We Were Restless Things

July 1, 2020

Gr 9 Up-Link Miller drowned in the forest where there was no lake. His death is unexplainable to everyone except Noemi Amato, who has seen the impossible lake that seems to only appear for her and once for Link. Now, from the grave, Link is sending Noemi messages through text, warning her of the danger that lies within the forest. Told through the alternating perspectives of Noemi, her new housemate/love interest Jonas, Link, and Link's sister Amberlyn, multiple plot lines slow down this magical realism story. The mystery of Link's death becomes almost forgotten as Noemi develops a relationship with Jonas, who is dealing with Noemi's revelation of her asexuality. Amberlyn goes back and forth between the grief over the loss of her brother, and her budding relationship with her new girlfriend. There is also an additional story line of Link's best friend experiencing abuse at the hands of his stepfather. The story concludes with a twist that will leave some readers disappointed. Too many story lines lead to not enough time given to thoroughly delve into each plot thread. VERDICT A promising start that fizzles towards the middle. A secondary purchase for collections in need of magical realism.-Ashley Leffel, Griffin M.S., Frisco, TX

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2020
Turbulent teens flirt and fight in a Midwest town. Sixteen-year-old Jonas Lake reluctantly relocates from his mom's house in the Twin Cities to small-town Shivery, Minnesota, to live with his dad, his dad's girlfriend, and her daughter, the oh-so-artistic, often angry Noemi. Jonas first fights with, then falls for Manic Pixie Dream Girl Noemi; florid, fevered, forbidden romance, not always reciprocated, ensues. Noemi's aloofness and self-alienation read as being in part due to grief as she mourns the death of friend-but-not-boyfriend Link, whose drowning death on dry forest land mystified everyone but her. Meanwhile, another romance blooms between Noemi's female friends Lyle and Amberlyn. An abused and abusive bully and mysterious, ghostly texts complicate the quartet's relationships, but despite their self-absorption and overly articulate narration, Jonas and Noemi remain frustratingly opaque. Noemi is a melancholic, moody artiste, often aloof and alienated, as is the broody Jonas. Identifying as asexual and working through the entanglement of romance with sexuality, Noemi offers one perspective for a population often underrepresented in literature. Debut author Nagamatsu's fantasy elements of a spooky forest and its disappearing lake are tantalizing but underdeveloped while the meandering, sluggish pacing pairs with an insubstantial plot to deliver an overlong yet flimsy tale of teenage self-exploration. Clunky analogies and Bulwer-Lytton-worthy phrasing also abound. All main characters read as white. Thin on enchantment, long on angst, an atmospheric but amorphous coming-of-age. (Romance. 14-18)

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August 24, 2020
Debut author Nagamatsu blends mystery and melancholia in the Riverdale-esque story of friends grieving the strange death of 17-year-old Lincoln Miller, found drowned in a forest with no water—“the Schrödinger’s cat of drowned teenagers.” When high school junior Jonas Lake moves into Shivery, Minn.’s Lamplight Inn with his father and father’s girlfriend, Cesca, after being expelled from school, he does not expect to fall in love with Cesca’s daughter, Noemi. Artistic Noemi, haunted by Lincoln’s death and strange text messages from someone claiming to be him, explores her asexuality amid others’ proclaimed affections. Meanwhile, Lincoln’s sister, Amberlyn, falls for Noemi’s best friend, Lyle, and bully Gaetan seeks healing following abuse from his stepfather. Despite jolting moments of terror, the pacing is uneven and the characters’ path to understanding their friend’s death and the forest’s mystery feels farfetched and labyrinthine in scope. Told from alternating perspectives and interspersed with Noemi’s photographs and dream journal entries, though, Nagamatsu’s story boasts memorable descriptions (“Their mouths tasted the way raw chicken looked”) and characters with complex emotional lives, including affirming portrayals of multiple gender expressions and sexual orientations. Ages 14–up. Agent: Erica Bauman, Aevitas Creative Management.

October 1, 2020
Grades 9-12 The pivotal event around which Nagamatsu's poetic, uneven debut novel is built?the unusual death of Link Miller, drowned in a forest with no apparent water source?is well suited to the dreamlike tale of emotional fallout, romantic entanglements, and wistful ennui that follows. When high-schooler Jonas moves in with his dad and his dad's girlfriend, Cesca, he's drawn to Cesca's mercurial, artsy daughter Noemi, though he's discomfited by the specter of Link that haunts her (literally, as it turns out). The pair navigate their romantic and sexual attraction?Noemi self-identifies as asexual?as they investigate a mysterious lake only Noemi can find, aided by her friend Lyle, Link's sister Amberlyn, and Link's friend Gaetan. Noemi's photographs and dream journal intersperse chapters relayed by various narrators. In seeking closure for Link's death, the characters confront emotional complexity that threatens to drown them as well. Overlong and meandering, with occasionally belabored metaphors ( the words wilting from his brain like a garden planted on a hill made of glass ), this imaginative tale almost comes together.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)