An ARC of this novel was sent to me by NetGalley for reviewing purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wasn't a big fan of this book- it fell short in a lot of places for me.

I had a really hard time with this one. I felt like it started off strong, lots of potential with the plot, but the characters fell completely flat. I didn't buy the dialog. It was hard to form a connection with any of the characters, perhaps with the exception of Noemi. Overall, this didn't read as a thriller to me.

Very unique read! I loved the concept of a magical hidden lake! I loved watching the relationships between each of the characters unfold. Usually I'm not a fan of multiple POV books, but this one was done well. Each of the characters had voices that were unique enough for me to realize we were jumping between POVs but not too different as to be jarring. I was happy to see asexuality tackled so well, and believe this is really good representation for LGBT+ teens.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane for YA dreamers. Moving to a new place after a by mysteriously drowns in a forest without any nearby water, Jonas has questions. His sort-of step-sister, Noemi, might have answers, but some things you have to see to believe. Magical realism abounds with first loves, unrequited loves, and dealing with the loss of a friend.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this strange little book. I really wanted to read this book because of its comparisons to The Raven Cycle and I can definitely attest to this being true. It took a little while to get invested in these characters, but I loved them all by the end. I was really the most drawn to Gaetan, who reminded me so much of Adam Parrish that I just wanted to see him safe and happy. I think the book ends in a finite way, but I hope the author keeps it open for at least a sequel. I’d like to read more about the town of Shivery and this odd group of friends.

I got to say the cover to this book is beautiful! Thus story is a fantasy mixed with a murder mystery that involves 3 friends. They embark on this journey to find and obtain clues as to who killed someone. This was a fun book to read.

When I first glanced across the title and cover of this novel, my intrigue was immediately peaked. The cover was ethereal, and the title matched, and all of that was backed up by a summary of a world I wanted to dive right into—and when I dove in, the water was warm, but the further I got, the colder the water became. Metaphor aside, I enjoyed the start of the book, it felt like I was going some place special, and I enjoyed meeting the characters. However, this elation didn’t last. At some point, the characters seemed to flatten out with awkward, unexplained development or never getting any to begin with. The magic. the mystic, the suspense—they all lost their touch as the story slowed down further and further. If anything, I would have loved to see this story longer, to see the characters explored and explained, and I think that would have added to the bit of strange magic we get to see. This novel offered up a strange world, one that I think this story only scratched the surface of—and I’m not looking for an explanation of the strangeness, I’m just looking for more.

After falling in love with this spectacular cover and being intrigued with the promising paranormal, mystical plot, I was sold! I was definitely ready to go blind but in the middle of somewhere my mind screamed; “this is not working for me. This is not for me, this is book! I should break up with it ASAP! I’m slowly dunking into a mud and I cannot move my body!”

Here are the facts: I was one of the most patient readers who are never afraid of long, boring, suffocating reads. But this time I gave up because I had no idea where the story is going or what’s the author’s purpose to write it anyway.

It started like a dysfunctional family’s introduction; Noemi’s coping problem with her step brother, her eerie communication with Link Miller ( they’re texting each other and Link Miller already drowned on magical lake in the woods but the authorities didn’t believe in magic and they decided he drowned in the dry land! ) attracted my attention because anything crazy, irregular, illogical always pick my interest. And Noemi thinks Link is killed and she also keeps another big secret.

So I can hear you ask me what’s wrong with me. Isn’t it crazy enough for my own taste? The story started great but too many boring, aimless, flat characters, their irritating dialogues gave me second thoughts. Instead of Noemi, none of the characters are connectable. And in the middle of somewhere story’s direction lost in the mud or the secret, non-existed lake and drowned like Link Miller. It got slow down, more boring, more nonsense and I felt like I was Alice stuck in a literature Madland with triple sized big letters which try to devour me. As soon as suffocation took the driver seat of my bored to death mind, I finally decided to stop! It was enough!

Let’s stay around %60 of the book I pushed dnf button and I don’t regret it. This is not the story I expected to read and I already lost my patience.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire fro sharing this ARC in exchange my honest review. I wish I could like it more but this time story telling of the book didn’t work with me.

