I really enjoyed this novel, having gone in wih very few expectations. I'e read multiple novels this year told from the perspective of three generations and it works really well here, focusing on the story of a 10 year old boy called Touissant in 1980s Philadephia, his mother Ava, fleeing the results of her poor romantic choices, and her mother Dutchess, struggling to keep her small rural community alive after the exodus of all the young people. It's gripping, emotive and a very satisying read. Recommended and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Quite a depressing book really. Well written and hard hitting, you do feel like you are immersed in the period and the setting. Apart from Toussaint though, none of the characters were particularly likeable which makes it difficult to feel for them.

Oh is this a heavy book!!

We meet Toussaint and his mother Ava, fleeing a bad situation and just about to move into a women's shelter. Ava is clearly suffering from some kind of mental health difficulty as she has very fragmented and scattered thoughts and largely ignores Toussaint. Toussaint is afraid and just wants to go home. He soon starts skipping school and investigating the city on his own, soon befriending Zeek, a homeless man who lives under the bridge. Soon, Toussaint and his mum bump into Cass, Ava's old sweetheart and the man she believes is Toussaint's father....but what is he planning? And why is he so keen on them moving into 'The Ark'?

In parallel with this story, we get the story of Duchess. She is Toussaint's grandmother, living in the Alabama town of Bonapart. Obsessed with fighting off the invading 'white town', Duchess spends her days patrolling the Bonapart and reminiscing about her life. Lamenting the loss of her husband, and wondering is she will ever see Ava again, Duchess's chapters largely fill in Ava's backstory.

This is a book of heavy themes and heavy content. It was a proper slog to get through it and I almost abandoned it several times but wanted to get to the end in case it got better, sadly it didn't. The title is perfect because every is unsettled and that includes the reader.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Relentlessly devastating.
It may be due to my own personal position at the moment but I couldn’t bear another page of heartache. I’m afraid I put this aside 100 pages in.

It was the cover that first attracted me to this book and I then realised that it was by the author of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, which has been on my list of books to buy for a long time. It was the prologue though, that really sucked me in.

I really liked the idea of Toussaint and Ava's relationship and how determined Ava was that Toussaint should have a good life, even if she didn't always get things right. I also enjoyed Toussaint's friendship with his new brothers, later on in the book.

Parts of this book did take me a while to get into and some of the chapters were easier to follow than others but, while I may have missed what was going on in some bits, my enjoyment of the story was not affected. I found the Ava and Toussaint chapters much easier to follow than those told by Dutchess.

The story of Ava and her son Toussaint, which takes place in the small town of Bonaparte, Alabama and Philadelphia, and their reconnection with Toussaint's father Cass. The title of the work is apt - all these lives are Unsettled.

Mathis expertly shows both the rural and city life, and evokes the 1980s setting wonderfully. There was some very fine writing here.

It is a novel I found deeply moving, swelling as it does with deep emotion. It is the type of novel that will break your heart and have you wanting to reach into the page and help poor Toussaint out.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

This was such an intense read! It was actually very hard to put down but also very very hard to read. The author did not hold back in describing the sheer pain of the story itself and indeed each sorrowful character. The book’s title could not be more apt! I finished the book feeling incredibly unsettled - for what happened and indeed for what could have been!

this was so incredibly devastating at every turn. had to keep taking little breaks from reading because it was very Heavy. i don’t think i’ve read anything quite like this before and it’s definitely going to stay with me.

very aptly titled; everyone in this book was unsettled and i am unsettled after finishing it. all i want to do is give toussaint a hug.