After falling in love with this cover and recognizing the author as one of the mentors I'd requested a few years back for Pitchwars, I was so excited to receive this arc. I didn't even care what the book was about, I was IN.

I have found myself giving up on books fairly quickly. My TBR is way too big and I don't have much time to waste on books that I do not enjoy. That being said, I had to DNF this at around 45%. I did not feel connected to the characters or the story and I did not feel my time was well spent. 

The first thing that struck me was the slow beginning. I pushed through that only to find myself still bored. The structure of the novel did not make sense to me and I was baffled as to what was going on and why. I thought I was getting into something atmospheric and creepy, but I wasn't feeling that at all. 

I am so sorry, but I could not continue. Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review this title.

Okay, so! 

Hello, bonjour, g'day.

I went into this book blindly, without doing research and going of only what I heard in the bookstagram world.

I heard great things like, it's a great thriller, you'll be holding on to the edge of your seat, it's as good as Karen McManus etc etc.

What I found was entirely the opposite. It was a lot of clunky dialogue between highschool students and about highschool and a death which had been ruled a suicide, but the guy was still sending text messages because he actually drowned in a mysterious vanishing lake....... I just couldn't with this.

For me, the characters were all so similar in their brooding, I could hardly tell them apart. 

I'm sorry, I just didn't get it, maybe I wasn't in the right mindset for the book, because I was REALLY looking forward to it.

Oh well, as I always say, not every book is for every reader.

We Were Restless Things first captured my attention with the beautifully crafted cover. The tale itself was mediocre, inviting us into the mysterious death of Link Miller, who had supposedly drowned in a puddle.

I was really excited to be provided this arc that was part mystery and part fantasy. It's a true contemporary fantasy, in that it had mild fantasy elements but reads like a contemporary for 95% of the time. The writing is pretty, if odd at times. Toward the start of the book there's a description of kissing so long "her mouth tasted like raw chicken looked" and I just have no idea what that means. But in other parts of the novel, especially sections discussing dreams, the writing is very pretty.

This book has an ace main character who is in a romantic relationship and there's a lot of discussion about what that means for them and their partner. I am not ace and so I cannot speak to the representation but I loved the on-page representation and discussion. There's also an f/f relationship with POV characters that I can appreciate. A lot of the discussions that take place are important, aka toxic masculinity, male insecurity over body image, sexuality, loss, grief, unrequited feelings, betrayal, guilt, etc. All of these are dealt with in ways that I found to be thoughtful but again these are not things I've lived through so take that with a grain of salt.

This novel embeds the paranormal, fantasy element seamlessly into a normal world, adding intrigue and believability to the plot. There are five core characters, which I felt I came to know very well. Their relationships with each other shift and change slowly but drastically throughout the novel. The story is told from a captivating range of perspectives, including the main characters, an “Unknown” character and some of Noemi’s dreams. I liked the supernatural and mystery elements of the novel so much that I felt the characters’ family issues and relationship dramas were merely obstacles to the action. The fantasy element creates incredible tension but at the end of the novel, the reader knows all of the facts, with the magic of the lake clearly explained, the excitement and suspense are ruined. Unfortunately, there was also some swearing and inappropriate content which made it uncomfortable to read at times.

Cole Nagamatsu writes beautifully, with rich descriptions of the mysterious forest and magical lake wonderfully embellishing the reading experience. The atmosphere is dark and enigmatic, creating an experience similar to that of the final Harry Potter books. Paranormal occurrences are peppered throughout the story, building tension and making for a truly gripping read.

Unfortunately I am unable to offer a review for this book, I managed to read a few chapters of it before I realised that this book is not for me. It would not be fair for me to review it if it is not targeted at my tastes.