I received this book from NetGallery in exchange for an honest review.

The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful and the synopsis had me very interested. The book started out with moderate pacing but I thought of this as a thriller which typically starts a little slower anyway. The story slowed completely down and was hard to finish. I do believe that the plot was all over the place and it was hard to make sense of reality versus Noemi’s documented dreams. This book is more fantasy than thriller and I picked it up thinking it was more of a YA thriller. I do know that there is a market for this type of book but unfortunately it is not for me.

Boring. Anticlimactic. Annoying.

I initially picked this up because of the stunning cover and beautiful, haunting synopsis. Although I thought the beginning to be slow, I was enjoying myself and was absolutely loving the lyrical prose. I adored Noemi from the get go, and knew almost immediately that she would be my favorite character.

The beginning soon bled into the middle of the novel, and this is where I started to struggle. I found it difficult to stay focused on what was happening, and nothing that happened seemed to mean anything at all. My interest in the story plummeted, and I was utterly confused at what was going on, who was related to who, who liked who, etc. There was no flow or order to events and I found it infuriating.

I decided to make a deal with myself. Since I was enjoying Noemi's character (only her character, by the way, everyone else was boring or mean or obnoxious), I thought that I would see where the story took her. I was originally thinking there would be some queer rep with her, too, and I was so excited! But as soon as I discovered that she was only hinted at to not being completely straight, she got into a relationship that I absolutely hated. I was only going to continue reading if nothing happened to kill her character for me, but alas, that exact thing happened.

I ended up marking this as a Did Not Finish as I know myself and my reading taste and this was not it for me. I don't want to continue reading a book that only has one character I relate to, especially if the said character is in a relationship I find bland, stupid, and lacking any chemistry.

I also went into this book thinking it would be a thriller with themes of magic and overall encompassing a haunting, lyrical tone but I was sorely mistaken. I managed to get nearly 40% through the novel and I could not for the life of me observe any kind of plot, or a raising of stakes or tension or thriller intrigue. I was bored, confused, and could not continue reading as I just knew my rating would continue to crawl lower and lower.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a chance with this ARC. I do hope that when it's released there are people who pick it up and adore it, for I'm sure it will be up someone's alley. It just wasn't up mine.

This book feels like a dream, mostly due to the excerpts from Noemi’s journal, walks past the lupine fields, and the view of the mysterious lake. The book does a masterful job of combining beautiful imagery with a creepy story line about the mysterious death of Link. What is the scariest is the fear of the unknown lurking in their seemingly small town.

This novel is told in the third person, but every chapter is from the perspective of a different character. What I like is that all of these people have flaws, so they are not only navigating their feelings about their dead friend, but truly trying to understand each other and themselves. Everyone of them is flawed, but they are trying to be better.

I would have liked a more drawn-out conclusion, but overall, I love how unique this book is. I’m an avid YA reader and I can’t think of anything I could directly compare this novel to.

I want to thank NetGalley, SOURCEBOOKS Fire and author Cole Nagamatsu for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

I cannot believe that this is a debut novel! This is for sure going to be a new and important voice in the YA genre. I found the writing within the pages to be enthralling and quite captivating. The characters reflected many backgrounds, sexualities, and personalities, and that was superbly refreshing. This isn’t as spooky as I was hoping for, but overall, it was still an awesome read. The ending will stay with you. Gorgeous cover art as well!

Thank you to those named above for allowing me to read and review this ARC!

I love the idea of this book - a dead boy is found in the woods, having "drowned", with no water in sight. The story begins months after Link's death and centers on his friends as they move through this new reality while incorporating Jonas, the new-to-town guy, into their circle. There's magic and mystery, and the ending will stay with you for quite awhile, but while the writing is beautiful and captivating, the character development leaves a lot to be desired. Jonas, for example, is practically a non-character - there to move the plot along, but not much else. If he had been removed from the story, it wouldn't have made a difference. The other characters are a bit more complex and kept me interested in the plot's twists and turns.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for and eARC in exchange for an honest review.

