher is a ghost writer in a failing marriage. When he finds out that his wife has been having an affair with his best friend, he decides he wants to meet this woman he only knows over their online chatting.
Unfortunately for Bee and Nick, it turns out they are in two similar but distinct universes. When they try to meet in person, the failed meet-cute leaves Bee feeling like she was being catfished and Nick is left in sheer confusion. Nick goes into a bit of a rabbit hole of research and eventually comes to the conclusion that the strange and obviously wrong references that Bee has made must mean she is from a different reality (because seriously, what even is a "Brexit"). When Bee, reluctantly, opens communication again, the two compare notes and start to determine the implications of what they've discovered, including the very real fact that the two can never physically be together. They can only communicate via email, and only with text since it seems anything more complex, like photos, doesn't make it across whatever strange glitch is allowing this cross-dimensional communication to happen.
So where does this leave our multiverse star-crossed lovers? Can the pair find some way to bridge the gap and be together? Can a group of people who believe they are from a different dimension help get the couple together? I will say, The Impossible Us went in a direction I wasn't really expecting, and it did so early on. I don't want to get into any real details here because I don't want to ruin the ride in any way. Suffice it to say, Bee and Nick don't take their situation lying down and they will do anything, well almost anything, to be together.
Sarah Lotz has written a wonderful vacation-read that puts you squarely in the mindset of both characters as they feel out their virtual companion, realize their strange situation, and learn how to move forward given their unusual circumstances. Many chunks of the book are conveyed as back-and-forth email conversations, while the chapters that are from a particular person's POV show the other's communication as little snippets and inserts as if it was dialogue. The conversations, while definitely different, are clearly conveyed and often lead to hard-to-put-down chunks where you find yourself tearing through large portions of the book without even realizing it.
If you are looking for a fun one-off read and you are looking for a love story with a twist, then The Impossible Us might just be the book for you.
