Usually anything even bordering on fantasy or paranormal is not my thing, but after reading the blurb - a boy drowns on dry land in the woods - I had a feeling that I had to read this book, and I'm so glad I did. The 'otherworldly' element is hard to explain - it's almost like a character in itself, but is mild enough to not deter readers who normally shy away from the genre. 

The writing is good, at times beautiful, and there was something about the web that Nagamatsu spun that caught me up and wouldn't let me go. Although I have to admit that at times I caught myself wondering what the theme was for this strange tale, the lyrical prose lulled me happily along to an ending that left me wondering.

This is a perfect twisty, creepy book that anyone can enjoy. The plot of this book was so fun and interesting to read about, I loved the family dynamic of this book and watching how they all adjusted to each other when moving in together. The relationship between Jonas and Noemi was super funny to watch unfold and I really enjoyed how they worked together with Link to uncover what happened. A super fun and interesting read!!

This book seem right up my alley as I love paranormal murder mystery and this one delivered. The mix of paranormal and real life was so well balanced. A good book for those days were you want something more dark and haunting

We Were Restless Things is a dreamy, atmospheric young adult debut with a literary bent and a eye for detail. Noemi Amato is an artistic teen living in Shivery, Minnesota and she has a secret. There's a hidden lake in the woods outside her door, one that appears and disappears whenever it wishes. That may seem a little concerning, but it's only when her friend, Link, appears drowned on dry ground that she understands the ramifications. Link died in the lake only she knows about, but the how and why are deeper questions she and her friends must solve before it takes someone else.

Told in multiple pov, We Were Restless Things is a deep dive into teenage dynamics with just enough paranormal magic sprinkled over the pages to keep things weird. The voices used to tell the story were all compelling--possibly only save for Jonas, who is a stranger introduced to a group of friends and the weakest link in an otherwise strong cast. The exploration of maturity from childhood magic to adult disappointment, and the ways we hide in technology as well as from ourselves, are interesting themes. Cole Nagamatsu's writing is vivid and I look forward to her next book.

This was an odd one for me. I wanted way more of the mystery/disappearing lake/dead text messaging storyline and way less of the teenage melodrama, but the proportions didn't work out like I'd hoped. The writing style was both really poetic and beautiful, with some incredible lines I thought were fantastic, and distancing - it was hard to connect to many of the characters because of the narration choice. Noemi was a complex character, but I found it difficult to connect given she seemed to be this odd obsession/central point for every male character in the book, including the supernatural. I liked Lyle and Amberlyn better, but tbh, wondered why they were given POV bits when we never got to learn enough about them to have them feel like fully fleshed MCs. Some really cool story things happening here that unfortunately just didn't pan out for me quite the way I'd hoped, but I suspect others will really dig this.

3.5 stars

We Were Restless Things is a fantastical tale of a group of teenagers wading through life in the wake of a friends mysterious death in the forest of a small town. Our main lead, Noemi, finds herself experiencing some strange circumstances, starting with the fact she's recieving text messages from an unknown number claiming to be Link, the boy who drowned in a forest with no body of water. As she navigates between reality and her dreams that seem to be coming to life she begins to trust and rely on those closest to her, each processing and dealing with their own grief.

Going into this book I was expecting more of a dark fantasy thriller type of story but what I found was a lyrical dark fantasy. Much alike the writing of Neil Gaiman, I often found myself thinking of The Ocean at the End of the Lane, though there is a reason I couldn't quite push it to that four star rating. For the only part of this story I could not connect with was the main relationship. Not wanting to give spoilers this relationship simply made me a little uncomfortable and was the hardest thing for me to believe in (which is saying a lot when we're talking about a peculiar forest that seems to have a life of its own). While it did help discuss the concept of asexuality, which wouldn't have been possible without a relationship forming, I just couldn't take in. 

For the most part I really enjoyed my time reading We Were Restless Things and that cover is still just so damn beautiful!

A haunting tale of a group of teenagers connected by the mysterious death of Link, who is something different to each of them- friend, brother, stranger. There is a nice blend of reality and supernatural, with the supernatural just under the surface for most of the story. On one end this is a journey of self discovery that follows several flawed teenagers. On the other end there is something about the forest, leaving you asking what really happened and who is really communicating with Noemi. The lake concept and the forest was truly fascinating, especially as it was more deeply explored toward the end.

