The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee
When Rinn Jacobs moves to a new town she hopes it will be a fresh start-a place where nobody knows about her past. At first, everything goes according to plan. She falls in with the popular girls at her new school and falls for the very cute boy-next-door Nate. But River Hills High School has a secret. The ghost of a girl who died back when Rinn’s mom was a student supposedly haunts a hallway. Rinn’s not sure she believes it, but when strange things start happening to her friends, Rinn decides there’s only one way to know for sure. She needs to ditch her bipolar meds and see what the voices are really trying to say…Fans of films like Black Swan will be fascinated by this psychological thriller.
The Unquiet, the captured my attention the first time I saw it. Of course I was also drawn to The Unquiet because I love a good creepy ghost story. A main character not able to distinguish illusion from reality – yeah, sounds good to me. I just hoped it could deliver on what it was selling.
We get to know Corrine. She’s a very likable and sympathetic character (not to be confused with pathetic, she’s far from that) who despite having challenges in her life that most of us don’t have to deal with is very easy to relate to. Corrine just wants to find some measure of happiness and peace; especially after the horrid few months she’s had. Unfortunately despite her mom dragging her across the country for a fresh start, things don’t really get much better. At first Corrine’s making friends and has even found herself liking Nate, her neighbor, but it isn’t long before things start to fall apart.
Corinne’s new friends tell her of the legend of Annaliese the ghost of River Hills High. The girl who died in a pool that’s now blocked off by a huge fence and who haunts the tunnel that passes behind the gym. Corinne’s skeptical at first, convinced her friends are trying to freak her out, but when unexplainable things start happening to the people around her – things she can’t easily dismiss – she’s not so sure it’s only legend.
The Unquiet is definitely creeptastic. I’m a pretty jaded ghost story enthusiast and I enjoyed the story. Sure in part there’s nothing too original here but it all works well together and makes for an awesome whole. Corinne is a very believable character and we get a window into the bipolar disorder. I Only a person who truly deals with the disorder can say if the view we get is accurate but to me it felt real.
I’d have no trouble recommending this to anyone who likes a good creepy tale or ghost story. The Unquiet is well worth the time to read. The last page sent chills down my spine! I’m really curious what other people who read the book thought.
Find The Unquiet: Amazon | BD | Goodreads
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*Review Copy provided free of charge by the publisher in exchange for a fair review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
About April
Oh, I’m so glad you like Unquiet! Ever since I’ve read the synopsis, I’ve been really wanting to read this. I love to read something “creeptastic”!
Great review, April.
Creepy ghost story FTW!!
I have wanted to read this for a while now, the cover is what got me, I love it, it really intrigued me to what the story is about and it seems a bit eerie looking. I am looking forward to reading it, lovely review, thanks
You’ll have to let me know what you think after you get the chance to read it! I think the ending is sort of left up to the readers interpretation and I’m really curious how others perceived it! It’s definitely one of those books where the cover aptly depicts the book – and doesn’t let you down!
Oooh … I love a good creepy ghost story!! This one has been on my wishlist for a while now … I might have to check it out!
Great review!
The Unquiet is definitely worth the read! The ending on this one was like .. wuuuut haha I am dying to know what other people thought of it, so you should read it and give me yours!
I’ll definitely be picking this up! Though I get really creeped out by scary stories (to the point of, at two in the morning when I put the book down, “husband – I heard a noise! I think someone’s in the house! Go check. Please? PLEASE?!” *whine*), but I really enjoy them! Looking forward to some creepy stories, but don’t tell my husband, okay?
Great review, April!
Oh I am so glad you liked it too! Jeannine Garsee is one of my faves and I was hoping this one would be great too! If you’re looking for another “sends chills” book, Jessica Warman’s Beautiful Lies did that to me!
I’m so stoked, I have Beautiful Lies coming up on my to-read list soon, so glad to hear it’s good!
I love creepy stories! Great review!
Oh, April, this sounds AMAZING! LOVE ghost stories–though I’ve read pitifully few–and the comparison the Black Swan in the blurb totally has my attention… and how you’ve described Corrine? I LVOE! ♥
This was an AMAZING book…I loved how she dealt with her disorder and the ghost story was just…creepy! Love ghost stories!