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kindleandilluminate's review against another edition
5.0
We Were Restless Things, a lyrical debut from Cole Nagamatsu, relates the aftermath of a small town death. Teenaged Link Miller is found dead in the woods, having seemingly drowned on dry land, miles away from any body of water. He leaves behind him an assortment of other teenagers - a sister, a friend, a friend he'd rather was a girlfriend - who, along with the new boy in town, explore the woods and themselves, as their lives swirl and eddy around the impossible loss, trying to make sense of the unearthly and of one another.
Nagamatsu's novel is a haunting, languorously eerie story that drifts back and forth across the border between reality and fantasy; a mystery that ebbs and flows through dreamlike tide pools of unknowing. We're given a cast of characters who feel as flesh and blood as one could hope for in a book, scared and strong and confused teenagers caught in the liminal space between childhood and adulthood. The whole story explores these liminal spaces - magic and mundanity, the wondrous and the horrible, dream and wakefulness, love and hatred, death and life. The boy who drowns on dry land; the girl who photographs her dreams. The surface of the water, ringed with ripples, the only sign that something has submerged, passed from one element into another. The edge of the forest, and the crossing from home into danger, into a fairy tale. The narrow but unbridgeable, unfathomable, gap between two human hearts.
Being languorous and dreamlike doesn’t mean the story lacks for urgency; after all, dreams can sometimes have the strongest sense of immediacy and desperation despite being about nothing. And We Were Restless Things isn’t even that. Things happen, the plot moves along, revelations are unfolded, even if not always in a linear fashion or at a galloping pace, but with an inexorable weirdness that kept me hooked. It's a nautilus shell of a story, labyrinthine and echoing with ocean sounds that aren't there, and I loved every page.
Would recommend to fans of The Lost Coast, The Things She’s Seen, and Erin Morgenstern.
CW: child abuse, parental neglect, catfishing, self harm, drowning, death, sibling death, mention of suicide
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the advance review copy!
Nagamatsu's novel is a haunting, languorously eerie story that drifts back and forth across the border between reality and fantasy; a mystery that ebbs and flows through dreamlike tide pools of unknowing. We're given a cast of characters who feel as flesh and blood as one could hope for in a book, scared and strong and confused teenagers caught in the liminal space between childhood and adulthood. The whole story explores these liminal spaces - magic and mundanity, the wondrous and the horrible, dream and wakefulness, love and hatred, death and life. The boy who drowns on dry land; the girl who photographs her dreams. The surface of the water, ringed with ripples, the only sign that something has submerged, passed from one element into another. The edge of the forest, and the crossing from home into danger, into a fairy tale. The narrow but unbridgeable, unfathomable, gap between two human hearts.
Being languorous and dreamlike doesn’t mean the story lacks for urgency; after all, dreams can sometimes have the strongest sense of immediacy and desperation despite being about nothing. And We Were Restless Things isn’t even that. Things happen, the plot moves along, revelations are unfolded, even if not always in a linear fashion or at a galloping pace, but with an inexorable weirdness that kept me hooked. It's a nautilus shell of a story, labyrinthine and echoing with ocean sounds that aren't there, and I loved every page.
Would recommend to fans of The Lost Coast, The Things She’s Seen, and Erin Morgenstern.
CW: child abuse, parental neglect, catfishing, self harm, drowning, death, sibling death, mention of suicide
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the advance review copy!
rhappe13's review against another edition
3.0
*I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
I don't really know what I think about this book. On the one hand, I enjoyed the writing style in terms of the descriptions and creating a dream-like atmosphere and on the other hand the writing style did nothing to help me feel anything for the characters or what they went through. I was also pretty lost with regards to the passage of time in the book. It takes place over the course of a year but we are rarely clued in on what month/time of year it is, so the character development over time felt very flat.
I really liked the story and the imagination behind the fantasy elements but didn't care for how the characters were portrayed. I enjoyed that some things were left a mystery- many things, in fact. I'd be interested in reading more from this author and hope that the characters feel more fleshed out in their future books.
Also a sidenote: I'm head over heels in love with this cover. I think that's honestly primarily what made me request this book.
Full review: https://picturethisliteraturecom.wordpress.com/2020/10/14/we-were-restless-things/
I don't really know what I think about this book. On the one hand, I enjoyed the writing style in terms of the descriptions and creating a dream-like atmosphere and on the other hand the writing style did nothing to help me feel anything for the characters or what they went through. I was also pretty lost with regards to the passage of time in the book. It takes place over the course of a year but we are rarely clued in on what month/time of year it is, so the character development over time felt very flat.
