This book just did not work for me. Had it not been for receiving a free ARC in exchange for honest review I would have not finished it. Definitely a struggle, the story takes us to Ava and her son Touissant and their struggle of being homeless, then living with a rebel type doctor who is the father of her son. Also goes back to perspective of Ava’s mother in Bonaparte Alabama and does not flow well between perspectives at all. Felt there were numerous occasions of rambling, things that did not make sense and were not explained at all. One example I can give, Ava is watching a scene between security guard at homeless housing apartments and a woman having sex and with no explanation then she is the one having sex with him. It was so disconjointed and Ava while she may have mental health issues complains about any and every situation, even when people are trying to help her.

I do not recommend this read.

Thanks to Netgalley for my electronic advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

The Unsettled is one of those books that once you are finished and put the book down it will truly never leave. It's a story about how the decisions we make in life we can leave others down paths that put them in danger or someone that will have long term effects for the rest of their lives. The main characters invloved are Ava and her son Toussant. It goes back in time to show what life like was in Alabama and gives you a feeling of what life was like for previous generations and what it means to the same familial genrations today. There is so much to discuss about the book but I really don't want to give too much away. From the very first sentence of this book you just know you're entering something special. It would an excellent choice for bookclubs. Thank you to Knopf and Netgalley for the read.

What I loved about this book:
1. The title: it was so descriptive of the characters and how I felt reading the book.
2. The content: A number of issues are explored including complicated family relationships, intergenerational trauma, racism, abuse, and the dehumanizing impact of living in poverty. It is not a fast read, nor an easy one but so well written and so needed.
2. The complex characters: Real, raw and so well written.

What I wished were different:
1. I wanted the ending to give me more than it did.
2. I wanted to know more of the characters history.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf publishing for an advanced ARC. Book published: September 26, 2023

I was unfamiliar with Ayana Mathis' work but the synopsis intrigued me. I like to push my boundaries in my personal world as well as in my reading world. As a 65 year old, active white women, this book truly did. It is hard as well as soft, heartfelt love and bitter love. The author took me inside a world I only knew from an outsider's perspective. I will not pretend to walk in someone else's shoes but appreciate that someone has opened the door for a glimpse.

I am writing this review right after finishing the book. It will take me a while to digest the full impact. Ms. Mathis' book will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you net galley for an advanced copy.

Ayana Mathis’ second novel introduces us to an estranged mother-daughter pair, Dutchess and Ava, as they lead their lives separately but always bound together by their shared memories and traumas. Set primarily in the 1980s, Ava and her son struggle for some semblance of normalcy during a stretch of houselessness that lands them in a community living facility in Philly. All the while, Ava fights the ghosts of her past that threaten to uproot her present and future. Meanwhile, Dutchess and her small-town Alabama community members wage a continual battle against nearby white townspeople who have been terrorizing them for years.

Each of the characters in this book is plagued by a profound sense of disquiet, some of which is inflicted upon them by others, by themselves, and by a profusely anti-Black and anti-Black woman society. And both Ava and Dutchess in particular are painted as deeply flawed characters; Ava, with her derision of the other unhoused people in her vicinity, and Dutchess, a mother who failed her daughter in countless ways. Mathis shows us a family that at every turn contends with its painful past and uncertain future, striving for dignity and peace in a world so bent on withholding it. I was fascinated in particular by Mathis’ depiction of Ava’s struggle for dignity as dependent on chipping away at others’—she wades deeper and deeper into the waters of “respectability” until she finds herself in a highly undesirable position for both herself and her son Toussaint. Although I found the book a bit difficult to get into at first, once I was in, I was hooked. And the last 25%? Wowowowow.

This is a great novel for those who enjoy deeply flawed characters, books that examine mother-daughter and mother-son relationships, and who just to dive into a “recent history” historical novel. Thanks so much @aaknopf and @netgalley for the e-ARC! I’m excited for more people to read this one.

This was a good book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were times that the story took a bit to pick up again and the Bonapart chapters I struggled getting into. But sorry wise and character wise it is an excellent story with so many messages. I will recommend it to anyone.

