Book Review: Unrest by Michelle Harrison

You think a teenage boy would be happy about a girl in his room. 

Seventeen-year-old Elliott hasn't slept properly for months. Not since the accident that nearly killed him. Sometimes he half-wakes, paralysed, while shadowy figures move around him. Other times he is the one moving around, while his body lies asleep on the bed. His doctors say sleep paralysis and out of body experiences are harmless - but to Elliott they're terrifying.

Convinced that his brush with death has attracted the spirit world, Elliott secures a job at a reputedly haunted museum, determined to discover the truth. There, he meets the enigmatic Ophelia. But, as she and Elliott grow closer, Elliott draws new attention from the dead. One night, during an out of body experience, Elliott returns to bed to find his body gone. Something is occupying it, something dead that wants to live again . . . and it wants Ophelia, too . . . 

This is the story of a boy who died and rises again so now the Dead hounded his dreams. Or more like they make him astral project, giving him unrestiful nights.

Elliott makes an likeable, appealing protagonist.The supporting characters are okay, there is a sprinkle of stereotypes as minor antagonists. The romance is somewhat decent. The mythos of the ghosts was done well. It took from a lot of things to have realistic rules that worked for the plot.

I liked the plot mixed with the setting. While it is set at museum, its actually a collection of old buildings making more a fake tour from different time periods. Elliot chooses to work there as they have started during ghost tours at night as the buildings are meant to be haunted. There's also mystery that comes from working at the museum. I enjoyed the journey of this and the solution was fulfilling.

It also deals with grief, Elliot having lost his mum before his accident and his dad failing to cope after she gones.

I listened to the audio book version narrated by Paul Chequer. He did a good job of bringing Elliot to live, this book being in first person.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for drawing henna. This was a decent YA with supernatural stuff.