Book Talk: The Unquiet by Mikaela Everett

Want an “at a glance” look at what I thought? Check out my Review On A Post-It or my “Final Thought”

There are 2 earths — duplicates of everything on this parallel earth. But one earth is failing because two can not exist in the universe and a mission has been created, by people of the failing planet, to invade the other and take it for themselves. They’ve been training kids, like the main character Lira, to become cold killers and sleeper agents until the big invasion happens. So Lira finishes her training and is brought to where she must kill her duplicate and then assume her life while she waits for the time when all the sleeper agents are in place and the battle to take this planet for themselves will happen.

OH EM GEEEEEEE.

The Unquiet was one of the most unsettling and unflinching books I’ve read this year for sure. I expected it to go in a certain direction and it absolutely didn’t and I was left like DAAAAMN I SEE YOU, BOOK. Predictable it was not at all! It was also a very unique science fiction read — unlike anything I’ve read personally!

Here’s what I loved:

1. The plot & the execution of it: There are two earths that are identical but one of them seems to be failing because two of the same earth cannot exist. For all these years the children have been trained for the day when they will kill the person who is them on the other earth and take over their life until enough sleeper soldiers in place so they can take over that planet themselves and be the ones who live. I was fascinated (and horrified) by the training the children received and found myself really interested to see how the invasion of the parallel earth would go. I will just say, without giving anything away, that I was really pleased with the direction it went and the conclusion. There were things about this book that definitely threw me for a loop and I loved it when it would leave me sitting there with my mouth wide open because I didn’t expect something. Definitely a brutal book!

2. The battle of being the killer she is supposed to be vs. the true nature underneath it all that the main character grapples with: Lira has been trained to be a killer basically. She’s supposed to go kill her duplicate and then pretend to be her but not get attached to them or anything. She has to stay in line, complete her missions that she is given to help assist with invasion efforts and basically has to wait until the day comes that she’s been training for — which is basically the slaughter of all the people who inhabit this planet to make room for the people coming from the crumbling planet. What I loved about Lira is that she was convincingly everything she was supposed to be but at the same time she wasn’t. I believed she could be a cold-blooded killer like she was taught and follow through with the plan but I also saw glimpses of the girl she really was and that she did care about certain people/things and have reservations. I loved trying to figure out whether or not I thought she was going to rebel or continue to carry out her duties or try to save the world or just accept what she had to do — I honestly felt like I didn’t know what she would do!

My only issue:

There was a decent chunk of this where I was BORED. I know we were supposed to get the sense of what she did as a sleeper while waiting for the invasion to fully happen but I was having a hard time reading SO much of the mundane stuff she was doing. I felt like *I* was just waiting for the time to come and what she was doing in the meantime wasn’t always engaging. I did enjoy some of the things that happened during that time to set up for some interesting things later and to show her complicated feelings towards her duplicates family and this mission in general…but sometimes it was slooooowgoing. I almost put it down but I was personally glad I didn’t because I enjoyed the conclusion so much.

+ plot, writing, twists, the conclusion
–  the long chunk in the middle that bored me

Would I re-read or buy a copy for my collection? I think this was a one time read for me personally and because it’s not a favorite or one I’d reread I wouldn’t buy one for my collection but I plan on passing my copy on for a bookish Pollyanna I’m doing where we bring a book we’ve enjoyed recently.

fans of YA science fiction that isn’t TOO science fiction-y or confusing, lovers of parallel world type stories, people who can be patient with a slow middle to a book, people looking for a standalone YA book that isn’t contemporary

What a brutal and unflinching story that captivated me from the first page, almost lost me in the middle-ish but then really hit a home run to have me standing up and slow clapping for how everything played out. It’s not for the faint of heart with a character who gets blood on her hands and a mission that is basically slaughtering of people but I loved how we see her struggle with whether she wants to be who THEY have ordered to be or who she really is. I raced through this book to find out ultimately what she would decide.

* Have you read this one? What did you think? Similar or different from me? I would LOVE to hear regardless!
*If you haven’t read it, does it feel like something you’d be into?
If you read it, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE ENDING!! Please use spoilers. I was really caught off guard [spoiler]by the revelation of the pills and also that this cycle would just repeat itself. Loved how she went back with him at the end. I also TOTALLY thought that she was going try to save everything and stop the bloodshed from happening but I loved that she took care of the people she loved and didn’t want to be a part of it/ but wanted to stay alive because it was more realistic. [/spoiler]