Another run out and buy it!

I loooved this book so much. If you enjoyed Spells for Forgetting, definitely pick this up. It had the same biiig atmospheric setting, this time in the North Carolina mountains. Adrienne Young always has this way of making me feel like I’m THERE and this book was no different!

June Farrow comes from a line of cursed women. Many have died young and all have eventually lost their minds. Their stories are shrouded in mystery and June is desperate to know everything.

This book was wonderful. Just like in Spells For Forgetting, the plot is propelled by a mysterious death. Answers are revealed throughout and I thought that the pacing was excellent.

My only criticism is that I wish I was in the blue ridge mountains right now. Loved it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It was an adult fantasy that was magical with all the feels.
Every once in a while you get one of the books that just stick with you and this was that for me.
I would suggest to go in blind as I did, so I do not want to give too much away. It is emotional and just beautifully written. I requested it because of the cover and I am so glad I did not read much before I started because it was exceptional. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this e-arc. 5 star

I’m disappointed to say this was not my favorite. This author does atmospheric, fall vibes writing so, so well. The setting was so vivid. But I just could not connect with June. And really lost interest around 50%. I think it’s a me problem, and not the book.

This was such a beautiful story. I enjoyed June’s journey through time and conditions to find where she was meant to be. Such a heartwarming and magical book.

When June’s grandmother passed away, June finds strange clues surrounding her mother’s disappearance. Her mother, Susannah, has been gone without a trace for years, rumored to have slowly lost her mind. When she starts hearing and seeing things that aren’t really there, she wonders if she is succumbing to the illness everyone claims her mother had. When a mysterious red door starts appearing, she finally decides to take a chance and step through the threshold. What she finds is shocking, but she must tread lightly so as not to alter the past or future.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 & 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸!

The Unmaking of June Farrow is a time-bending tale of the love between generations of women. What would you be willing to do to protect the ones you love?

I have a soft spot for time-travel type love stories (Seven Year Slip is another fun one), so this was exactly what I needed.

It is nonlinear, with flashes of memories from many different versions of herself. It's easier than some other nonlinear stories since the memories are all in italics, so you know right away you are in a different time.

I really enjoyed this book -- although parts of it definitely made my brain hurt trying to figure out the logistics, but I tried to let go of that and just enjoy it.

June's birth has always been a bit of a mystery and she was raised by her Grandmother. When her Grandmother dies, June receives some confusing information which sends her on an adventure -- and to say more would be spoiling it.

I am glad that I went in to this not knowing much about the book, because I enjoyed finding everything out along with June. I really loved all the characters -- I loved the generations of strong women, and I loved Annie and Eamon.

All of Adrienne Young's descriptions are so lovely -- she has a beautiful way with words and I could picture all of it so vividly.

This is my first book by the author and I will definitely be reading more -- and I recommend this to anyone who wants some family dynamics with lovely writing and some magical realism.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

4/5

There are so many things to love about this book.
A small town setting following the story of a cursed family of women. Time is not linear to them, but no one but them can understand it.

This type of story isn’t something I normally gravitate towards (fantasy) but the mixture of who-done-it/romance/fantasy/fiction is just wonderful and captured my attention from the start. I was engaged the entire time, wanting to read more and find out Junes fate.

Atmospheric and lush voice, The Unmaking of June Farrow is another amazing story by Adrienne Young. The characters, the generational themes...I would highly recommend this book to other readers!

this is the fifth book i’ve read by Adrienne Young and i’ve enjoyed all of them. I really enjoyed this book too! I had no idea what was going on for so long in the book, but that was the whole point, and the plot and the characters made me want to devour the book to figure out what was going on. The characters and the situations are so complex and it’s one of those books where you sit with it for a while afterwards and question how the book actually made you feel. it is not a clear happy ending but also so clearly a happy ending- which shouldn’t make sense, but it does.

there were two tiny things that made it that this book is 4 stars instead of 5.
1. I noticed that people’s skin color wasn’t talked about unless they were Black and that felt kind of strange to me. I don’t know why I hyper fixated on it but I did.
2. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!
I did not understand the ending. does june live forever? does she continue to follow this cycle over and over again? i don’t know. I felt like that last portion was a little rushed or maybe I just missed something obvious.

