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Dark Faerie Tales's Reviews > The Unquiet
The Unquiet
by
by
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: A haunting, provocative debut that shocked me in the best ways.
Opening Sentence: I have been a cottage girl for eight years now.
The Review:
There are two earths. They have always communicated; people talk with their alternates regularly. Until blood and smoke stain the sky. Until people start disappearing into thin air. Until the Silence begins and communications end. Only one earth is surviving while the other deprecates and dies. Lira’s world is not winning, which is why she is taken. She, along with other children that have been sold to the cause, are dropped through portals into the other world. There, they are taught the brutal reality of what it means to be a sleeper.
They kill their alternates and take their places, and they wait for the war to truly begin. They hide in plain sight, doing simple tasks like helping to supply other sleepers with weapons and assistance. Lira is convinced of her inadequacy. She never can seem to see black and white, and the gray area is where she gets lost – traitorous thoughts of innocence and rebellion slip into her mind. No matter how she tries to convince herself otherwise, she’s not emotionless, and over the course of many years, her story is told.
Lira was one of those characters whom is absolutely depressing to read from. She is caught up in something that has forced her out of innocence too early. She is traumatized by the things she does to survive in the harsh reality she was born into. She follows her world’s orders, to the best of her ability, but it is costing her more than she knows. And yet, she is not the perfect sleeper: she thinks of things like love and rebellion, topics that are unthinkable, topics that could get her killed by her own people. I was swept away in her emotions and caught up in the tangle of her thoughts. The writing style is beautiful, and often flows like a stream of consciousness. It was completely unique.
“I have to believe that somehow, somewhere, there are worst monsters in the world than me.”
The love story snuck up on the reader, but when it came, it did not eclipse Lira’s story. I liked that it played a major role without overcoming other, more important facets – the plotline, Lira’s introspection. So many themes were at play in this book and they clashed in a way that somehow turned out beautiful. I won’t lie, the science fiction aspect was brushed off of, and the world building was slippery, but that was layered over by more valuable aspects. I love how this story did not stick to a typical good vs. evil archetype: Lira is not a hero. She is, at many points, the antagonist rather than protagonist of the story. It gave such an interesting, thought provoking perspective.
“In the end I don’t know which lies are worse: the lies we tell ourselves in the dark or the ones we pretend to agree to.”
This book was haunting. It absolutely broke me. It’s a book that focused on such a gritty, harsh reality, and the emotions of the characters are raw. It was left open-ended, in the best way, and readers are left with only their imagination. The endings of the characters that we had invested ourselves in so much are left unsure. Somehow, that works for this book, don’t ask me how. I think that this novel is not for someone looking for a quick paced, action packed science fiction. It is more character-based, but its thought provoking quotes and gorgeous writing made it a winner to me.
Notable Scene:
They won’t pass the testing. It is the most excruciating examination any of us will go through, designed to weed out our mistakes and to eliminate those who are not up to par. They do not have even the slightest hope of passing it.
Margot and I refocus our eyes on the books, both of us shaking our heads in disgust, both of us silent.
Love is what they have. The people of this Earth. Not us. Look how weak it has made them.
FTC Advisory: Greenwillow Books/HarperTeen provided me with a copy of The Unquiet. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: A haunting, provocative debut that shocked me in the best ways.
Opening Sentence: I have been a cottage girl for eight years now.
The Review:
There are two earths. They have always communicated; people talk with their alternates regularly. Until blood and smoke stain the sky. Until people start disappearing into thin air. Until the Silence begins and communications end. Only one earth is surviving while the other deprecates and dies. Lira’s world is not winning, which is why she is taken. She, along with other children that have been sold to the cause, are dropped through portals into the other world. There, they are taught the brutal reality of what it means to be a sleeper.
They kill their alternates and take their places, and they wait for the war to truly begin. They hide in plain sight, doing simple tasks like helping to supply other sleepers with weapons and assistance. Lira is convinced of her inadequacy. She never can seem to see black and white, and the gray area is where she gets lost – traitorous thoughts of innocence and rebellion slip into her mind. No matter how she tries to convince herself otherwise, she’s not emotionless, and over the course of many years, her story is told.
Lira was one of those characters whom is absolutely depressing to read from. She is caught up in something that has forced her out of innocence too early. She is traumatized by the things she does to survive in the harsh reality she was born into. She follows her world’s orders, to the best of her ability, but it is costing her more than she knows. And yet, she is not the perfect sleeper: she thinks of things like love and rebellion, topics that are unthinkable, topics that could get her killed by her own people. I was swept away in her emotions and caught up in the tangle of her thoughts. The writing style is beautiful, and often flows like a stream of consciousness. It was completely unique.
“I have to believe that somehow, somewhere, there are worst monsters in the world than me.”
The love story snuck up on the reader, but when it came, it did not eclipse Lira’s story. I liked that it played a major role without overcoming other, more important facets – the plotline, Lira’s introspection. So many themes were at play in this book and they clashed in a way that somehow turned out beautiful. I won’t lie, the science fiction aspect was brushed off of, and the world building was slippery, but that was layered over by more valuable aspects. I love how this story did not stick to a typical good vs. evil archetype: Lira is not a hero. She is, at many points, the antagonist rather than protagonist of the story. It gave such an interesting, thought provoking perspective.
“In the end I don’t know which lies are worse: the lies we tell ourselves in the dark or the ones we pretend to agree to.”
This book was haunting. It absolutely broke me. It’s a book that focused on such a gritty, harsh reality, and the emotions of the characters are raw. It was left open-ended, in the best way, and readers are left with only their imagination. The endings of the characters that we had invested ourselves in so much are left unsure. Somehow, that works for this book, don’t ask me how. I think that this novel is not for someone looking for a quick paced, action packed science fiction. It is more character-based, but its thought provoking quotes and gorgeous writing made it a winner to me.
Notable Scene:
They won’t pass the testing. It is the most excruciating examination any of us will go through, designed to weed out our mistakes and to eliminate those who are not up to par. They do not have even the slightest hope of passing it.
Margot and I refocus our eyes on the books, both of us shaking our heads in disgust, both of us silent.
Love is what they have. The people of this Earth. Not us. Look how weak it has made them.
FTC Advisory: Greenwillow Books/HarperTeen provided me with a copy of The Unquiet. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
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