Noemi Amato lives at the Lamplight Inn with her mother, Matt Lake, and his son, Jonas in the small town of Shivery, Minnesota. The past year has been difficult; Noemi’s boyfriend, Link Miller is dead.  He somehow drowned on dry land and his death is a mystery to his family and Noemi’s circle of friends.  The odd circumstances of Link’s death are highlighted by a series of mysterious texts that Noemi receives from “unknown”, who sounds suspiciously like Link.  Unknown is familiar with the details of her life and Link’s death.  
In many ways, this is a novel about a year in the life of a group of friends.  Many of the topics addressed will be familiar to today’s teens.  Gaetan Kelly, one of Link’s friends experiences physical abuse at home and sleeps at his friend’s homes to avoid his father. Amberlyn, Link’s sister, is dealing with romantic feelings with Lyle (a female friend).  Jonas continually grapples with feelings of not fitting in and being attracted to his almost- stepsister, Noemi.

“We Were Restless Things” seems awkward.  That may be because it is difficult for a novel to do so many things well.  It is an excellent contemporary novel but it also tries to be an atmospheric dark fantasy/ mystery.  There are many beautiful passages that clash with the more mundane aspects of being an American high school student.  The novel also takes a very long time to get to the heart of its mystery.  How did Link Miller die??  

There is one final consideration for school librarians who are considering adding this book to their collection: there is a fair amount of sexual content (none of it very explicit) in the novel.  Library Media Specialists should consider their community mores when adding this book to their collection.

We Were Restless Things is a slower, more thoughtfully-paced book than I usually enjoy, but enjoy it I did. The writing was lush and evocative, and the characters were complex and well drawn. I particularly liked the character relationship dynamics in the story, and I think that is where this book really shines. The author is clearly very talented, and I'm excited to see what they write next.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

We Were Restless Things first captured my attention with the beautifully crafted cover. The tale itself was mediocre, inviting us into the mysterious death of Link Miller, who had supposedly drowned in a puddle.

What I loved about the book: Nagamatsu writes beautifully, creating images that make you feel you are in the setting and soaking up the surroundings. A broad representation of characters are represented and Nagamatsu creates a suspenseful fantasy that leaves me wondering what is beyond and ahead of the protagonist Noemi's,  adventures.

What I didn't enjoy as much: Although I did find many parts of the novel suspenseful, I felt there was a lack of plot. Sometimes characters appeared sidetracked and dialogue didn't sound relevant or believable in parts. Most of the romance was focused on Noemi. All of the boys introduced had crushes on her, which again didn't feel believable or add to her character as a whole.

Overall, this was an interesting and entertaining read.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for sharing this ARC in exchange my honest review.

For me, the pull of 'We Were Restless Things' certainly stemmed from what appeared to be an intertwining of teenage reality and elements of the supernatural. It was an intriguing concept with interesting sounding characters, set in an unusual sounding location, a perfect combination in my eyes! It is told from a number of perspectives, most prominently those of Jonas and Noemi. Jonas is a newcomer to the town of Shivery, where he is starting afresh with his father and his new family/home. Noemi is essentially Jonas' stepsister, a bold and confident girl who finds herself inextricably connected to the death of Link, the main focus of the book, who drowned in an area of Shivery seemingly containing no body of water, 

'We Were Restless Things' follows a series of mysterious occurrences, as well as the development of each teenage character as they seek to discover the truth behind Link's untimely death, We learn early in the book that Noemi feels guilt at what happened, but also that rumours are spreading which concern

My favourite thing about this book is how Nagamatsu writes such a delicious prose. In many areas of We Were Restless Things, the description of both nature and dreaming flows in such a way that makes the reader believe they themselves are caught up in a profound, or even sometimes a whimsical phantasmagoria. The main characters are given set, three dimensional personalities from the offset, which follows them throughout the book and defines the roles they play within it. However, I could not narrow down a single favourite character, which I actually view as a success of Nagamatsu, ensuring Jonas, Noemi, Lyle, Amberlyn and every other central character appears real, flawed and ultimately, human. 