This is a very wierd book. It is time travel with a twist. It wasn't for me. Too trippy. I kept wishing I was reading a Fable book in the Narrows.

WOW! This book was such an unexpected win for me! I haven't read anything by Adrienne Young before (even though SPELLS FOR FORGETTING has been on my TBR for a long time), so I wasn't sure what to expect and went in with an open mind!

I don't even know which genre category BEST describes this book, but I would really just describe it as a GREAT STORY. It almost transcends your typical genres because of how much is going on: time travel, multi-generational family drama, second-chance romance, magic/spells, mysteries left and right, etc. etc.

Young is a master storyteller and I think almost everyone would really enjoy this book!

4.5 Stars rounded up! I'm only taking a half star off because I was sometimes confused by the timelines (and the math to get there), but I think it was more of a ME issue. I think I would appreciate it even more during a reread!

Thank you so much to PRH Ballantine/Delacorte Press for the gifted ARC! This will be available for purchase on 10/17.

I’m trying to come up with the right words to express how much I loved this book, and whatever I write keeps falling short so I keep deleting and starting over! It was everything magical all at once, and absolutely one of my favorite reads of the year. Two enthusiastic thumbs up. Five glittering gold stars.

Thirty-four year old June Farrow was raised by her grandmother in the small Appalachian mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, after being abandoned as a baby. Her mother was never seen again. Although June has done some research into what may have happened and to try to discover if her mother is still alive, it is June’s grandmother’s death that kicks off a chain of events that leads June to finally discover the truth about the female members of the Farrow family.

This is one of those books that you can’t quit thinking about when you have to put it down to deal with actual real life stuff (rude) and long after you’ve finished it. The threads of the story are all woven together so tightly. The characters are consistently human, and never get close to the edge of being fantastical or mystical. The characters are what continually ground the reader to focus on the novel’s themes, which include the sacrifices required of true love and patriarchy.

This is a mystery novel, and Adrienne Young absolutely kept her contract with the reader. I loved that I wasn’t able to predict the end. I sat back when I finished it, feeling happy in the afterglow of a great book and thinking BRAVO. For those readers who know the author through her YA fiction, be prepared to find what I felt was an impressive depth of maturity in terms of content and writing style. I think Adrienne Young really demonstrated her ability to craft compelling adult fiction with this novel.

And finally, because I cannot end this review without mentioning EAMON. I have no notes. *CHEF’S KISS*

Thank you NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine, Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own.

I uploaded my review to Goodreads. I will upload it to Amazon when the book is released.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Adrienne Young for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Unmaking of June Farrow coming out October 17, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

In a little mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow feels like she’s always waiting for something big to happen in her life. The Farrow women have their prosperous flower farm, but there is the curse that has plagued their family line threatening June’s future. The whole town knows about the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving June to be brought up by her grandmother.

It’s been a year since June started having visions of things that weren’t there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing. But June is determined to find out why her family is cursed, even if she must sacrifice love and a family of her own.

After her grandma dies, June finds clues regarding her mother’s decades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more unsolved mysteries. Could the mysterious door be the answer she’s been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she begins a journey that will not only change the outcome of her life but also unmask the mysteries of her small town and tangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

Adrienne Young is one of my favorite authors! I was so excited to get this book. I knew it would be right up my alley. I’m obsessed with her writing! Everything is so poetic and lyrical. I don’t want to give anything away, but I loved the historical aspect and plot of this book. It was a lovely, heartbreaking story. I loved everything about it!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys ordinary small town stories with a bigger picture!

This book is hard to describe--a mixture of contemporary and historical with fantasy twining through them, a story of a woman and her family who don't quite fit in in their small town. It reminds me a lot of Susanna Kearsley novels, with a touch of history and romance and magic and wistfulness all rolled together. I found myself thinking of this one for several days after I read it. If you're at all a fan of heartfelt fantasy stories, in whatever subgenre, you should pick this one up!

Haunting, magical, and beautifully written. Adrienne Young's second adult novel is like Spells For Forgetting, magical realism at its best. I really related to all of the characters and the complexity of their life. The jumping back and forth between the present day and the past and different timelines can be a bit confusing, so it's best to write it down to filter through it all. I loved the unraveling of June's life and the constant surprises towards the end of the book. My heart ached at the loss filtered throughout, especially for Mason and Birdie in the end.Thank you, NetGalley and Adrienne Young, for this book that spoke volumes to me.

