This story was not at all what I was expecting. June knows that the women in her family have a history of losing themselves, but she's about to find out that it's not what it seems in the slightest. She longs for a life that most of us want - family, love, children. But she's decided she can never have it, despite her feelings for Mason.

A series of events begins to unfold that leads her to discover secrets buried by time, or maybe hidden in it. June finally goes through the door, and she learns more about a mysterious woman decades in the past.....what she had no idea, is that the woman is her.

I loved how everything in this unraveled in a sequence that not only revealed important pieces of information, but allowed her to learn and see what she truly wanted from life. The unwavering love and support of family is so important in June's story, she just doesn't know how much until the end.

A story of family and self discovery more than anything. While the plot is wonderful yes this book was honestly about vibes for me. Once I picked I up I really couldn't put it down.

“Time is like a rope, made of many fibers, and when they’re bound up together, they make one strong timeline. But once you cross it, it begins to fray.”

From the cover to the synopsis this book called out to me. I just had a feeling that I needed to read it. And it did not disappoint!

Fun fact: Before reading this, I was in a reading slump for a few days. I started one book, switched to another and then decided to open June Farrow as well. I felt unable to focus on anything. And then… next thing I knew it was midnight and I was halfway through the book! It literally sucked me in completely unnoticed and became an immersive experience.

THE UNMAKING OF JUNE FARROW has it all. It has the atmosphere, long line of unusual and powerful women, strong, Addie LaRue-esque main character, unsolved mystery, magic, unconventional second chance romance. And it is all delivered in a very enchanting way.

The only thing that threw me off was the time explanation towards the end. It was so confusing that I’m not fully sure I still understand it.

Overall, Young’s The Unmaking of June Farrow is undoubtedly destined to stay in readers memory for a long after finishing it.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the digital copy.

Fair warning- The Unmaking of June Farrow has a slow start. I struggled with the first quarter of the book. Thank goodness I stuck with it because it will easily be one of my favorite reads of October. Adrienne Young has such an immersive quality to her writing that even when I was struggling with the pacing, I was still enjoying every word.

I ended up switching to the audio (thank you PRHAudio for the complimentary copy) and I am so glad I did. Brittany Pressley brought such warmth and depth to June.

No one writes a beautiful setting like Adrienne Young. The flower farm in the small town of Jasper, North Carolina was simply swoon worthy. Its hard to write this review without giving away any spoilers but the story took an unexpected turn which made it all come together. The layers to these characters and the family’s collective history seemed to come alive through Young’s storytelling and Pressley’s narration.

I highly recommend readers grab a copy of The Unmaking of June Farrow!

The Unmaking of June Farrow was the perfect October read. A bit of a spooky mystery that kept me on my toes throughout the whole book. I had never picked anything up by this author before but this book has convinced me to keep my eye on Young's future books.

I was unsure if Adrienne Young would be able to top last year’s release of Spells for Forgetting but she accomplished just that with the gorgeously written, atmospheric, and entirely evocative tale of a family of cursed women and the lengths they will go to in order to protect the ones they love. Like Spells, this book takes place in a small-town setting where our main character June starts off the story grappling with her grandmother’s death which prompts an unraveling of family secrets about the cursed line of Farrow Women; including June’s mother that disappeared several decades ago without a trace.

The Unmaking of June Farrow is absolutely one of those books that you can sit down with on Sunday morning and finish before the sun sets. Adrienne Young’s ability to write atmospheric and gorgeously detailed settings and pair it with nuanced characters you both love and love to hate is extraordinary It is equal parts entertaining and thought provoking with a plot that picks up from the get go, twisty turns to keep you guessing and a romance that is achingly tender. If you loved aspects of the Ten Thousand Doors of January but found it to be a little too slow in the plot execution, then this book would be a great alternative for you!

