This book was an unfortunate DNF (Did Not Finish) for me. The story was all over the place. The characters were written one way and then felt like a totally different person a chapter or two later. I wanted to like the idea as I really enjoy supernatural elements mixed into books sometime but the writing just felt sloppy and the characters were too difficult to connect with as I felt they changed in a matter of pages.

DNF
I haven't disliked a book this much in a while.
The synopsis implies an intriguing magical realism thriller instead we get chapter after chapter of mundane characters, with little to no talk about the mysterious death.
Describing Jonas and Noemi as housemates seems like the author was trying to distract the reader from being grossed out by their romantic relationship seeing as they are actually siblings, it didn't work, it was gross, it felt like the author was trying to live out a perverted fetish. All the characters were laughably bland, Noemi was just a straight up bitch she repeated spoke like she was better than everyone and made a conscious effect to hate everyone before even meeting them, yet every character told Jonas how nice and welcoming is she. You cant tell us your character is one thing and then have them act the complete opposite the entire time.

At first glance, this book has a beautiful cover that caught my eyes. The summary was intriguing and I love a good paranormal story as much as the next avid reader, I don't know exactly what it was, but I never fully engaged in this novel. That being said, it a unique read, but to be quite frank, it wasn't my cup of tea. 2.5/5 stars.

I have very mixed feelings about this novel. On the positive side, I LOVED the writing here--it was lush, immersive, and just a joy to read. I was also fine with the slow-burn, more meditative plot development, and the potential magical realism/fairy-tale-esque elements. I didn't need this to be a straight-up traditional YA thriller, which it most certainly is not. On the negative side, though, I could not stand one of the main characters, Jonas, or his [minor spoiler] infatuation with his newly-met stepsister. I found it creepy and disappointingly cliched/toxic (and not just because they are step-siblings) in a way that the book doesn't seem to acknowledge, and their deepening relationship was a huge turn-off as the book progressed. Similarly, while I appreciated the ace-rep in the novel in theory, the execution of the ace character's character arc...left a lot to be desired, and seemed to undermine that ace rep, at least to a degree. It seemed like allosexual heterosexuality and patriarchal cliches were forced into the story in a way that made what was otherwise fascinating very tedious.

This debut novel by Cole Nagamatsu was one of confusion for me. I don't usually read YA, but the book blurb and beautiful cover spiked my intrest.

We Were Restless Things follows multiple POV and how the suspicous death of Link has effected them and their lives. This book is not plot driven but instead follows flashbacks and interpersonal thoughts/relationships to tell the story. Link drowned in the forest not near any water. Nobody can explain this strange accident.

I was unable to finish this book at the 30% mark because it did not hold my attention.

Thank you for allowing me to read this ARC

I was disappointed with this book. When I saw the cover and read the description, I thought to myself something along the lines of "This is new and fresh, I haven't heard of anything like it." But when I started reading, I just felt lost and it seemed like there was a lack of a plot line.

It seems that the first and last part of the book are where the story truly lies. We could just take out the entire middle section and things would still make sense.

I honestly wanted to love this one, but it missed the mark for me. It felt repetitive in some of the view points, but I pushed through most of the way before giving up.

Thank you for allowing me to read this and give my honest opinion.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our library wishlist and recommended it to students.

Jonas arrives to live with his father after being expelled from the high school in his mother’s city. His father’s live-in girlfriend has a daughter his age named Noemi. Noemi and her friend group end up taking Jonas in as one of their own and Jonas quickly learns that they are recovering from the loss of one of their close friends named Link. Link was found drowned outside the forest close to Noemi/Jonas’ house. His death is considered suspicious due to the fact that there are no water sources around. Noemi is receiving text messages from an unknown number who claims to be Link whenever she goes into the forest, which he says is dangerous. What is going on in Shivery?