I am going to have a hard time explaining just how much I loved this book! This is easily one of my favorite books of the year! I was sucked in from the very beginning, and never once did I lose interest in the story. If you like magical realism, suspense, and romance, I think this would be a great book for you.
June has lived with the knowledge that every woman in her family will eventually fall victim to the “curse” of losing their mind, and she is just waiting for fate to find her. The hallucinations have started and she is hearing things that aren’t there, but June is determined to find a way to end this curse as well as solve her mother’s mysterious disappearance. After her grandmother passes away, a series of clues start to tell her the story she’s been searching for, but she is only left with so many more questions. When faced with the fact that a red door she has always believed to be one of her hallucinations may actually be real, she decides to open it and finds there is definitely way more to her story than she ever thought possible.
This story had me so wrapped up in the world that I would forget I was reading. I wish someone would make this into a movie so I could relive it and see the magic come to life. This story has heartbreak that had me tearing up. There is longing, the strong love of family, and time travel! But, it is also so full of suspense and I couldn’t wait to get all the answers. I am so glad that I picked this up!

Adrienne Young’s ability to create such beautifully atmospheric scenery in her books astounds me. It’s been a year since I read Spells for Forgetting, and I still regularly flash back to the island of Saoirse. I think part of my mind will be in Jasper for a long while as well.

A little magical realism; a little love; a little murder. The Unmaking of June Farrow was just the perfect, quiet, fall read.

Thanks to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy to review.

Thank you Delcorte Press for the advance copy.

After reading Spells for Forgetting, I was super pumped to read Adrienne Young’s next adult book, The Unmaking of June Farrow.

Maybe my enthusiasm is too high. Maybe I am super picky regarding time travel books. Maybe I should not have gone in blind. Whatever the reason, I am so bored that I am DNFing at 42%.

June, a 34-year old flower farmer, has just lain her beloved grandmother to rest. When a photo that just can’t be real, she starts research and asking questions she may not want the answers to. When the answers begin to make themselves known, June will have life-changing decisions to make.

I have a deep rooted love for Adrienne Young’s books. My first read from her was Fable and from then on I knew I had to read everything of hers. I did and I continue to. When I received The Unmaking of June Farrow via NetGalley I wish I could say I did something graceful and relatively adult like…nope, that was absolutely not the case. I screamed at the top of my lungs and started bouncing up and down like an absolute loon. My excitement was not something to be bottled up. And once I began reading, I knew my reaction wasn’t for nothing.

I went in blind for June Farrow, as I tend to do with each of my auto-buy authors, and Adrienne did not disappoint. But this writing? Woah. It took me completely by surprise. As Young has moved out of young adult lit, her writing gained a more whimsical feel. And now, in her second adult lit novel, she has built an amazingly beautiful story that has you bewitched from the first couple pages.

I loved the way the reader feels everything with June, we don’t even get hints on what is coming up or where the story could go. We are as in the dark as she is. While reading, it had me confused, frustrated, gutted, doubtful, and so close to throwing my kindle. But wow, to go on this journey, to fall in love, to gain trust, and to want to read the rest of June’s life while we’re at it, what an absolute experience. This is easily one of my top reads of the year but also one of my top reads ever. This book will stay with me.

Adrienne Young, you are a mastermind, and you did the damn thing with this book.

Thank you to Ballantine-Delacorte Press, Random House Publishing for the early NetGalley copy in exchange for an honest review.

It is very challenging to put into words how amazing this novel is! I have really enjoyed Adrienne Young's other novels, but this one is my absolute favorite. I was sucked in from page one. This novel is brilliant and beautifully written story about family, love, heartbreak, and self-discovery! I was on an emotional and mind-boggling roller coaster for all 336 pages of this well-crafted novel. I have never needed to know the end of a book as this one, and I developed "book hangover" once I finished it. If I could reread a book again for the first time, it would definitely be The Unmaking of June Farrow. Please read this novel - it is truly amazing!

5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Adrienne Young for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!