Impossible.

Impossible, by Nancy Werlin

Call to mind the song, Scarborough Fair. The lyrics, apart from the beautiful melody, are a bit strange, aren't they?

Take this verse for example: (Thanks Wikipedia!)

Tell him (her) to make me a cambric shirt,

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,

Without a seam or needle work,

Then (s)he'll be a true love of mine.

A seemingly impossible task is set before the singer's love. That thought, and the reasons behind the song, were the inspiration for this book. Lucy, the seventeen year old whom the story follows, is forced to attempt the completion of all the tasks listed in the song, (in her family's version of it, the author took a few liberties to shorten and amend the better known versions out there) or become slave to the fae who cursed her family generations before.  

 This is not a gentle book. Lucy is emotionally tortured, her mother has been insane since Lucy's birth, and there is a rape. I was honestly shocked when I found out this was considered a teen book, well after I'd read it. I would personally call it adult fiction, and would not recommend it to the average teen. It is, however a very good book, in my opinion. Despite the overwhelming amount of frenzied darkness that is in this book, that Lucy is asked to face, there is also small but strong undercurrent of hope running throughout. It is as enchanting as it is haunting. Overall, this is a book I'm continually drawn back to read again.