Overall, I rated We Were Restless Things 4 stars out of 5. The reason for this is that I did believe it would align with the genre of YA thriller a little more than it did, and that after the initial few chapters describing Jonas' move to Shivery, I felt the first half to be a little slow in developing the central plot. However, I enjoyed the ending and it made for an enjoyable read. I am sure that 'We Were Restless Things' will prove to be a popular  read when released in October, and I will be keeping my eye out for it in book stores.

“We Were Restless Things” by Cole Nagamatsu is a Young Adult fantasy novel. It follows several teenagers on a journey to solve the mysterious death of Lincoln Miller. Link drowned on dry land in the woods. The police never found a water source, but Noemi has. When Jonas comes to live with his dad in Shivery, he is drawn into the search for answers. Together with their friends, they face the dangers of the impossible lake. 

This novel embeds the paranormal, fantasy element seamlessly into a normal world, adding intrigue and believability to the plot. There are five core characters, which I felt I came to know very well. Their relationships with each other shift and change slowly but drastically throughout the novel. The story is told from a captivating range of perspectives, including the main characters, an “Unknown” character and some of Noemi’s dreams. I liked the supernatural and mystery elements of the novel so much that I felt the characters’ family issues and relationship dramas were merely obstacles to the action. The fantasy element creates incredible tension but at the end of the novel, the reader knows all of the facts, with the magic of the lake clearly explained, the excitement and suspense are ruined. Unfortunately, there was also some swearing and inappropriate content which made it uncomfortable to read at times.

Cole Nagamatsu writes beautifully, with rich descriptions of the mysterious forest and magical lake wonderfully embellishing the reading experience. The atmosphere is dark and enigmatic, creating an experience similar to that of the final Harry Potter books. Paranormal occurrences are peppered throughout the story, building tension and making for a truly gripping read.

This book cover is GORGEOUS and that is what first drew me to it. The synopsis sounded intriguing and the book was also compared to The Raven Boys, which is one of my favorite books. This book was as lyrical and whimsical as I expected it to be and overall, I enjoyed it. 

My favourite character was Noemi, and I looked forward to reading through her perspective the most. I really loved Link as well, even though he was dead. The writing style was lush and imaginative; the metaphors were beautiful. It was like reading a dream. I also loved reading the dream journal entries. They were beautiful and nonsensical (in a good way). They were definitely my favorite parts of the book! 

This book came across more as a character study, which is not necessary a bad thing. The dream journal entries told us a lot about Noemi as a character, but did nothing to move the plot forward. I didn't see the point of Jonas having his own POV chapters since he spent most of his time with Noemi anyway. Though I think I might be a bit biased in my dislike for Jonas POV chapters because I found him particularly irritating. Amber seemed like a nice person but her chapters added absolutely nothing to the plot at all, though we did get to learn a bit more about her. Still, I thought that Lyle and Amber were pale echos when compared to Link and Gate, both of whom were strong characters I really liked. 

Sometimes even Noemi's "not like other girls" narrative got a bit hard to read about. Even though I liked Noemi, I found it hard to believe that she's fun and quirky and different and that literally every boy in the story was in love with her. I did not like Noemi and Jonas' relationship AT ALL. I thought it was a bit unhealthy and that Jonas was pushy. It felt like Noemi was often rushed into making decisions that she wasn't ready to make yet because Jonas would constantly start with his "woe is me" monologue. 

Overall, I enjoyed it and I thought that the writing was beautiful. I am a character-driven reader, so I didn't mind that the book had little plot.

Actually 3.5 stars because the plot initially grabbed me and I read quite a bit before stalling. This novel is told from multiple perspectives, but not all of them (or the characters) are fully developed. I think the author should have been more selective when deciding who should be sharing each part of the story. Additionally, some characters were so under-developed I forgot they existed in the storyline or played any significant role at all. (Spoiler: the sister of the mysteriously dead guy is usually a memorable character; not so much here). I did like the semi-mystical element that propelled the story forward, but again, it was a bit half-hearted until the last chapter or so. This novel has potential, but it's my opinion it could benefit from another editing go-round to really draw out the compelling parts.