I enjoyed the alternating perspectives that allowed me to get to know each of the characters more intimately. The links between them and each other were complicated and as unique as the ways they dealt with the loss of Link. I felt like the main protagonist for me was Noemi. The way she related with her friends was refreshing in its honesty. That said, Gaetan was probably my favorite of all of the characters, also for his refreshingly unique depiction.

This is a fascinating YA fantasy with a creepy tone and realistically painted teenagers dealing with everything from love to loss. I hope there will be more to follow.

Thanks #NetGalley & #Sourcebooksfire for the e-ARC 

This book was not for me, but I could see others enjoying it.  

The good: It was creepy, unpredictable, and character driven.  It kept me reading till the end and I cared about the characters and was curious about what would happen to them.   I also loved the representation! 

The bed: the writing style did not work for me personally.  The descriptors, particularly around romantic concepts felt.. uncomfortable?  I found it really off-putting and it made me wish the characters would be less interactive with one another, because all of their interactions felt so awkward.

Last year the body of a young man (Link) was found in the middle of the woods. The cause of death? Drowning. The only problem? There isn't a lake anywhere near where he was found. 

As the year progresses, the story follows Noemi (your manic pixie dream asexual), Jonah (her mom's boyfriend's son), Lyle (a girl), and Amberlyn (Link's sister). Noemi is haunted by strange dreams that she used to turn into haunting photographs. Jonah was kicked out of school and sent to live with his father (who is dating Noemi's mom). Lyle is trying to figure out what's up with Noemi, and Amberlyn is trying to figure out how to exist without her big brother. 

Soon, Noemi reveals that there is a lake in the middle of the woods, but it only appears when it wants to or when she takes someone to it. Soon, she and her friends are drawn into a mystery surrounding the mysterious lake and the things at the center of it. 

Okay, so I wanted to like this book a lot. However, I just didn't like it that much. To me, Noemi was very much the "manic pixie dream girl" who all of the male characters were in love with. She's artsy, she's smart, she's kind of a bitch. 

Noemi eventually kind of gets into a relationship with one of the male characters in the book. And this is where I had my biggest problem with the story. Any time the characters are making out or being intimate/physical with one another her internal monologue is not giving enthusiastic consent at any time. She later tells the male character that she's asexual but that if he really wants to have sex with her she'll let him. She seems to think that the only way that she'll every be able to have any sort of meaningful romantic relationship with anyone is if she lets them have sex with her. 

I also felt that the story began to drag on and at times I felt like I was reading two separate stories.

Received this e-book free from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review! All opinions expressed herein are my own unbiased impressions.

Link Miller drowned in a forest, miles from any body of water. Only Noemi Amato knows the truth – that he was murdered. Link is texting Noemi from beyond the grave, warning her to stay away from the woods.

Jonas is sent to his father’s house after causing trouble at his old school, where he moves in with Noemi at the Lamplight Inn. Amberlynn Miller is Link’s sister. The three of them, along with friends Lyle and Gaetan, must find out how Link died and make sure it doesn’t happen again…

I’ll be honest; I struggled to get through We Were Restless Things. I almost DNF’ed it several times and only didn’t because I wanted to write a review. I love, love a slow-paced story of close-knit, found family friends – a la The Secret History or The Raven Boys – but a plot still needs to coalesce at some point…

Things I loved about this book: the title, the gorgeous cover art by Sasha Vinogradova, some of the characters, the LGBTQIA representation and the Lamplight Inn. And that’s where my love runs out…

Things I disliked: there was no tension or stakes…and really no plot at all. The characters were all passive, with the possible the exception of Noemi. In all, We Were Restless Things felt more like a character exploration piece than a fully-realized book. Which is great, but not worth reading 250 pages great.

The book is told in three alternating points of view – Jonas, Noemi and Amberlynn, but really could have benefitted from a single point-of-view. Noemi was by far the strongest character and all the characters revolved around her. In fact, every single male character in the book was in love with Noemi. Jonas, Gaetan, Link and the antagonist all at one point express their love or desire for Noemi, who as an asexual is uninterested in any of them, though she and Jonas have…something.