I found writing the summary for this story to be tough as there is just a lot going on which echoes into the fluency of the book. It seemed to me like the author would pick up a plot point and then bury it underneath an overlapping idea. I just couldn’t really get into it as the story doesn’t really focus on Link’s mysterious death for the majority which is what drew me to the book to begin with. It explores sexuality and coming of age themes as Noemi and her friend group struggle with adolescence. Jonas and Noemi end up developing a romantic relationship and I just couldn’t figure out where the parents were??? They never seemed to clue in and it seemed as though these teenagers were free to do as they wish even though they live in the same house as Jonas’ father and Noemi’s mother. The forest takes a backseat to the other plots which made the fantasy element seem hastily thrown together. Thanks to @sourcebooksfire and @netgalley for this ARC.

I mostly wanted to read "We Were Restless Things" because the cover is gorgeous and it sounded pretty weird - which is something that can work really well, or be a catastrophe. I gave this book 4 stars, so it obviously wasn't the latter. Actually, "We Were Restless Things" was a really pleasant surprise and I am so glad I hadn't listend to some of the bad reviews I read about this book.

Is "We Were Restless Things" a book for everyone? No. Definitely not. And I do get, why people don't like this book, but I really loved it.

For one, the writing style was really beautiful, very descriptive. It reminded me of Maggie Stiefvater and Laien Taylor, who are two of my favorite authors. Also, it gave me major "The Raven Cycle" vibes, with the weird magic that isn't really explained and the forest and just the overall vibe. So, if you like that series, this book could also be for you.

Apart from that the ace rep was what I loved most about this book. One of the main characters, Noemi, is ace and it was described so, so well. It was really relatable for me personally, maybe the for me actually the most relatable ace rep I've read so far and just because of that I love WWRT a lot. It hit me right in the feels.

Storywise WWRT is on the slower side of things, but I knew that going into it and it's something I really appreciated. It was very character driven and not too magical. I really liked that, but like I said, I also get why that may be disappointing, if you are expecting something else. It obviously helped, that I liked most of the characters a lot. They were quirky and interesting to read about, but I do wish we wouldn't have spent so much time with two of the secondary characters, because they weren't bringing the story forward. Instead I wish we would have get to know one other secondary character better, who was way more important for the story in the end, in my opinion. But it is, what it is and it's not a huge complaint. It's just what would have made this book 5 stars for me instead of 4 stars.
Also, I wish this book was a few pages longer, the ending a little bit more fleshed out, but again, not a major complaint.

WWRT definitely is a solid debut and I am very excited about any upcoming books from the author, because I did love the writing style and the characters a lot. The book had me hooked from page one and I couldn't put it down, because the story was so interesting and desperately needed to know what happened. It was a great mix of mystery and fantastical element with some Highschool drama in between. Exactly how I like my YA.

What a cool concept! The cover is also stunning. This book was intriguing; at the beginning, things were a bit slow moving, but towards the second half of the book, things really started to pick up! It is definitely one of those narratives where all ends are neatly tied up. There is much left to wonder. One of the relationships in the book was a bit off putting, which kind of took away from the book- the romantic part was not particularly necessary for the book to move forward. Despite that one thing, the queer representation in the book was great. There was one particular identity explored that was done very well.

The premise of this book sounded really interesting, but unfortunately, the execution didn't deliver exactly.
The characters weren't fully fleshed as well. So, an OK read, not a great one.
Thanks a lot to the publisher and NG for this copy.

We Were Restless Things almost felt like a bait and switch. Centered on the characters, Nagamatsu's debut unfurls slowly. At the beginning of the book, I was able to justify the slow pace because of the amount of care Nagamatsu took in creating these characters and their histories. With gorgeous prose, the characters are quirky and flawed, but they also reflect the pieces of ourselves we see in others. And the people others see in ourselves, our lives, and our art.

With on page asexual representation, I was willing to give We Were Restless Things second and third chances. There were elements, like Noemi's dream journal, which I wasn't sure where they were going, but the promise of the future enticed me. But as the story progressed, not only did I become a little more frustrated by the lack of action, but also the events that unfolded throughout the last third. I don't want to spoil the actual plot, but the twists, to me, felt anti-climactic and also confusing?