Themes of the generations-long connection and love shared among family are strong in this narrative and had me tearing up on several occasions! The characters were loveable and played on my empathy SO HARD - I could actually feel how torn June was in the decisions she had to make deep in my soul.

You cannot feel the things I felt to the degree Adrienne Young made me feel them and not rate this book 5 stars. I will forevermore read everything she ever puts out there in the adult magical realism space.

Thank you netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the early reader’s copy.

This book was 5 starts for me! I had never read any of Adrienne Young's books before, but The Unmaking of June Farrow was awesome!

June's mother disappeared while she was pregnant with her. When June was close to 7 months old only June reappeared with a family heirloom, to be raised by her grandmother. Unfortunately for June, the women in her family have been cursed with a type of madness that causes very specific hallucinations. This is likely what caused her mothers disappearance. Also, her grandmother was experiencing this when she passed away at the very beginning of the book.

June's grandmother's death causes her to begin unraveling the decades old mystery of her mother's disappearance. There are many twists and turns along the way, but ultimately this is really a lovely book.

I have already recommended this book to so many people! Booksellers, this would be a great hand sell with The Great Alone, and The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue.

Title: The Unmaking of June Farrow
Author: Adrienne Young
Source: DRC via NetGalley (Random House Publishing Group – Ballentine, Delacorte Press) in exchange for an honest review
Publication Date: October 17, 2023
Synopsis: Goodreads
Purchase Link: Amazon

Why did I choose to read this book?

While they tend to be hit or miss with me, I’m always drawn in by the potential of a good time travel story. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Recursion by Blake Crouch are two of my favorites. I want to know how authors perceive the flow of time and how they would navigate around any messes that time travel might cause.

I’m also a sucker for generational bullshit, which this book promised to have in abundance.

What is this book about?

This book is about sacrifice, but also not really sacrifice. It’s about making a choice that will bring you happiness but also protect those you love. This book is about combating a curse and finding balance across generations. I finished the book without an answer to the question “how did this multiverse situation even begin for the Farrow women?” and I think that’s the part that I was the most curious about. At its heart, this story asks a woman to choose what matters, and let go of everything else.

What is notable about this story?

It took me a minute but I eventually understood all the elements of the time travel mechanics. Where Marvel’s universe dealt with time travel as a “your past is now your present, your future is the past but also still the future,” Adrienne Young calls bullshit on that and shows us that the Farrows become psychologically torn apart if they travel through the red door. Their mind exists in two places, two timelines, almost to the point of schizophrenia, because their timelines are frayed and they can’t reconcile that. Time travel should have a cost, it should have consequences. Captain America shouldn’t get to go back in time and live the life he missed and exist alongside an earlier version of himself. I liked that this story made the multiverse seem more personally dangerous through the Farrow women’s stories.

No spoilers, but the character Caleb Rutherford is notable.

Was anything not so great?

Honestly I felt like this book went by too fast! I wish I could have had some side stories about the other Farrow women from their own perspectives. But if I’m being honest what drives the action is that most of the time June doesn’t really understand what is happening to her, and it’s her search for the same answers I wanted that lead her to her eventual destiny. So it’s a small wish rather than a critique: I wanted more time with these characters.

What’s the verdict?

Four stars on Goodreads. Guys, I could not stop reading this book. The mystery of the time travel, the events happening based on June’s actions, the characters – everything was compelling. I was invested in the characters and so I also cared about what was happening to them. This is an important element of a book for me, and it allows me to make a glowing recommendation to you, my reader! Definitely check this one out either through preorders or your local library because once it has you, this story will not let you go. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

June Farrow is mourning the loss of her grandmother and trying to keep her mental decline a secret from those around her. Madness runs in her family and she knows that it will eventually consume her as well. When she starts to dig deeper into her family's history she finds troubling details about the past.
This was my favorite Adrienne Young novel yet. I loved the characters, the love story, and the world building.