I really liked the story and the imagination behind the fantasy elements but didn't care for how the characters were portrayed. I enjoyed that some things were left a mystery- many things, in fact. I'd be interested in reading more from this author and hope that the characters feel more fleshed out in their future books.
Also a sidenote: I'm head over heels in love with this cover. I think that's honestly primarily what made me request this book.
Full review: https://picturethisliteraturecom.wordpress.com/2020/10/14/we-were-restless-things/
icedvanillalatte's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
nowthiskid's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
87_launchpad's review against another edition
1.0
i got excited by the promise of a lake that's only sometimes there only to fall victim to a book that is boring where it isn't irresponsible. the guys' rage and desire are given free rein, the girls are pretty set pieces upon whom this rage and desire gets carried out, stepsiblings do sex stuff (to please the stepbrother, bc the stepsister says more than once she's not into it), and we get an asexual character who says she would change her sexuality with a magic wand if she could. if you want a fun, good mystery with well-written characters (and queer ones who don't hate themselves!) read the truly devious books by maureen johnson!
karapillar's review against another edition
It’s not bad. I’ll return to it. I just have other books I want to read first.
swhitwell's review against another edition
5.0
We Were Restless Things is a twisted fairytale, YA, coming of age story. It touches on loss, friendship, love, and loneliness. I’d you are intrigued by the strange and bizarre, then this book is definitely for you.
I absolutely love the concept of this book, the synopsis had me hooked before I even finished reading it, and it did not disappoint. Nagamatsu’s writing style is poetic and imaginative. The book is told through varying viewpoints, and the mystery of Link’s death continues to keep you captivated.
I absolutely love the concept of this book, the synopsis had me hooked before I even finished reading it, and it did not disappoint. Nagamatsu’s writing style is poetic and imaginative. The book is told through varying viewpoints, and the mystery of Link’s death continues to keep you captivated.
ryleighhampson's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
adsowhitney's review against another edition
DNF @ pg 118/28%
This book was shaping up to be something I felt like I might really enjoy, but then the "step sibling" trope reared it's head. I was originally going to keep reading, but I put it down to take a break and decide. I ended up reading a whole other book and not wanting to pick this back up at all. I'm still curious about something, but just not curious enough to put myself through the budding romance of step siblings/soon to be step siblings. It just weirds me out, okay?
This book was shaping up to be something I felt like I might really enjoy, but then the "step sibling" trope reared it's head. I was originally going to keep reading, but I put it down to take a break and decide. I ended up reading a whole other book and not wanting to pick this back up at all. I'm still curious about something, but just not curious enough to put myself through the budding romance of step siblings/soon to be step siblings. It just weirds me out, okay?
bethhthelibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
This book fascinated me. I was immediately intrigued by the plot...a boy seemingly drowns on dry land in the mysterious woods, leaving his friends wondering what happened. Meanwhile, the girl he was interested in starts getting text from "Unknown," a mysterious entity claiming to be the drowned boy. In this small town, and in the woods near the town, nothing is as it seems.
First of all, this book is just the kind of thing I like, but I'm not sure how teen readers will respond to it. It's very, very slow moving, which is something I love. I love getting to know the setting and the characters. But it did almost feel a little too slow, and the book seemed a little too long.
The writing was gorgeous. The setting was stunningly drawn, and the characters were gorgeously well rounded. But the whole thing did feel a little avant-garde. The teens in this book are all quirky in a way that didn't feel quite realistic. I loved them, anyway. I love the way they interacted, and I loved the way they understood each other. (Though I was a little bit weirded out by Noemi and Jonah's relationship, but eh.)
This is one of those niche YA titles that will definitely need to find the right reader.
First of all, this book is just the kind of thing I like, but I'm not sure how teen readers will respond to it. It's very, very slow moving, which is something I love. I love getting to know the setting and the characters. But it did almost feel a little too slow, and the book seemed a little too long.
The writing was gorgeous. The setting was stunningly drawn, and the characters were gorgeously well rounded. But the whole thing did feel a little avant-garde. The teens in this book are all quirky in a way that didn't feel quite realistic. I loved them, anyway. I love the way they interacted, and I loved the way they understood each other. (Though I was a little bit weirded out by Noemi and Jonah's relationship, but eh.)
This is one of those niche YA titles that will definitely need to find the right reader.