A Pretty Implausible Premise

Hattie and Presley: two teens who had many things in common even before they each experienced enormous, unalterably life-changing losses. The fact that they manage to end up at the same school is an amazing coincidence. The fact that they are almost instantly drawn to one another feels like it was meant to be.

Hattie and her dad have a warm and easy father-daughter relationship, although both were devastated when Hattie's mother left them when Hattie was only six. In her heart, Hattie has always cherished the hope that when she eventually made it to the Olympics, that would be the thing that would bring her mother back to them. But now her mother is remarrying, and the recent death of Elijah Johnston has ended Hattie's Olympic dreams. Hattie was the lifeguard on duty when seven-year-old Elijah drowned. She was the one who tried, and failed, to resuscitate him. And now she can't face the prospect of swimming or her former teammates as Elijah's ghost haunts her.

Meanwhile, Presley is the new kid in school. He also had once been bound for the Olympics as a skater, but a horrific car accident left him with injuries that have ended his professional skating career. However, that same accident left his twin brother Mac dead and landed their father (the drunk driver of the car) in prison. Mac feels responsible for the accident, and, although he and Mac fought bitterly, he never imagined a life without him. Wrestling with guilt and overwhelming grief, Mac sees Mac's ghost everywhere. So when he sees Hattie, he recognizes in her someone who has a ghost of her own in her life. Immediately attracted to one another, they slowly, tentatively reach out to each other. As they get to know each other and open up to one another about their losses and their pain, they soon recognize their strong feelings for one another. But can two people with so much hurt and heartache to work through find places in their hearts and lives for love? Can a love that has risen out of such profound suffering endure?

Predictably, A Pretty Implausible Premise is a highly introspective, leisurely-paced story that is focused squarely on the interior lives of the two protagonists. Alternating between their perspectives, readers experience their pain and their complex feelings around all that they have endured and lost. Hattie's rare form of synesthesia which enables her to taste words is an interesting element of her story as is the special bond that she has with her father. Both Hattie and Presley have close friends who care deeply for them, who want to understand and help them through all that they have endured and who are quirky and entertaining in their own right. The two teens each emerge as nuanced, believable and deeply hurting individuals who are vulnerable and trying to hide their pain as best they can, but who are consequently relieved to be able to share their hurting selves with each other. Their relationships with their families and friends are similarly well-rounded and realistic, and the secondary characters are equally well-developed. Hattie's recent obsession with a book called “The Shark Club: A Love Story” and the way in which that proves to be yet another strange point of connection between her and Presley is an effective plot point that weaves its way throughout their story. On the surface, Rivers has tackled a lot of major issues, yet she balances them deftly and without letting the story become bogged down. While readers may continue to think about numerous aspects of this story, the author brings all of the various threads together into a resolution that is satisfying and complete.