I’m not usually a fan of time travel because it feels overdone and can lack originality. This story felt so unique and it’s been awhile since I’ve been unable to put a book down. The characters were dynamic and the plot line was super interesting and immersive. Loved this book!

I this was one of my most anticipated releases in 2023, but to be honest, I was a bit disappointed.

What worked for me:
-the time travel aspect was super interesting (and sometimes gave me a bit of a headache thinking about)
-the relegation ships amongst the farrow women; they all knew each other in different time periods, Andrew important at different periods throughout each other’s lives. I think that was incredibly well done.

what didn’t work for me…
-the conflict/murder mystery had this incredible build up, and it was solved in about two pages. I wanted a bit…more, I think.
-the romance. It took me about 50% to figure out who we were supposed to be rooting for. And once I did, I didn’t feel the connection between June and the man she ends up with. Something was missing for me in the romance department.

actual rating: 3.5

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of The Unmaking of June Farrow! I fell in love with Adrienne’s books when I first read Fable and I have been in love with her books ever since! The Unmaking of June Farrow is no different. The writing and atmosphere and storytelling are amazing. All the stars, all the time. Adrienne is an auto buy author! Thank you again for the ARC!

Wow!! What did I just read! I don’t understand how I will ever be able to read sci-fi again!!! This book was so complex and beautiful. Holy s*** Adreinne this is my Roman Empire!!

OMG I read this book in one sitting, that is how addicted I was.

This unique and unpredictable read is full of time travel, a swoon worthy love story, a compelling mystery, and so much more packed into one book. This novel discusses so many important issues like identity, family, and the strength of women.

I adore the small town atmosphere and magical realism that gives this novel a very enchanting vibe.

Overall, this is one of my favorite books of the year and cannot recommend it enough!!

3. 5 stars rounded up.

A lush, imaginative story that re-frames what it means to love even when facing internal doom. June Farrow takes us on a mystery that spans decades, filled with wild twists and turns and characters that are fiercely loyal. This book at times felt like 2 books in 1: the before and the after, one life in black and white and the other filled in with technicolor. When we are presented with the past, that is where we feel like our main character, June, really blooms.

For her second adult book, Young really delivered for those that never read fantasy or are new to the genre. It's very much more "magical realism" here. There were elements that shadowed sentiments I felt while reading Addie LaRue and I feel like, that is what a lot of readers will relate to as well. The imagery was so visceral, surpassing the way it felt a little flat in her previous book, Spells for Forgetting.

If you are looking for a brain boggling, but still highly devourable read- I highly recommend The Unmaking of June Farrow.

June history / family has been cursed. Atleast she thinks that. Suddenly her grandmother dies which she believes lead her to insanity possibly. The grandmother is leaving clues behind for June to follow. Or is it her grandmother? June is learning if she can break this curse? This was a great fall read. Can June break this curse that has been possibly following her family.

June, Margaret, Annie. Three characters whose lives a suspended by a curse. The Farrow curse, is all June has known. It has kept her from allowing love into her life. It's curse has followed the females of the family , made them descend into madness. June is sure her time has come. She no longer finds comfort in the flowers that only her family can grow. June believes she is seeing and hearing things, unexplained, disconcerting and her grandmother refuses to give her the answers she needs. The death of her grandmother leaves her grieving and confused. Annie her grandmothers best friend is oddly quiet. June receives strange clues from the passing of her grandmother, clues which terrify Annie. June is determined to end the curse, at any price. Happy reading

What a great story and book!!
I love books that make you feel right there in the moment with the characters and this one was exactly that for me. I loved the setting and since I live in North Carolina-this one hits really close to home.
There is so much little detail and things that I had to think about after finishing the book-I almost need to reread it to catch it all.
Loved!!
4.5 stars

Thanks to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Delacorte Press for the ARC.
I went into this book not really knowing a lot about it. All I knew was that Adrienne Young wrote it, which meant I would read it.

This book has my heart! Even better than her last, Young has woven a story of love, loss, and intrigue that caught me from the very beginning.
June is such a great character. I felt her emotion as her story unfolded and undid her. I felt her frustration when she didn't understand what was going on. The characters surrounding June are just as vibrant - Margaret, Esther, Aemon, Annie...all of them got me in my feels!
And then, a twist near the end of the book made me gasp and tear up all at once.

This book has solidly cemented Young as an auto-read author for me.

Very rarely have I ever felt my heart breaking while reading a piece of fiction. This book is so heartbreakingly beautiful. I have a love for books that have duel timelines where people can travel through time and space especially through a door. The idea has always intrigued me. This book was fantastically and uniquely written. This quite possibly will be my favorite book of 2023 and may be an all time favorite. I will be buying a copy of this book for my personal library. Thank you Netgalley for sharing this book with me in exchange for my honest review.