We Were Restless Things follows people left behind by a tragic drowning of Link Miller. Noemi, his crush and one of his best friends: she works through Links mysterious death. It's so mysterious because Link was found miles from the nearest body of water. Noemi is receiving text messages from an unknown number claiming to be Link. What secrets could Noemi be keeping that could help solve this mystery? We also follow Amberlynn, Link's sister as she gets to know more about Noemi to feel still connected to a piece of her brother. Jonas, newcomer to town, has moved in with his father and his girlfriend, who just so happens to be Noemi's mom. Jonas learns how to blend into this small town while still leaving and impression on those who he finds impressive. What will be uncovered as we follow these characters throughout the span of a year and what is hidden in the woods?

I adore everything about this book. So many sexualities, backgrounds, and personalities are represented here that you cannot walk away from this story without connecting with ATLEAST one of the delightful characters. They very much act their age, in they are wishy washy with each other at times, but what teenager isn't at times? The pacing is excellent for a story that takes place over a year's worth of time! Often you have a drawn out novel that covers just a few days or even weeks. I really appreciated that the author and her characters took their time to process their emotions/connections in a healthy way.

My one teensy itty bitty gripe about this book is that once the twist is revealed it just doesn't give me enough time or even backstory for me to connect with it like I did the rest of the characters. This caused me to feel a little cheated out of a great opportunity, but overall I found it still an enjoyable bit of the story.

In conclusion, five enthusiastic stars from me, I will be recommending this book to anyone that will listen. I highly recommend this story for anyone 13 and up as these characters do explore themselves (nothing graphic) and some of the subject matter is a little intense for younger readers. I'll be looking to pick up a copy when this gem comes out and hope you'll do yourself the favor of doing the same.

A contemporary read that follows a group of kids dealing with their grief following the mysterious drowning of their friend that leans more to the journey one makes to overcome such a loss and less about the forest that has the power to take it from you.

“We were Restless Things” sees Jonas in a new town and living in the shadow of the boy who was recently found dead in the woods behind his house. When his pseudo step sister brings him out to the lake hidden within the trees strange things start to unfold inviting more than just these two back into the embrace of a force that has no desire to let them leave.

I came into this looking for a creepy sort of read that saw this menacing presence lurking in the woods that could kill those who ventured too far and unfortunately this was not that book. Instead we have an almost year in the life type book that follows those closest to Link and how the manage to deal with the fallout of his death and the guild they all share for not doing something to prevent the inevitable.

When we did get to the more fantasy elements it was interesting and something I really wish we would have gotten more of but sadly they only face this sort of oddity a couple of times before the big “showdown” which is more sad than it is scary and I never really understood why it was happening despite the little insights we did get but that’s something I’d have to explain at a later date as to avoid spoilers.

My biggest issue was the dynamics between Jonas and Noemi on the surface they were fine but the whole idea of practically being step siblings was never going to work for me and once she had a very personal conversation with him about her desires vs his I though okay maybe this will be it and we can move on because it’s almost immediately brought up again with another character who I felt handled it better but then we went right back to Jonas and it just felt gross to me and maybe I’m in the minority but I think it’s too weird to support.

Overall this isn’t a bad book but it definitely isn’t what the synopsis makes it out to be so if you’re looking for a thriller or dark fantasy you’ll be a little disappointed but if you don’t mind a taste of both with a spin of the steps of grief this will work great.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Haunting and breathtaking, We Were Restless Things is a murder mystery wrapped in a YA book wrapped in a noir horror novel. When a young man drowns inexplicably on dry land, the young Noemi and Jonas struggle to make sense of the tragedy and uncover what really happened. Throw in a secret mystical lake, a budding friendship, and a town with too many secrets and you've got yourself a real banger of a novel! I loved the sympathetic characters, the horror-esque setting, and way (no spoilers!) everything finally came together. I highly recommend this novel to those who enjoy murder mysteries with a fantasy-edge.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.