The Unquiet Past | Book Review

The Unquiet Past

Written by: Kelley Armstrong

Number of pages: 245

Average Rating: 3.6/5 stars

My Rating: 4/5 stars

Published: September 2015

Read in September 2017

Summary According to Goodreads

You can only hide from the truth for so long.

Tess has always been tormented by waking visions that make her question her sanity. When the orphanage she lives in burns down, she decides to face her fears and find out once and for all what is wrong with her. She believes the truth must lie with her parents, and so, armed with only an address and phone number, Tess travels to a crumbling mansion in rural Quebec, where she discovers evidence of mistreatment of mental patients. She ale makes an unlikely ally and gradually unearths her family’s sad history - and finally accepts the truth about her paranormal powers.

My Thoughts

I have owned so many of Kelley Armstrong’s books throughout the years, so I am beyond excited to have finally picked one up. I support Canadian authors 100%, and was so excited to read about cities I have travelled through. I bought this recently, and was drawn to the plot as my first fall read. 

This novel was so engaging, I read it in a day off from work. I was hooked on the plot, and the many psychology references just continued to enhance my reading experience. I was so interested in this young girl who had a psychic ability, but showed itself in creepy ways. An abandoned mental hospital and she can still hear the screams of the patients? Yes, please! It was a relatively short story, but she still managed to develop a strong plot line, and write believable characters. I loved the constant banter between Tess and Theo, they supported each other but also couldn’t stand each other. 

As much as I loved this, there were a few reasons that I couldn’t give this novel five stars. The biggest reason for my dropped star is that the ending felt very rushed. There was almost 250 pages of lead-up to a big reveal that only lasted about a page. Kelley wrote this novel in a way that focused so heavily on the psychological plot, but then almost changed her mind and chose to be more character-driven. I would have loved to see more visions, but I thought the ones we did get were written very convincingly. 

I am in love with this idea for publishing a series. When I first picked up this novel, I was sure it was a standalone but then I became fascinated with the work put into connecting them. Seven novels all written by different authors, but connected at the base plot line. They read in any order, as individuals, or as a whole. Am I the only who can't get over how brilliant that is?

Overall, this was a great novel! It was my first experience with this author (thank you Kerri), and it definitely won't be my last! This novel was the perfect read for me: psychological plot lines, a teeny tiny bit of romance, and a Canadian setting. I will definitely be continuing on with this "series", but have yet to decide in what order I'll read them. I almost wish I didn’t start the series with this novel, just because I feel as though they won’t be as great!