“The Possible” sets a new standard for mystery and suspense novels. Even though it had some flaws, the book will stay with me for quite some time.

Had it not been for the Cypress Creek Book Club’s early review program, I would have glanced right over “The Possible.” It would have remained a hidden gem in the sea of books our library holds.

Kaylee wants nothing more than to have a normal life. As a star player on her school’s softball team and an all A student with some of the best friends a girl could ask for, she fits the bill of “normal” pretty well. But after thirteen years, something comes up that makes Kaylee anything but normal. Her birth mother, Crystal. At one point she made her rise to fame for her supposed telekinetic abilities, but her downfall came when she murdered Kaylee’s younger brother when Kaylee was only four years old. Now, a reporter shows up at Kaylee’s door asking for an interview to figure out if Crystal really had the abilities she claimed to have, and if Kaylee has them too.

Something great about “The Possible” came from its immense amount of mystery. As the reader, I found myself sucked into the role of Kaylee. I knew just as much or as little as she did, I found myself hurt when people rejected or bullied her and I understood the choices she made more than any other character in the book did. The sort of connection author Tara Altebrando helps the reader make with the protagonist rarely offers the results “The Possible” gave. Authors try to make relatable teen characters, but often times overdo traits and mannerisms to make the character just blatantly annoying. Altebrando made a character with enough sass, realistic outlooks on life and hidden hope to create a character relatable to not only teens, but other age groups as well.

As for the character development of the novel, “The Possible” could use some work. Since the book still has some editing to go before its release date in June, none of my judgements can remain set in stone. As of now though, the character development threw me off quite a bit. Kaylee went through a phase of being the perfect daughter, to the rebellious teen, to the depressed and confused child, back to perfect daughter (except this time with a boyfriend). Her mood swings, while interesting at times, made for a difficult character to keep up with. She could go from loving another person to hating them in seconds, well, pages. I know these developments had their place in the novel to show that Kaylee learned a lesson, they just seemed way too abrupt to leave an impact.

Other than those few points, the novel held its own against the other books I’ve read this month. It had a very creative organization – with the involvement of text messages, podcast layouts and flashbacks – all of which made for a very visually pleasing book. I hope to read more of Altebrando’s work, and will definitely be looking for the final copy of the book in June to see how well it turned out and what changed.

“The Possible” by Tara Altebrando will be released in June of 2017.

Thank you to Cypress Creek Book Club and Bloomsbury publishing for allowing us to review these books early.