I had high hopes going into this book. It is a contemporary fantasy, but I did not understand the fantasy aspect. I felt like the characters were very 2 dimensional, I did not connect with them and wanted more. The first 25% of the novel, I was very into it. Opening the story I wanted to know more about everything, I was craving to find out what happened to Link. I might have been going into this thinking it was more of a contemporary thriller and I think that’s were it fell flat. As the book kept going on it just kept falling flat and I started to not care about what was happening. I still will describe the book to others and let them choose to read it or not, but I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

This was such a unique look into a murder mystery. I don't think I've ever read one with a fantasy twist. It was definitely interesting and well-written.

This book is hard to encapsulate because it's a kind of story I don't see very often in YA.

We Were Restless Things is not plot-driven. The mystery of Link's drowning-on-land unravels not through clever detective work or unexpected twists, but rather in the strange minutiae of the lives of the people he left behind. Noemi, the prickly girl he loved. Jonas, the boy who never knew him, now living in Noemi's house. Amberlyn, Link's sweet-tempered sister.

This is ultimately a slow-burn story propelled by characters and atmosphere. I found Cole Nagamatsu's prose so beautifully evocative: the moon is eyelash thin, but the strange lake sprawls huge as memory. Worry and insecurity sow thistles in one's lungs. Each word feels precisely placed—and what the book lacks in action, it makes up in elegiac lyricism.

      "He was unraveled memory, a history and a heart broken open, left new and naked."

If you've read A House at the Bottom of a Lake, I think you'll be familiar with the peculiar dread that haunts Noemi and her friends (and in turn, me) as they venture back to the disappearing lake where Link died.

This book also reminds me a LOT of Sarah Rees Brennan (her Lynburn Legacy series in particular) and Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Boys. Here, the characters live in the fictional town of Shivery, where strange creatures dwell in the forests and special festivals are held every winter solstice. Our protagonist is a quirky girl who takes no bullshit (like Kami and Blue), and she's accompanied by flawed, angry, insecure boys (who've definitely taken a few pages outta the Ronan Lynch/Jared Lynburn handbook).

I'm not opposed to meandering, character-driven stories, but it's ultimately a 3-star read for me because I didn't really love or connect with any of the characters. (Blue and her boys didn't do it for me, and neither do Noemi and hers—sorry!) I also found it baffling and a little unnecessary that literally ALL the dude characters in the book catch some form of feels for Noemi.

What sorta pheromones this girl be putting out and can we bottle some for personal use, asking for a friend??

Last thing I'll say is that it was pretty damn cool to read an asexual character (Noemi's ace) and have some wlw goodness on the side too.

This book was beautiful. Beautiful characters. Beautiful narration. Great writing altogether. 

I loved the cover of this book. And the title. So, it LOOKED good before even cracking it open or reading the cover summary. I requested it at random as I was going through requesting books, and I'm so glad I came across this one. 

This follows a group of teens, with two teens, Noemi and Jonas at the center of it all. There's a mysterious lake that they try to figure out all while coping with death and love and their senses of self. It's mysterious and suspenseful.

This is the type of book I would refer to as a quiet book. I feel like the narration is slow and measured in a way that makes it quiet, but it sucks you in. The narration definitely outweighs the dialogue, which makes all the talking that much more important. I feel like a ratio like this is difficult to achieve sometimes, but this book did it!

Nagamatsu was able to really develop every single one of these characters. There were no characters who got less attention than the other when it came to development. We got to see all their stories unfold. I think the characters were my favorite part of the novel. But this story was told so well.  I loved it.

The beautiful cover, mention of a drowning on dry land, and the victim contacting his friend from beyond the grave were what drew me to this book.  I'm always intrigued by the supernatural.