Title: The Unsettled
Author: Ayana Mathis
Publisher: Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
'The Unsettled' by Ayana Mathis

My Sentiments:

'The Unsettled' was quite an engaging powerful epic and pulsing read that the reader will have to keep up with all that will be going on in this story. "A searing multi-generational novel set in the 1980s in racially and politically turbulent Philadelphia and in the tiny town of Bonaparte, Alabama...about a mother [Ava Carson and her ten-year-old son, Toussaint] fighting for her sanity and survival." Be ready for a story about racism and misogyny.

We find Ava trying to make a better life for her son, but we also see the disruption of her dreams with characters coming in and out making it impossible for her dreams. What will happen when Ava's first love Cass and the three move on attempting to find a place to settle? You, the reader will have to pick up this read to see how that comes out.

The author gives us a read that is told through 'dual POV's, third person around Ava's lie, and first-person through her mother, Dutchess.' This was a good read if you can keep up with what is going on with who, 'especially with the main characters are all complex and believable as are the situations in which they find themselves and from which they may or may not be able to extricate themselves.'

Be ready for quite a heavy read with some of the topics that are covered in the read of multiple generations and themes that deal with the contrasts of 'mother/daughter, mother /son, and man/woman all giving us a story of family trauma of these unsettled lives.'

Thank you to Net Gallery for a free e-copy of this novel.

The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis is not an easy, breezy read, but one you’ll find, perhaps a bit unsettling, and yet compelling. The story is told from various perspectives, mainly Ava, her young son Toussaint and her estranged mother, Duchess.

Ava is a struggling single mom who recently left her husband. She and Toussaint make their way back to Philadelphia and live in a shelter for a while. Duchess lives in Alabama on an island with a small group of Black neighbors who settled there years ago. While they are not in direct communication, each is in the other’s mind. Duchess is unaware that she has a grandson.

Ava and Toussaint eventually join a commune of sorts and just as things seem to be settling, trouble ensues. This part of the novel seems to be loosely based on events that happened in Philadelphia in 1985.

The writing is almost poetic and puts the reader in the story with its wonderful descriptions. The subject matter is not comfortable but certainly necessary if we are to learn from others experiences. I will definitely read the author’s prior novel as well as her future work.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Alfred A Knopf publishing company for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

Breathtaking. Reading The Unsettled was an exercise in feeling unsettled - author Ayana Mathis created such vibrant characters that I felt this constant simmering tension throughout the book. This is the story of mother and son and grandmother told in different points of view across time and (capital T) trauma that affects the trajectory of each of their lives. The subject matter and the technique the author used to show trauma isn’t easy to read. At times I had to go back a few pages and reread to fully understand what the author wanted me to feel and experience with the words. It’s a fantastic book and one I recommend. (And if you haven’t read her previous work The Twelve Tribes of Hattie - go read that one too.)

It's not often that an author can make a reader feel the characters in the story. The UNSETTLED ceneters around three generations of a family whose lives have been hard, unsettled is a very accurate description. Ava Carson, the mother of 10 yr old Touussaint, and Ava's mother Dutchess, all share the emotional scars of having no place to call their own. Ayana Mathis has so skillfully built the characters and their communities you'll see them, hear the neighbors and smell the poverty of their lives. We follow Ava as she works to provide a better life for her son than she had. The highs and lows of her life will draw a response from your heart. This was no easy read. It requires attention and connection that few stand alone novels can grasp and hold on to. If you are looking for your next read, try this one, it's a 5 star winner.

I picked up this novel because I really loved the Twelve Tribes of Hattie. I found this novel a bit less of a smooth read. Unsettled focuses on Ava, her son Toussaint and her mother Dutchess. While Ava is trying to give her son a different, move loving childhood than she had; she ended up giving him a different type of unsettled childhood, one with abuse, poverty and uncertainty. Ava grew up in the hamlet of Bonaparte, Alabama, where her family had been for generations - very settled, but her somewhat detached mother and estrangement from her her left her unsettled and she left after high school and never came home. Ava spends her life constantly searching for something to settle her - continually looking for “home” for her and her son Toussaint. Unfortunately she looks for her identity in men and those men take advantage of her.