Jonas and Amberlynn were both passive characters, who I never really connected to. Jonas was alternately described a bad boy, a victim of bullying and a quiet, thoughtful boy, but he mostly felt like a blank slate. Amberlynn has a romance with another girl, Lyle, but the relationship is really glazed over and I have no idea how they really felt for each other. Nor was Amberlynn’s grief for her dead brother ever particularly palpable.

There was a weak antagonist who is not really explained until the last ten percent of the book and despite being responsible for Link’s death, never really seems scary or threatening.

Everything was sort of…vague…and grey. Amaphorous connections, gauzy, barely-there villain, flat characters and too many points-of-view.

I’m not sure I would recommend this book to anyone, but this is Cole Nagamatsu’s debut book and I think if she gets a handle on plotting, I’d be willing to try another book by her as the characters were quirky.

We Were Restless Things will be available for purchase on October 6th, 2020.

it's not just a pretty cover, as it contains an excellent writing style that wavers between flowery prose and captivating horror. In terms of idea and compulsive page-turning, this book deserves all of the stars, but I did find a few points worth mentioning, in case your expectations are not in the right place, as mine clearly were not. All of my criticisms are purely personal preference, so please do not put too much weight in them and instead, use them to decide whether this might be the right book for you.

The main reason this book didn't work for me were the characters. There wasn't anything wrong with them, not really, but by the end of the book, I realized that I didn't know them at all, which was the reason I couldn't bring myself to care about them. I rooted for them, of course, but I didn't feel it.

It gets you in with its beautiful prose and inspiring storytelling, with intriguing concepts and picturesque descriptions. I really enjoyed reading it until I realized some basic elements, like plot consistency and character development, were heavily unrepresented. As the plot moved further, I was only less impressed and grew more indifferent to anything that happened. The plot twists were dull and kind of expected, and the climax wasn’t really anything but another scene that I read with half-hearted interest. To be honest there are still a lot of things that I couldn’t catch up because they were insufficiently explained or badly elaborated.

There is such a stark, almost hopeless, beauty to this world. A casual kind of horror. A strange, uncertain, weirdness that you just can't look away from.

I’m disappointed that I couldn’t get into this one. It read exactly like an adult trying (and failing) to write how a kid would speak/think/talk

I didn't realize this was a YA book when I requested it, so I am trying to be generous with my stars while rating it and also trying to consider whether or not this book would appeal to teens...

The first half of the book was incredibly slow moving, kind of boring, repetitive...I was getting a little sick of hearing about how the lake was sometimes there, sometimes not. I liked Noemi's character, but didn't find her character consistent throughout, but I guess that would probably be pretty relatable to the intended teenage audience.

I wanted to quit reading...but I was a little curious about where the author was going with it. Noemi's dream/journal entries were long, and I barely skimmed them. Finally a plot emerged, there was some excitement and danger in the 2nd half of the book, and an unexpected twist, but even that was a little boring. The other thing that bothered me was that it just seemed like all the characters fit into an odd little box, the emo girl who turns out to be asexual or non-sexual (?), tortured boy, divorce/broken families, the bully, queer relationships, and then the dead boy that was able to text Noemi from beyond the grave...I guess there was something for everyone, but it just seemed a little gratuitous to me. Maybe check just one of those boxes and develop a true connection throughout the novel, instead of trying to explore all the angles but never getting any deeper than a minimal mention? I also struggled with the dialogue, I had to keep re-reading it trying to figure out which character was speaking.

The parts that were really fantastic were near the end when Noemi and Jonas were venturing to the lighthouse, and that's where the writing really improved, very descriptive and kept the pace of the story moving.

I found the book to be more of a fantasy than a thriller, and although it wasn't really for me, I do think that teens will really love it. It's an usual and unique story, and I think that if Link had maybe spoken to Noemi in her dreams instead of by text that would have improved the dream journal entries and kept me from rolling my eyes every time a text came through. I might have even given the book 4 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Naomi gets text messages from a boy who drowned in the woods. What's more interesting is that she believes that it was in the lake that only appears when she looks for it in the woods, causing mystery to surround Link's death. 

