Review: The Unquiet

Author: Jeannine Garsee
Release Date: July 17, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 388
Source: NetGalley
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Summary:  Sixteen-year-old Rinn Jacobs has secrets: One, she’s bipolar. Two, she killed her grandmother.After a suicide attempt, and now her parents' separation, Rinn and her mom move from California to the rural Ohio town where her mother grew up. Back on her medications and hoping to stay well, Rinn settles into her new home, undaunted by the fact that the previous owner hanged herself in Rinn's bedroom. At school, her classmates believe the school pool is haunted by Annaliese, a girl who drowned there. But when a reckless séance goes awry, and terrible things start happening to her new friends—yet not to her—Rinn is determined to find out why she can’t be "touched" by Annaliese...or if Annaliese even exists. 

With the help of Nate Brenner, the hunky “farmer boy” she’s rapidly falling for, Rinn devises a dangerous plan to uncover the truth. Soon reality and fantasy meld into one, till Rinn finds it nearly impossible to tell the difference. When a malevolent force threatens the lives of everyone she cares about--not to mention her own--she can't help wondering: who should she really be afraid of?

Annaliese? Or herself?

My Favorite Lines:

“I loved the ‘high’ part of being bipolar.  I loved being able to research, write, and print out a term paper in one evening, not that anything I wrote made sense.  I loved staying awake for days on end, talking to anyone about everything.”

“When I slide the switch, the smoky beam swings over the faces of my friends.  Meg, Lacy, Tasha, and Dino.  Faces frozen.  Eyes unblinking.  Mouths stretched in soundless screams.”

Why I Loved It:  I had been looking forward to this book for a while.  It sounded interesting enough to make it one of my WoW picks.  I found it really interesting that Jeannine Garsee had/has worked as a psychiatric nurse, and her main character in this book had been diagnosed as bipolar.  I started to have high hopes for the book.  Now keeping in mind that I wasn’t sure about how the paranormal part was going to come in, I started the book with a great deal of anticipation.  I have to be honest.  I was not disappointed.  Now it wasn’t quite the book that I just “couldn’t put down” but I really enjoyed reading the book before bed every night. 

Rinn is sixteen, and she has just landed in a new school.  Her past is full of some crazy events that resulted from her bipolar diagnosis.  There is one tragedy of her past that is haunting her present.  That isn't the only thing that is haunting her.  It seems an lady had recently committed suicide in her new bedroom.  And that lady’s granddaughter also haunts the pool room at school.  When some pretty strange things start happening, Rinn has to question if it’s her or if ghosts truly do exist. 

Nate, the love interest in the book, was pretty gorgeous sounding.  He had that country flair that I seem to have a weakness for.  I also loved his pet name for Rinn. 

The only real weakness of the book for me was that character development could have been been a bit better.  I wanted more about some of the characters to really feel grief for them.  Regardless it was still a pretty awesome book.

Who Should Read It: For those readers, kind of like me, that really love contemporary books that deal with real issues like Ellen Hopkins, but also get really into some of the paranormal books, you should check this one out.  It's not too intense paranormal-wise, so if intensity is a must have, this book may not be enough for you.  It's perfect for that before bed reading time. 

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