We Were Restless Things
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
From debut author Cole Nagamatsu comes an atmospheric contemporary fantasy about three teens coming of age in the wake of a mysterious death.
Last summer, Link Miller drowned on dry land in the woods, miles away from the nearest body of water. His death was ruled a strange accident, and in the months since, his friends and family have struggled to make sense of it. But Link's close friend Noemi Amato knows the truth: Link drowned in an impossible lake that only she can find. And what's more, someone claiming to be Link has been contacting her, warning Noemi to stay out of the forest.
As these secrets become too heavy for Noemi to shoulder on her own, she turns to Jonas, her new housemate, and Amberlyn, Link's younger sister. All three are trying to find their place—and together, they start to unravel the truth: about themselves, about the world, and about what happened to Link.
Unfolding over a year and told through multiple POVs and a dream journal, We Were Restless Things explores the ways society shapes our reality, how we can learn to love ourselves and others, and the incredible power of our own desires.
A great pick for readers who want:
•YA contemporary books with touches of YA fantasy
•Modern ghost stories and fairytales
•Young adult LGBT books with an asexual character
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Debut author Nagamatsu blends mystery and melancholia in the Riverdale-esque story of friends grieving the strange death of 17-year-old Lincoln Miller, found drowned in a forest with no water "the Schr dinger's cat of drowned teenagers." When high school junior Jonas Lake moves into Shivery, Minn.'s Lamplight Inn with his father and father's girlfriend, Cesca, after being expelled from school, he does not expect to fall in love with Cesca's daughter, Noemi. Artistic Noemi, haunted by Lincoln's death and strange text messages from someone claiming to be him, explores her asexuality amid others' proclaimed affections. Meanwhile, Lincoln's sister, Amberlyn, falls for Noemi's best friend, Lyle, and bully Gaetan seeks healing following abuse from his stepfather. Despite jolting moments of terror, the pacing is uneven and the characters' path to understanding their friend's death and the forest's mystery feels farfetched and labyrinthine in scope. Told from alternating perspectives and interspersed with Noemi's photographs and dream journal entries, though, Nagamatsu's story boasts memorable descriptions ("Their mouths tasted the way raw chicken looked") and characters with complex emotional lives, including affirming portrayals of multiple gender expressions and sexual orientations. Ages 14 up.
