Loved the themes of adventure and self discovery with some subtle romance. June’s journey is captivating. Her resilience and portrayal of emotion just makes you empathize with her character. The vivid world building and the compelling characters keep you hooked through the entire book!

Quick read! Always love some magical realism.

This was twisty and lots to keep up with, but was totally invested in the story. Will continue to seek out this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unmaking of June Farrow was a beautiful read that I would recommend to fans of this author’s work, but also speculative books about women finding their way, such as Addie LaRue. This is a book with a mystery to solve, but at its core, is a book about hope, love, and family. The pacing felt slow at times, but the book held my attention. I adored the writing style and getting to know these characters. The prose was vivid and atmospheric. I so appreciated how the author described the land and the town. Absolutely gorgeous and reminiscent of Spells for Forgetting. I will be recommending this book lots!

My thoughts: I went into this one expecting it to be a 5 star read but it wasn’t quite the same. I enjoyed this one but wasn’t blown away by it. I’ve read a lot of time traveling books this year that I’ve enjoyed more but this one was very good. I enjoyed the characters but I think my main flaw was that I could not connect to June. I felt sorry for her and this book was beautifully written but I had unfairly high hopes for this one. No ones fault but my own I guess 😂
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QOTD- what is the last book you had high hopes for but didn’t love ?!
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The Unmaking of June Farrow is such a perfect Fall read! The atmosphere, the mystery, the bit of spookiness and anticipation, the romance, and the time traveling magical realism. It will have you thinking about the book long after you finished it. A little on the slower read but enjoyed the ending.

Adrienne Young has written a new novel that will attract readers who enjoy a good mystery, and those that like a bit of time travel, and those who appreciate a good romance, and also those who want to get absorbed by a saga about a family (so pretty much everyone!)

The women of the Farrow family are all cursed. When the book opens, we are introduced to June Farrow as she buries her grandmother Margaret, and is faced with the sad realization she is the last living Farrow. Because all the females eventually submit to madness, June firmly intends to remain childless and end this bane permanently.

Susanna, June's mother, disappeared after abandoning her child and is believed dead. Margaret raised June, but suffered from the disease for several months before succumbing. Birdie, a long time family friend and Mason, June's childhood friend (June and Mason are slightly in love with each other but reluctant to pursue it because of the curse) are both there to help her with her grief. The townspeople ostracize the family because of their reputation and their lack of participation in the local church. They only interact with them for their flowers: they run a family farm renowned in the region for unusual and beautiful blooms.

June has been suffering from episodes for nearly a year now and is writing the details of her "hallucinations" in a journal. She sees the same horse, a mysterious red door, and hears the voice of man repeatedly. Then images of a man, Nathaniel Rutherford, begin to appear. He was murdered decades earlier and the crime was never solved. Then June receives a photograph of Nathaniel and his wife in the mail, and the woman turns out to be her mother! Which is impossible unless Susanna could time travel.

June researches the town and church records and discovers the evidence that sets her on a quest to discover the complete truth. Birdie advises her to go through the red door, but will not explain much more. June begins to question everything she believed about her life and her family members, but goes through the door the next time it appears to discover that she has an entire other existence.

As the novel proceeds, June slowly unearths the entire truth of her family and her involvement in Nathaniel's murder. Young keeps her readers engaged, though there are a few instances where some sentences could have been edited a bit sharper to make the clues and revelations easier to understand. There are enough twists and turns and action to keep it interesting and a definite page turner. The reader will be rooting for June and satisfied with their choice to read this book!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have always loved Adrienne Young’s books! Her other two series I’ve read are more geared toward YA and this was definitely an adult novel. It didn’t all come together until the end and I was really pleased with the pacing and how it ended! There were a couple of adult scenes you can skip - they happen later on in the book.

The plot got a little muddy in the middle, and the lack of Birdie’s character development was a real missed opportunity. But other than those issues, a solid read that I recommend!

The Unmaking of June Farrow has all the best parts of magic, mystery and romance. As June finds answers to what happened to her mother and grandmother, she faces a huge choice in her own life. Adrienne Young's writing had me engaged and speed reading along to find out what June would choose.