By the end of the book, I really enjoyed reading this story. However, I was bored until 60% of the way through. I loved how the author wrote Eamon, and how much love the Farrow women have for each other. Spoilers ahead.

<spoiler>Finding out Birdie's identity wrecked me. That was a perfect "oh sh!t" moment. Outside of wishing there was more going on in the beginning of the book, the only other thing I would have wished for was closure for Mason. I wish it mentioned June writing a letter or note to Mason for Birdie to give him in the future, after she disappears from her original timeline. He wouldn't have gotten closure, at least not from her and I think that he deserved it.</spoiler>

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the free electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought it would be better. Not very interesting to me. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

This book had it alllllll…..fantasy, romance, mystery and I loved it. I recommend it!! Near the end of the book I couldn’t put it down.

I'm a sucker for any & all time travel stories, so falling in love with the Farrow women was easy. This book was SO good! Its an easy 5 stars, and I can't wait to read more of Young's adult works.

“The Unmaking of June Farrow” by Adrienne Young - (4.5 Stars) (Pub Date:10/17/2023) was a surprisingly fresh and generally satisfying contribution to the magical realism genre, about “special” women and the choices that mothers, daughters, and grandaughters make generation over generation to be who and what they are ‘meant’ to be.

Good Things: Time travel in novels is sometimes overdone, over simplified, over complicated, or unnecessary. This story managed to take familiar territory, make it unique, believable, and thought-provoking, all while making the logistics of the time travel of parallel importance to the characters' growth and depth. The balance is what set this book apart, in that it was equal parts ‘interesting time travel theory’ AND “amazing self-discovery / love story”. Also, I loved the initial perception of being a Farrow as inevitable mental health problems, rather than inevitable magic. This “of course I’m just going crazy” treatment felt way more real then “oh, it’s the family curse/gift!” and made the “OMG, it’s really real” moment so satisfying.

Opportunities: The pace just barely slowed in the middle portion of the novel and I would have liked a little less internal growth and self-reflection and more verbal/action-based relationship - building. I also was interrupted a ton in my reading of the middle parts, so that could be part of it. Did not detract from the 4.5 rating, just a heads up to readers to keep going because…GREAT ending!

Final Thoughts: As I’ve been reading more “serious” books lately, this book felt a little ‘out of my norm’. It had a romance, it was not dark, or sad, and it was ‘easy-to-consume’ magical realism at its very best. I haven’t enjoyed myself so much in a long time and outside of the warm and fuzzy, I’ve been left with a little puzzle in my head about what would happen generationally if I could live or love like the Farrow women. It’s a fascinating reflection.

I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to have an early read of this story by netgalley and Random House/Delacorte Press. The opinions in this review are expressly those of ButIDigressBookClub and are intended for use by my followers and friends when choosing their next book. #butidigress #butidigressbookclub #theunmakingofjunefarrow #junefarrow #adrienneyoung #randomhouse #randomhouseballantine #delacortepress @adrienneyoungooks #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #arc #arcs #bookaesthetic

Details
Review Shared on Goodreads - www.goodreads.com/leah_cyphert_butidigressbookclub
Publishing Review 11/1/2023

Gorgeous ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Beautiful. Sentimental. Atmospheric. Unique. These are the words to describe this novel. Yes, the time travel can get a little confusing, but the lyrical prose makes up for it. While I admit it did take me a beat to get into the story, the rest swept me away. I won’t soon forget this exquisite story of June Farrow.

The Unmaking of June Farrow definitely drew me in with the first ⅓ of the book. I was excited to read another of Adrienne Young’s books and I can confidently say magical realism is definitely her strong suit. I could not get enough of the mystery behind the Farrow women and why they seem to not be quite present. The pacing at the beginning of the book was very good. It was the appropriate amount of intrigue and action that kept me hooked. However, towards the end, the pacing got a little slow. I found myself not enjoying the parts where she was settling down in her new life due to lack of action. With that said, I’m really glad to see that Adrienne Young has found a genre that works for her.

4.75

This is a perfect fall read! The setting it so atmospheric and magical. I loved Adrienne Young’s writing and she just keeps getting better and better. Her transition to the adult fiction world is going splendidly and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

Adrienne Young has done it again! She has a way of capturing her readers and transporting them into a world of her making that feels absolutely real even with the hints of magic and other fanciful happenings. This time it is the element of time travel.

Our main character is June whose family tree seems to be cursed as the female members all appear to eventually have mental illness. Living with that kind of "time bomb" and watching other family members succumb to this tragedy is heartbreaking. June has made the choice to never get attached or fully live her life as she takes care of her grandmother while waiting for her own time of demise to come.

After her grandmother's passing is when the true story unfolds. There is mystery, twists and turns, romance, time travel, suspense...so much happens that you can't wait to flip to the next page to see where the story will lead.

5 stars