We Were Restless Things

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.