"It was several seconds before I realized what was happening, and it was like being hit by a rogue wave, the rush of it coming all at once. It didn't matter that I'd been standing on that shore my whole life, waiting for it. It still felt like the world split in two when it finally arrived."

Oona Out of Order meets family curse along with a mysterious disappearance and hallucinations to boot. June's life on the flower farm is fairly uneventful until she starts to go crazy like every woman in her family before her, or so she thinks. After her grandmother's death, June is faced with endless unanswered questions and dots to connect to make sense of not only her life but the lives of all of the Farrow women.

I mean talk about a whirlwind of a story. I was hooked super early on trying to figure out what had happened and where we were headed next. From ALL of the jaw dropping moments to the oh.my.gosh connections through out, The Unmaking of June Farrow was the perfect combination of suspense, mystery, love, and one impossible decision to make. Adrienne was so creative with the way all of the details and characters fit together and come full circle. I love a good time travel book, and this one definitely hit the mark!

Thank you, Random House Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced peek! Pub date: October 17!

God damn was this good.

The Unmaking of June Farrow follows (surprisingly) June Farrow. The book begins almost immediately after her grandmother dies, and we learn that her grandmother had had a "sickness" that June knows she, too, will one day get. This "sickness" is more of a slow descent into madness, and we learn early on that June has already begun her descent. Other than this, I truly believe this book deserves to be read truly blind to any other backstory.

This book feels like a mix of so many genres, that I honestly have recommended it to almost every reader I know. Lovers of fantasy, speculative fiction, thrillers, and mysteries will all find aspects of this book to love. Further, Adrienne Young is a master of Fall Vibes - read this book when the leaves are changing and the air is crisp! Read it surrounded by nature!

I cannot talk this book up enough. I buddy read this with friends who also had the ARC and there were so many things I wanted to discuss about the plot. Young does an amazing job of creating a complicated story in a simple enough way to understand. But it will still get you thinking so many "What If"s. I was only about 40% into this book before I pre-ordered it, because I knew it had to be a part of my library. READ THIS!

Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to the publisher for my egalley!

THE UNMAKING OF JUNE FARROW is another knock out of the park by Adrienne Young! A beautiful story of love, family, heartbreak, and self discovery. While time travel is one of my least favorite tropes, this one wove its way into my heart and will be a book I think about for a very long time.

June Farrow is one of the most complex characters I’ve ever read, written in a way that only Young can accomplish. Teetering between two worlds, we walk alongside June as she makes crucial decisions that will affect not only her life, but the lives of those most important to her. You can’t read this book and not feel a tugging in your heart that reminds you of the power of the love a mother has for her child.

The Farrow women are strong, intelligent, and cursed. Each possesses a level of depth that grounded me to them from the start, attaching me to their back story and investing me in their future lives. Unwavering and inspiring, their allegiance to one another will leave you wondering, “How far would I go for the people I love most?”

I liked this, but it wasn’t my favorite of Adrienne Young. The beginning was a super slow start for me. Overall, a great October read though!

I love Adrienne Young. She has been an auto read author for me ever since I found Fable. Whether in her YA fantasy or her adult books, she knows how to set up a unique intriguing world.

That being said there were a few things about June that didn’t work for me but that might be a me thing and I still think most people are going to love this book.

My biggest problem with this book was I was comparing it to her last book the entire time I was reading it and for me Spells for Forgetting was the clear winner. June starts off stronger than Spells, Spells had a slow start but the mystery in June pulls you in immediately.

I didn’t care about the romance in June like I did Spells. I was obsessed with August and Emery’s relationship. August was a top book boyfriend last year. I didn’t have any of the same pull towards June’s romance.

June’s mystery and timeline were stronger but I wanted the emotions that I experienced with Spells and I didn’t quite get that. I couldn’t make my brain stop analyzing the differences between the two. This was a like, not a love but I still recommend it because I think others won’t have the same hang ups.