I was drawn to this book initially by the gorgeous cover and then the description. What a great read with many twists and turns!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I am going to be brutally honest. This book was a lot out of my comfort zone. This is a book that deals with paranormal activity and mystery, as Neomi deals with Link's death. The books was too long, in my opinion, to accomplish the task of a being a captivating book. I was hooked from the synopsis, but was let down through the lengthy read. Despite trying to force myself to finish reading the book, I simply could not.

Ever since Link died, drowned in the middle of a forest, things have felt different- for his sister, for his best friend, for the girl he'd loved, and the rest of the town too. Jonas has no idea that moving in with his dad also means moving in across the hall from a Noemi, a girl with mile high walls and a secret, but he's determined to break through to her. He has no idea how strange and dangerous it is beyond them.

So, on the surface this book seems like it was going to rocket into my favorites list, especially with the comparisons to Neil Gaiman and Maggie Stiefvater. I get the comparisons! I mean, there's queer characters, there's magic woods, there's an uncertain sense of what's possible and what isn't. But I wish those comparisons had never gotten into my head because this story is nothing like something either author would write.

First, I need to say that I'm so happy about the representation in this book! Noemi seems to be a POC, and there's bi rep, ace rep, and I believe lesbian rep. That alone got me excited! I mean, it's still pretty hard to find a book with ace rep, especially when you're not scouring the obscure cast of characters for something on the side lines. And this character says her sexuality on page! Without any wish washing! So right there I was happy.

When I read the synopsis for this book I was immediately intrigued. 
Unfortunately this story just fell flat for me and I hate to say I was disappointed.  I felt like this story dragged on it was just a miss for me.

I love the concept for this book - the mysterious death of Link, a teenage boy found drowned on dry land; his friend Noemi certain that the mysterious lake that appears and disappears is responsible; the pursuit of the mystery and the themes. However the writing style and some of the turns of phrase just jolted me out of the story. It was also a very slow start which would have been fine if I hadn't had those issues with the style.

“We were restless things” feels quite different to a lot of YA fantasy that’s on the market at the moment. It doesn’t have one central protagonist, but instead focuses on a somewhat disparate group of individuals, there’s no central, all-consuming love-for-the-ages instant relationship.  It takes place in a small, midwestern town rather than a magical kingdom - albeit an off-beat, artistic one, but still realistically dull and depressed. In some ways the first half of the book is more a series of character sketches about growing up, grief, loneliness, first love and sexuality, rather than a conventionally plotted adventure.  

To be honest, I found the first part of the book a little slow, and it was quite hard work to keep going until the mystery of Link’s death and the messages being sent to Noemi finally started to unfold. Once it does, the story picks up a little more momentum, though it maintains the same dream-like imagery. The downside of this is that, combined with a few other oddities (the adult characters in the book don’t seem to be involved in their teenage children’s lives AT ALL, which might be believable for one or two characters but seems odd when it’s multiplied across half a dozen) I didn’t feel that connected to any of the characters – I think this is often one of the downsides of not having a single central protagonist that represents the reader’s way in to the story. I guess Jonas was meant to be this character, having recently moved to the area, but I’m not sure how successful that was in the end. 

A talented writer, an interesting approach and nice, varied representation among the characters.  I didn’t love this one, but I did like it enough to seek out more of the author’s work in the future.

We Were Restless Things by Cole Nagamatsu is a lyrical and imaginative contemporary fantasy novel. This novel deals with death, grief, obsession, abuse, sexuality and many other adult problems. A teenage boy, Link, is found a victim of accidental drowning on dry land. Noemi Amato, the victim's high school crush and close friend. suspects the impossible lake in the middle of the woods that appears and disappears at will is somehow at fault. Lyle, Jonas, Gaetan and Amberlynn, classmates of Link, along with Noemi, must solve the mysterious death before the impossible lake claims another victim. 
The story is told from multiple points of view of the various teenager's in the novel. All of the characters are flawed and fleshed out with the combination of beautiful imagery and an intensely creepy storyline. This novel is a realistic tale of teenage angst, anger, wants and desires weaved into a fantastical novel.