Synopsis:
The Unfinished is the debut YA horror novel by Cheryl Isaacs (Mohawk), in which small-town athlete Avery is haunted by the black water and Unfinished beings of Kanyen’kehá:ka stories and must turn to the culture she hasn’t felt connected to in order to save her town.
The black water has been waiting. Watching. Hungry for the souls it needs to survive.
When small-town athlete Avery’s morning run leads her to a strange pond in the middle of the forest, she awakens a horror the townspeople of Crook’s Falls have long forgotten.
Avery can smell the water, see it flooding everywhere; she thinks she’s losing her mind. And as the black water haunts Avery—taking a new form each time—people in town begin to go missing.
Though Avery had heard whispers of monsters from her Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) relatives, she’s never really connected to her Indigenous culture or understood the stories. But the Elders she has distanced herself from now may have the answers she needs.
When Key, her best friend and longtime crush, is the next to disappear, Avery is faced with a choice: listen to the Kanyen’kehá:ka and save the town but lose her friend forever…or listen to her heart and risk everything to get Key back.
In her stunning debut, Cheryl Isaacs pulls the reader down into an unsettling tale of monsters, mystery, and secrets that refuse to stay submerged.
Review:
It’s been a few days since I finished The Unfinished and I’m still not sure what I think of it. There were parts that I really enjoyed but I’m already struggling to remember any of the smaller details of the story. I’m not entirely sure I understood the ending. Which is often a problem I have with audiobooks as I have to listen at a higher speed to keep my focus. I do feel like I remember it being anticlimactic.
The narrator trying to do sound effects was downright horrible. They made me cringe every time. There was one scene near the end that constantly had them saying “scriiiitch”, which was the absolute worst. It completely killed the tension of what should have been a terrifying scene. Other than these ‘sound effects’ the performance was really well done.
I have no idea if The Unfinished is inspired by real folklore but the concept of The Black Water was really interesting. The tension around it was built pretty well throughout the whole book but I do wish it was all explained a little more. I enjoyed the pace of the story (I did listen at 1.6x speed so that could be why the pace felt pretty fast) but you do finish it feeling like something is missing. I still don’t understand who the ‘big bad’ was or why they were after Avery. Also, I don’t feel like the reason for it taking specific people was explained. Everyone that got taken interacted with Avery recently but why does it pick certain people? What is the purpose for this? I honestly don’t remember.
One part I did enjoy was Avery learning to connect with her indigenous heritage. This plays a huge part in the mystery and is the whole reason why this is all happening in the first place. Hearing the Kanyen’kehá:ka stories were probably some of the best parts of the book. They really humanised Avery as she felt immense guilt for not caring for her heritage until it was too late.
I think I’d have to give The Unfinished a very middle of the road (and generous) three star rating. It was a decent read but the mystery and horror elements didn’t hit as hard as I’d hoped. The beautifully dark cover gave me high hopes for a chilling read that did deliver at times, but overall felt a little under developed.
Check out Young Creative Press on all socials
You can also check out my StoryGraph here
Like this post? Why not read this one too: To Be Read: June 2025
[…] Like this post? Why not read this one too: Audiobook Review: The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs […]