Review: All Unquiet Things

I started Anna Jarzab's All Unquiet Things at 6:30 on Friday night, and I finished it at approximately 11. That same night. It's absolutely fantastic. It is by far the best book I've read this year (yes yes, I know it's only February, but it's still a very true claim.) All Unquiet Things follows two high school students, withdrawn and sulky Neily and ostracized former "it girl" Audrey as they attempt to band together to uncover who killed Carly the year before. Narrated by both, in alternating sections, their motivations for uncovering who really killed Carly are complicated by their personal history to her. Carly is Neily's ex-girlfriend (who he has never quite gotten over) and Audrey's best friend/cousin. Oh, and Audrey's father is the one who is in jail for killing Carly.

All Unquiet Things is smart. It's immensely readable. Neily and Audrey, though flawed and devestated by Carly's death, are utterly relatable and we understand why this quest is so important to them, because we understand how important Carly was to them (despite her numerous faults). This book reminded me of Veronica Mars in the best way possible. They both had a Lilly Kane tragic figure, a murder mystery with a killer no one ever saw coming, a realistic film noir tone, flashbacks which helped give the victim a life and a history and made her someone who we, like the determined characters, cared about, and two people coming together to discover the truth.




I urge you to check out this book. It's different than a lot of the supernatural romances which are raging right now. It's set in the real world, but it's in a shady underbelly of corruption and dark secrets which is totally addicting, even if we'd never want to live there ourselves.

P.S. If you haven't seen Veronica Mars you need to Netflix it. It'll change your life. Everyone I've forced to start watching it has become addicted.