This is my second book by Adrienne Young and it didn’t disappoint! Although it doesn’t top Spells for Forgetting, I really enjoyed the atmosphere in this one that she created, and that we were working backwards to see where everything started. I will say, at times the time travel was a little confusing to me, so if you aren’t a fan of time travel, this one will not be for you. I’m impressed at how she kept everything straight (I couldn’t!) and ultimately would recommend this one!

June Farrow is 34 and has known her whole life that things would end in madness for her. Just as it did for her mother and her grandmother...every woman in the Farrow family eventually succumbs to delusions. They start small, hearing wind chimes where there aren't any, seeing a moth where there's not one. But they all progress to the same visions of a mysterious red door that appears at random times, in random places. 

The Farrows have always lived in the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, so their tragic family history is well-known. June herself was raised by her grandmother after her mother left her in an alley as an infant and mysteriously disappeared. Now that her grandmother has passed, June feels the deadline of her own mental decline looming large, and becomes obsessed with putting together the cryptic clues her grandmother left behind regarding the family curse. 

You may or may not infer this from the blurb, but consider this a minor spoiler of an included trope/plotline, and skip this paragraph if you don't want to know. Okay, are you sure? Well, it's time travel, and it's great. June ends up investigating her family history from the past itself and is faced with the choice of which version of life she wants to keep. 

There were a few elements of the magical realism that weren't all the way fleshed out, but it was so fun to read that I didn't really mind. The romance in this is angsty and swoony, but for me secondary to the familial ties, which really shine. There was a mystery plotline that I predicted correctly, but was fun nonetheless. There were a few twists at the end that I didn't see coming, though, that made me tear up because they hit so good. Overall this is a slower, more character-driven book that sneaks up on you, and the small-town vibes and complex characters made it a really comforting and enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, & the author for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

The Farrows have a curse where eventually they will start forgetting things, go wandering, and never return. June Farrow is determined to make sure that the family curse ends with her, thus she refuses to ever marry and have children. That is until the curse starts occurring.

She starts seeing a red door and originally thinks she is hallucinating, until she starts seeing different signs that the disappearance of her mother might not be so indisputable. She decides to go through and finds another world on the other side. One in 1951, where she shouldn't have been able to travel to. She shows up and is immediately being questioned about a murder putting herself and her family at risk. June can tell her family is keeping secrets from her, but they claim it's for her own good. Will June's family be ok or will they get run out of town?

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the idea behind the story and it was so original! I absolutely loved the enemy to lovers trope in this along with June having to decide which life she wanted to live! Another one of my favorite parts was learning about the Farrow curse and what happened with the murder as neither were given away too soon. They were both slowly revealed at what I thought was the perfect pace!

I read this book in three days because it seriously sucked me in! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy, time travel, or enemy to lovers tropes! It was absolutely a great read!

Loved the twist on the time travel. Really hooked me after the first few chapters until the end. A perfect cozy, magical mystery/romance.

Absolutely incredible!! I loved this book and could not put it down. It’s super fast paced and super atmospheric!

Adrienne Young writes books that make you feel like you’re actually there, feeling the sun and smelling the smoke. Highly recommend!!

Well, this book was a huge win! So huge I don't even know where to begin, frankly. Actually, scratch that, I do: go into it blind. Know nothing. Unravel everything as you go, it's worth it. I can't leave it there, can I? I should. I want to. But since I know some of you like more, I'll oblige, but briefly.

June Farrow had my whole heart from the very beginning. I adored June as a character, and I was immersed in her story from the very first chapter. I could not put this book down, and it was because it had literally everything I love in a book: Amazing characters, a great family connection, an incredibly engaging mystery, and feels, all the feels. For your sake, I will say no more, and I will just tell you that you need this book in your life. I am already over here trying to decide how many people will be getting this as a Christmas gift.

Bottom Line: June Farrow is going to be one of my favorite books of the year, and in basically my entire family's Christmas stockings.