Fire&Ice Blog Hop: Impossible by Komal Lewis [Review, Interview, Give@way!]

Fire&Ice is a Blog Hop hosted all winter long, which feature romantic novel for icy cold nights! See the entire schedule here!

As part of the hop, I decided to feature the super kind Komal Lewis, author of Impossible, who offered for this stop, 3 Kindle copies of her book!

Impossible 
With me #1
Author: Komal Lewis
Published: 24th October 2012
Publisher: Createspace
Format: eARC
Source: Received from the author
Purchase: Amazon, Createspace, Smashwords

From Goodreads

Ashton Summers is on her way to becoming the most popular girl in school and nothing—or no one—is going to stand in her way. Especially not Luca Byron, her freak neighbor, with his tattoos, loud music, and distracting green eyes.

Luca Byron has three goals in life: get through high school with a low profile, make sure his garage band becomes something more than a hobby, and try to forget about his insufferable ex-best friend, Ashton, who he can’t get out of his mind.

The last thing Ashton and Luca want to do is rekindle their friendship, but when Ashton takes a tumble down the social ladder, Luca—with his new makeover—is the only one who can help her rise up again by pretending to be her boyfriend. At first, being together is unbearable and annoying, but things start to change as Ashton and Luca discover the real reasons they drifted apart seven years ago. 

Now, keeping their hands off each other seems impossible.

My Review

Impossible was a quick, light-hearted read, that really surprised me! Everyone who follow my blog a bit, know what a bad relationship I usually have with romances and love stories, but this one really passionated me, even if the story was quite plain and didn't have particular twists.

Pro/Con - Protagonists

Impossible is the story about two very different teenagers, Luca and Ashton, who had been best friends since they were children until the course of events didn't split them apart. Infact both of them deeply changed after Mr. Byron's death (Luca's father): Ashton became a shallow, mean, snob, someone completely different from Luca's old friend, someone who was only focused on becoming the most popular girl in school; Luca, on the other hand, found shelter in music, the only thing that helped him to get through a really tough moment. It had all happened for a joke at the beginning, to allow Ashton to regain her popularity, but who knows what kind of crazy relationship can arise from such different personalities?

I really liked how plain and simple the whole story was developed and I absolutely loved how flowing Komal's way of writing was! This was absolutely the perfect reading for the stressful period I'm currently living (school school school's fault!). I enjoyed the themes that the author treated, especially bullism and the value of friendship, the true one. I just thought that she could have deepened the part of Ashton's change, because it was way too sudden. Nevertheless I thought that maybe this was due to the fact that she wasn't as snob and shallow as she wanted to be considered, she was just too influenced and manipulated by her friend Kance and by her obsession for popularity. I loved how Luca was the only one who could put her in place, it was as if he was exactly her complementary piece. 

Another positive aspect is that the author has chosen to explore the causes and the reasons which led the two friends to depart, adding a little drama to the story;especially, I liked how she charged with vulnerability Ashton's character, that was framed from the beginning as the superficial one. Despite her tough facade, infact, she suffered from several psychological trauma that forced her to feel always a little unsecure and in danger. Speaking of Luca instead I really enjoyed reading about his relationship with music, and how it gave him the necessary strenght to move on. It was adorable how he devoted his passion to his father, how he wanted to succeed just to accomplish  what had been his father's dream. 

In general I really think that the strong point of the book were absolutely the characters, because the author succesfully described a wide variety of teenagers, just as they are today. There are the kings and queens of school, that tease the so called "freaks", just to feel more secure and invincibles, and those who are a little different from the rest, who may wear particular clothes or put on a striking make-up that are constantly bullied by the stronger.

I think this book, in its simplicity, has a lot of themes on which we should reflect.

Secondary Characters

I really can not spend at least two lines about two secondary characters that really impressed me. First of all, Eddie, he was such a sweetheart! He was the perfect example of "never judge a book by its cover". He had plenty of tattoos and that particular emo-rock style that immediately makes people gossip about you, but actually he was a guy who was constantly supporting his family, especially his sister and the only one who didn't hesitate in accepting Ashton, even if, just the day before she was the one making fun of him.

Second one, Stace, maybe one of my favourite character this time. She was direct, impulsive, sincere and always coherent with her decisions and her feelings toward people. Mmm, could she be a Sagittarius, just like me? :3

Overall

A light, funny, romantic short book, that you will devour within a day.. or less!

Rated 4.30

Interview with Komal Lewis!

- Can you tell us a little about your YA novel, Impossible?

Impossible is about childhood friends who grow up and grow apart. Ashton will do anything to be popular, and Luca doesn’t care what society thinks of him. One thing leads to another, and Ashton and Luca reconnect. Amidst all the high school drama, they have to figure out if a relationship between them is possible, despite all the differences that stand in their way.

-What was the inspiration behind your book?

My initial inspiration was the 1990’s movie, Drive Me Crazy. I wanted to put my own spin on the whole “childhood friendship and next-door-neighbours” thing. Impossible takes that concept and adds more bitchiness and steaminess to it!

-Impossible perfectly describes the reality of life in high schools nowadays, did you felt inspired by your experience of high school?

My high school experience was very different to Ashton and Luca’s. Still, I have been bullied before so it was very important for me to put that into the story. I think everyone’s high school experience is unique, but I hope that readers can still relate to some of the events in Impossible.

-Your dream cast for an eventual movie adaption of your book?

I know I always said that Alex Pettyfer was my perfect Luca, but after I saw Nicholas Hoult in the Warm Bodies trailer, I changed my mind. (Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about Alex—he would be even more perfect as a different character in a future novel.) Teresa Palmer would be perfect as Ashton; she’s so very pretty. I picture Lucy Hale as Kance, Logan Lerman as Eddie, Freddie Stroma as Oliver, and Xavier Samuel as Bennett.

-If you had to pick one character as your favorite, who would it be and why?

I always have a tough time deciding between Luca and Eddie (especially because Eddie is such a sweetheart in the second book), but I’m going with Luca. He doesn’t care what other people think about him, yet he cares so much for other people. Plus, he’s in a band. Enough said.

-Do you listen to any music when you write? If yes, tell us the top 5 songs that you listened to while writing Impossible.

I only listened to one song while writing Impossible, and that was With Me by Sum41. It perfectly sums up how Luca feels for Ashton.

-Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.

My most rewarding experience has definitely been interacting with readers, bloggers, and other authors. Writing is such a solitary job, so it’s wonderful to finally get out of that writing cave and have these amazing people wanting to talk to you.

-What do you do when writers block strikes?

Writers block and me have an agreement. Whenever I get writers block, I just do whatever the heck I want to do. I know it’ll eventually pass, so I just relax and take it easy.

-Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?

I have a gazillion future projects! I’m currently revising Falling for Hadie, which is the stand-along sequel to Impossible. In April, I have a YA Paranormal releasing titled Runaway Mortal. After that, I start working on Wrong Side of Town which is the third book in the With Me series. So 2013 is a busy year for me!

The Give@way!

As part of this hop, Komal has generously offered to giveaway

3 Kindle copies of Impossible.

Open Internationally

a Rafflecopter giveaway