I do not often DNF books, but unfortunately I DNFed this one at about 65%. I was very drawn in by the cover and the plot, and had high hopes but just didn't feel like the writing style or characters were something I was enjoying. I did appreciate the asexual representation and applaud the creativity of the plotline but just wasn't being pulled to continue. I look forward to seeing this author continue to grow and will keep an eye out for more of their works.

3 for neutral, will update when obtain a copy to read. Didn’t download correctly, before archive. Once I buy and read, I’ll update through here.

I had high hopes for this book but unfortunately just didn't care for it.
The characters fell flat for me and the pace was incredibly too slow for my tastes. The premise had me hooked but it just wasn't executed well in my opinion.

Oh my gosh. This story was absolutely BRILLIANT. It was one of those instances where I (foolishly) figured, hey I'll just start this story and read a bit before bed.

A few hours later... OOPS. I could not set this book down! It is definitely a book readers should go into with the right kinds of expectations. This is an atmospheric story with ghosts, mild fantasy elements, and really well-written character dynamics. There is a mystery element, but the story is slow-paced, primarily character-driven, and hauntingly beautiful. I found it suspenseful start to finish.

My two favorite parts of the story were this. First, the writing. Cole Nagamatsu writes the kind of story that's so easy to get pulled completely into, where you feel like you're there right alongside the characters. I loved the haunted woods, the impossible lake, and the strangeness of it all. Second, one of the main characters is asexual, and the way Cole incorporate's identity and discussion into the story is absolutely perfect.

There was one squick element that I find a more difficult to accept in stories, but even that feels well incorporated into the story. Overall, this was a beautiful, dreamy, haunted story that's perfect for autumn! I'd recommend it for fans of slow, atmospheric ghost stories like Watch Over Me. 4.5 stars!

Thank you Sourcebooks Fire for a free advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a book that I did not finish. I made it around half-way through before I threw in the towel. I was first interested in the book because of the color and the summary sounded fascinating. The whole teenager drowning in a lake that doesn't exist was eerie and suspenseful. Yet, as I started to read, the characters fell flat for me, and I felt the story was moseying along with no direction. Thank you for the advanced copy!

In all honesty, the best part of this book was the asexual representation. Noemi questions her sexual identity and has a really amazing conversation addressing such. I think these types of questions and conversations need to be normalized in stories, especially when it comes to young adult, so that is my positive takeaway from this book.

The rest of this book is just a trainwreck and not in a good way. The pacing of this story is painstakingly slow (which is saying something considering I was listening to this one at 2x speed) because this is a character driven novel. I am typically all for character driven novels but outside of Noemi, the other characters are just not particularly interesting.

I also alm not a fan of the whole step sibling love story, so I was not invested in that plot line with Noemi and Jonas. The summary makes it seem like Jonas is simply a roommate that Noemi ends up becoming interested in, but they are in fact step siblings, so their love story was just not for me.

<i>Thank you to Recorded Books and Sourcebooks Fire for providing a review copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.</i>

Before I start my review, I just want to say: 'LOOK AT THAT GORGEOUS COVER!! I wish I had loved the story as much as I love the cover. Sadly, this story did not work that well for me, but I still appreciated some elements in the story.

I love that one of the book's main characters is asexual. I wish more books would represent asexuality because I don't feel like there are many books out there that do. Next to asexuality, there also was some queer representation. Also, I was very interested in the mystery and really liked the whole setting of the mysterious lake. But this is where the list of strengths ends...

First of all, I did not like that this story was character-driven. The story would've worked better for me if it had focused more on the mystery because I was totally invested in that and not really that much in the characters because I did not connect to them. Secondly, I realized that I expected more from the mystery after reading the big reveal at the end of the story, so the ending left me a bit underwhelmed. Lastly (SPOILER), the relationship between Naomi and Jonas made me quite uncomfortable because I couldn't shake the fact that they were stepbrother and stepsister. I definitely would have shipped their relationship more if they hadn't been related.

All in all, I feel like this story had as much good as bad parts and so I decided to rate this book 2.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.