Ava, is a lost soul, and is trying to raise her son in the 80s, first in a failed marriage, then in a homeless shelter, and finally in a cult-like home. The entire time she is dragging Toussaint around to these unstable homes, her mother Dutchess is holding onto a land deed and money for her in Alabama - Ava has always had stability if she wanted it.

I found this novel a bit hard to read at times, both for the painful and frustrating character of Ava and the writing (which I found slow). I appreciated the themes and I enjoyed Toussaint and his scenes a lot. In the end I’m glad I read the book and the beautifully written descriptions throughout, this story will stick with me for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC to review

A beautifully written and tough book to read. It did not include my favorite historical time to read, but was inclusive enough to make the reader think.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book.
The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis was a vivid, astonishing, meaningful story.
The authors skillful delivery brought the characters to life, making their struggles and triumphs feel incredibly real.
Ayana Mathis attention to detail is remarkable, immersing readers in a rich and immersive setting.
I found myself emotionally invested in this story, eagerly following their journey as they navigated through challenges.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, Knopf for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This book put me through the emotional wringer or should I say it unsettled me. The lovely writing and characters really enhanced the story. From Philadelphia, the family shelter and the communal house to Bonaparte and the farm, the interweaving of stories and characters was wonderful. So many issues were presented and explored. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. The Unsettled follows the lives of an emotionally and physically distant family across the 1980s, Philadelphia and Alabama. It is this distance that is both interesting and the inherent problem with the novel. The main characters hardly interact with one another for most of the novel, until almost 90% of the way through. The sections that took place in Philadelphia were so interesting and left me with a lot to think about and then the sections in Alabama would interrupt the flow. This had good bones but the form didn't hold together for me.

I wanted to like this book so much more! The characters were interesting, but I could not get over Ava and her disdain for those around her and her own circumstances as though she was better than them. She was the perfect example of how close so many people are to needing support! Her blindness to that made reading her sections of the book a struggle. But my bigger struggle was how slow the plot moved. Yes, at some point I realized this was more a character driven story than plot, which dismayed me. Sure I like character development, but there was so much plot to discover but the book never went there. Even the more dramatic moments felt monotone. I finished the booking feeling like maybe I missed something.

Ava Carson and her ten-year old Toussaint are thrown out of the house by her husband. They find themselves inmates of the shelter at Glenn Avenue. Ava is most unhappy to be an inmate of the shelter and is plotting to leave from the moment she arrives. Her mother, Dutchess, lives in Alabama and has always been a proponent for the rights of the colored people. Ava has a troubled relationship with her mother but finding herself left with no choice decides to return to Alabama with her son. However they run into Cass, Ava's ex-husband and Toussaint's father. Cass has now become the leader of a commune called the Ark and he draws Ava and Toussaint into it. What follows is even more chaos and displacement. The name of the book "Unsettled" is apt in that most of the characters in the book are unsettled in their lives and continue to be so through the storyline. This book is a slow burn literary exploration of issues of race and social inequalities. This is one of those books best suited for books clubs or literary discussion or book prize lists - definitely not for everybody.

Thank you Netgalley, Knopf Publishing Group and Ayana Mathis for the ARC

Every type of pain and trauma that a person can endure is depicted in some type of way in this story.

I don’t wanna say I enjoyed the story, because it is truly sad and painful. The author did a great job (in my opinion) of brining the story and its characters to life, but I was left with so many questions and no type of closure or healing. That was a disappointment. Maybe we’ll meet these characters again.

This would be a good book club selection.

I have opened this book several times but can never actually get into it. Whether it's the writing style or subject matter, I'm not sure, but after the first several chapters I lost interest. Thanks to the author Ayana Mathis, publisher Knopf, and NetGalley for allowing me this opportunity to read this book.

This was a beautifully written descriptive novel with a very appropriate title. Ava and her son Touissant are basically homeless after leaving her husband and looking for a place to settle in. They find a shelter home and slowly try putting the pieces back together, but when Toussiants dad returns on the scene it gets more complicated. I loved the character of Touissant and my heart went out to him. I loved the writing in this book..the descriptions of Alabama, the people there. Its a slow burning story but has a powerful emotional punch in the end.