It's not exactly what I expected.  The writing is incredibly lyrical and flows with some beautiful passages and vivid descriptions.  Noemi is quirky, creative, and loyal - all qualities I admire about her - and handles a conversation about asexuality brilliantly.  I'd expected the storyline to lean more heavily on the mystery of Link's death, the strange texts Noemi receives from someone claiming to be him, and the disappearing lake.  All of that was part of the plot, but another very large portion is made up of the three (four, really) characters in love with Noemi (which seemed a bit excessive) and her feelings about them.  At times, it seemed as if I was reading two different stories.  The POVs primarily rotate between Noemi and Jonah, but the inclusion of Amberlyn's POV in a few chapters puzzled me since they didn't add anything to the plot.

Each of these characters experience grief in different ways, and some of their conversations are emotionally heavy and brutally honest.  They'll make you think.  One character has an especially difficult life that tugs at the heartstrings, and I just wanted to hug him. 

With an unusual storyline, poetic writing, and slower pace, there's much to enjoy about this book, but I wouldn't recommend it to readers looking for an action-packed thriller as it sways more toward contemporary fantasy.  

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was drawn to this book by the beautiful cover and the blurb. Drowning on dry land? The CSI/Criminal Minds fan in me was intrigued. Coming-of-age in the wake of a death? Sounds like the kind of post-traumatic growth/mental health representation I live for. Indeed, the beginning was great.

Nagamatsu is an incredibly talented writer, especially in terms of imagery and description. The metaphors were fresh and lush, the scenes lively. Indeed without this, I doubt I would have finished the book.

The representation of an asexual character was refreshing, although I’ll go into what I wish was different about it later.

Other than that, the more I read, the more let-down I felt. I wanted to give this a good rating, especially since the author is a debut, but I couldn’t in good conscience give it more than a 2/5 stars.

What I wish was different: To start, the names were unique, in the bad pulls-me-out-of-the-story because I’m trying to pronounce them/understand them way. (i.e. Cesca, from Francesca, so probably pronounced Chesca. Noemi, girl Lyle, Gaetan, the last name Lake, despite the Lake being a big metaphor).

The imagery really was beautiful, but after a while made the story drag. Part of that was the dependence of the book on the imagery, with little plot/tension/characterization driving the story. The dialogue was just mediocre. There was nothing I really needed to keep reading to find out (its apparent very early on the lake is some fantastical thing, so what more is there to learn?). Similarly, I didn’t understand why I should care about any of the characters. Jonas was the closest I came to feeling for someone, but Link, for example, or even Noemi, I honestly didn’t care much about them. Part of that is they don’t seem to have concrete, tangible goals they are trying to accomplish.

I loved that the story took place in Minnesota, since I am from there as well. Shivery, MN was a great place name (its cold all the time here) but Galaxie was another too-on-the-nose metaphor/name.

Speaking of the asexual representation, while I appreciated it, and thought it was refreshing in the midst of a romance plot, some of the language used made me cringe. Over time, I understood it, but at the beginning it felt like the problematic trope of kissing/etc-despite-not-liking-it and not saying anything/saying no, as a reinforcement of women not stating, and sticking to, their boundaries.

As for the dream sequences, these felt unnecessary and aggressively literary. A former creative writing teacher of mine used to say that all parts/sentences should “do work” i.e. characterize, push the plot forward, or reveal themes. From the description it feels like these are supposed to be thematic, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out how or why. Similarly, what’s the point, thematically, of the book? I can maybe see the argument for “learning to love ourselves”, but how is this any different than any other book? And for the power of our desires? How does this appear? Also what desires? Part of what this book was lacking were concrete goals/desires for the characters to achieve besides the nebulous “find out about the lake”.

All in all, the author is, no doubt, incredibly talented, especially with imagery. I wish I enjoyed this book more, and perhaps would have if it stopped at about 1/4 of the way through.

What could be better than a strange mystery? Not much! I was really looking forward to this book as it seemed like a book I would really enjoy. A paranormal mystery, a death and mysterious messages? Sign me up! I couldn’t wait. Unfortunately, this book really did not work for me. It just didn’t read the way I would have liked, and I struggled all the way through it. 