The Unmaking of June Farrow is a time traveling journey weaving together the story of generations of women in the Farrow family. I am a hesitant reader of magical realism, but I can tell you this is a beautifully written book. I received this as an ARC, but ended up listening to the audiobook after it published and thoroughly enjoyed the love story and mystery, though I found myself slightly confused around the time travel aspect... this could have been partly due to the fact that I wasn't giving it the undivided attention it deserved. I would definitely reread this one, and I imagine it was a me problem of not fully following along. If you like time travel, this one needs to be on your list. And if you aren't into time travel, I think there's enough mystery and love story to keep you invested anyway!

I absolutely devoured this book. Each page keeps you engaged and ready to find out more about the Farrow curse.

I’m not sure I ever fully understood the time concept In this one- but I could still understand and enjoy this journey. I loved this author’s previous book and loved the magical realism she brought to this story too.

While June works to unravel the mystery behind the Farrow girl’s curse, the reader is taken right along with her..

“if you cross into a different timeline, you don’t exist here or there. But somehow, things have been disrupted, You’re the same June I met 5 years ago, but if you don’t remember me, then you’re the younger her.”

This is a story of love, motherhood and long kept secrets. How our futures are sometimes determined by our past. Loved this one! Thank you to delacourt press and NetGalley for the ARC to read and review

I wanted to enjoy this more than I did. I struggled with the pacing and the timelines got a bit confusing, especially trying to figure out if she's gone through time only three times or just the two times or four times. It was a bit all over the place for me. It could have been the mood I was in at the time or I just needed more explanation.

Overall, I love Adrienne Young's books and plan on reading all of her books in the future.

This book was phenomenal. It was so emotion filled. At times I wanted to laugh and at other times I wanted to cry.

The romance was everything. I loved the way they learn to trust each other again. It was just beautiful.

The characters in this book felt so real. They were flawed and emotional. I found myself in each and every one of them.

The mystery was really good. I had no clue what the truth was. I enjoyed the way the story gives you piece by piece.

Overall, an incredible read. Thank you, Netgalley for the ARC!

This book was so elegantly well written. The plot was a breath of fresh air, and it kept me guessing. Highly recommend reading this book and trying to figure out what happens, Truly was a great read that didn’t reuse old, repetitive, easy to figure out storylines. I will definitely be looking at any other books this author wrote.

All of the stars. This book was perfection.
I loved it so much. I think it was my favorite read of 2023.
This was my second Adrienne Young book, Spells for Forgetting was my first (which I also loved), and she has easily become an auto-buy author and I’m eagerly looking forward to reading her other books.
Her prose is some of the most beautiful, atmospheric writing I’ve ever read.
This book feels like a breezy summer’s day at the golden hour. I can’t really explain it. I already know I’m going to have the biggest book hangover after reading this.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the copy of this eARC!

This was a truly satisfying story! I am generally not big into time travel stories, but this was written in a way that still had me hooked. It was an easy read for me that I did in one night! I enjoyed Young’s writing style - she created beautiful imagery. I would have loved a bit more of the romance, but understand why it wasn’t at the forefront. We had a murder to solve. I do remember thinking that it didn’t make sense that no one in the town had noticed that the murdered pastor’s wife was the same as June’s mother and that they had a daughter named June. It just didn’t seem like something that would be overlooked. It also wrapped up a little too conveniently, but at the same time that is what made it such a satisfying read! 4.5 stars for me!

Oh my goodness…this book!!! I was hooked from the beginning and didn’t predict any part of it. I did want more relationship development from the primary characters. But that would have added a hundred pages. I feel like the author absolutely maxed out what emotion and investment could be wrenched out in just over 300 pages, hence the 5 star.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC!

I will start this review with I LOVE everything Adrienne Young writes. Her atmosphere is always lovely and her characters are lovable.

Unfortunately this one didn’t hit the mark for me. I think the mystery of it (which was fairly obvious early on) felt forced and dwelled on. I would have much preferred the last 1/3 of the book take up closer to 2/3. For being a more plot driven book than her others I felt pretty let down by the plot as a whole. Or perhaps the first part of the book building more relationships so we felt really tied to those characters. It’s so hard to review books like this without spoiling anything!

It was still enjoyable because of her writing but I can’t say it’s one I would read again.

That being said. I adored all of the character, even though June …. I wasn’t really rooting for her… just the other characters.

Adrienne young will continue to be an autobuy author for me

Adrienne has done it again. Beautiful world building, wonderful characters, and an engulfing story. Adrienne Young is an automatic read for me.

Wow,wow, wow! I love everything Adrienne young writes. She is phenomenal. She makes you care about characters that seem superficial at first, but once the story starts. You start caring about them.