Mind you, I like books that are slow paced. Some of my favorite books are slow paced, but this book was slow paced and it had issues in it that I couldn’t bring myself to like above what I did. The first issue with the slow pace is there should at least be some sense of plot. There was none. This book meandered all over the place and didn’t seem to have much consistency. If it lacks plot it should delve into characters. Yet, it doesn’t do that either. In fact it was light on all those things as well. The slowness made the work even harder to get into. 

I struggled with the writing style a bit. I wasn’t loving it, and I felt that some of the dialogue was stilted and not to my tastes. I didn’t enjoy those parts. I didn’t enjoy how the characters were crafted for the most part either. I felt most of them were flat and wanting more depth from them. I liked that different sexualities were explored, and truly appreciated the representation, but it wasn’t enough. 

I did enjoy the creepy vibe that the book was giving off though. That was one of the few things that it had going for it. It felt creepy, but sadly, fell short. It didn’t keep me entertained and it didn’t keep me interested. Not to mention it flipped through so much time that it felt awkward to the extreme. I did not enjoy that at all. Time skips are fine if done well, and these just didn’t work for me. 

Overall, the book didn’t work. I wish it had, but apparently this one just wasn’t for me.

Update: This review was updated to reflect the change in the book's description. I believe the new description sets appropriate expectation for readers about the content.

Overall: 

We Were Restless Things is a beautiful book; anyone who appreciates a slow burning internal journey about love and self-discovery will enjoy this journey with Nagamatsu.

What is We Were Restless Things? 

We Were Restless Things is a literary sort-of-romance story with surreal, fantasy elements. It is probably more fair to say that it falls on the border of upmarket/literary fiction, but the fantasy elements (the unfindable lake, etc) took on such a surreal, metaphoric quality that I struggled to read them as something other than a literary element. To put it in visual terms: Impressionism meets Salvador Dali.

What’s so great about it?

We Were Restless Things explores loneliness and love, the understanding of self both separately and in relation to other people. It is a story about growing up; it is a story of discovering how little we know about people we have loved all our life; it’s a story about fearing we will never be seen, and therefore never loved. Nagamatsu explores these themes very quietly, giving them room to grow at their own pace, and it does require some patience to reach the point of immersion. However, she honors the complexity and painfulness of these topics, and the character and relationship development rang true for me. 

Where does it fall short?

Nagamatsu’s writing is evocative and beautiful, but at times, I was distracted by craft missteps/choices. Particularly at the beginning, the use of the past present tense was off putting, and there were a few moments of head hopping that yanked me out to reorient. Additionally, there were places where I felt individual phrases were privileged over the overall effect. It certainly doesn’t rise to a level I would call out in genre fiction, but given the literary bend of the book, these moments stood out to me.

Summary:

We Were Restless Things will not appeal to readers who prefer a fast-moving external plot or strong genre fiction. This is not a BAD thing in my opinion, however, I share this in explanation of the four stars. I would not recommend the book for everyone, but I would recommend it for anyone looking for a work of literary fiction that explores love and our complex relationships with ourselves and each other, We Were Restless Things is a strong debut, and I look forward to reading more from Nagamatsu!

Wow, what a stunning book! Cole's lyrical writing captures the heart of every moment in the story so well that you really feel like you're inside each character's skin. Each one of the characters is so carefully drawn, and I really enjoyed following them through their journeys to acceptance over the year following Link's death. 

Protagonist Noemi is strong, artistic, opinionated and coping with the fact that she might have accidentally set in motion the circumstances that killed her friend. The book could devolve easily into huge amounts of angst about this, but she processes this without unrealistically blaming herself, and while growing as a person. 

The romantic relationships that develop between the main characters are sometimes breathtakingly beautiful in their simplicity and sometimes complicated and awkward--in other words, exactly like real teenage relationships. This includes a really thoughtful portrayal of characters discovering/exploring their different sexual orientations. 

The mood of this book is as haunting and beautiful as the book's eerie, mysterious forest. 

If you love literary writing and complex characters, this is an excellent read.