This is a delightful mix of mystery, romance, and a generous dose of magical realism! If there's ever a book you should dive into without knowing much about it beforehand, it's def this one. Despite having some expectations from the synopsis, I found myself pleasantly surprised. While I didn't become fully engrossed until around the 25% mark, I strongly advise paying close attention to the beginning because it's full of hints that unravel by the end of the book.

The writing is beautiful, and the book immerses you in a really visual atmosphere. I really liked her other book, Spells For Forgetting, so I did have high hopes for this one. If I were to nitpick, the only thing preventing this from being a perfect 5-star read was my desire for a bit more exploration of certain characters and storylines. A slightly longer narrative might have provided the closure I wanted.. but nevertheless, its such a good, unique, mysterious read.

I definitely recommend it if you have a liking for magical realism, slow-burning mysteries, family curses and secrets, resilient female protagonists, and the star-crossed lovers trope.

I have been wanted to read this book since the first time I saw it's beautiful cover!

The main character, June Farrow, comes from a long line of women who possess a special gift. This gift causes all the women to become hysterical, evidentially leading to their death, June is not accepting of this future for herself and sets off to break her family curse, but you'll never be able to guess how she does it.

If you like magical realism, small-town murder mysteries, and hereditary supernatural gifts, then this book is for you. I had so much fun trying to unravel this book as I was reading it.

A curse and a flower farm setting in small town, North Carolina town. I enjoyed this story, definitely give this one a read.

This is, hands down, the BEST book Adrienne Young has ever written. I could not put it down, and stayed up waaaaaaaay too late on a work night to finish it in one sitting. The story enraptured me from the first; the writing is gorgeous, the plot and the characters and the mystery all work together beautifully, and it's so tightly paced. I had so many emotions throughout, and I got teary so many times. After I closed the book I actually just cried for a moment because I loved it so much. I ached for June and Eammon and Annie and Margaret. This is very much a book about what we will do for the ones we love, and it's just so very beautiful and real.
I can't recommend this book nearly enough, so do yourself a favor and pick it up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a requested copy to review. All opinions are my own.

I had purposely kept myself from seeing much about the plot of this book before I read it (you all know if it has Adrienne Young’s name on it, I’m reading it, no question anyway, as I have said since Sky In The Deep), and I’m SO GLAD I DID. It’s a deeply immersive drama-meets-murder mystery-meets magical realism involving a family curse, a forgotten history, and a doozy of a twist that I did NOT see coming. Lower on language and adult content than Spells For Forgetting, though there should probably be a trigger warning for those with religious trauma (I can’t explain why because SPOILERS, but it made me really sad. Though I don’t personally have any experience with trauma within the church, I know it happens and it hurts).

This honestly might be my favorite oddball genre book ever. I’ll say it’s magical realism, but it’s a lot of things and all of them amazing. 5 stars. 10/10 recommend. I literally read it in less than a day and have zero regrets.

I received an advance copy from the publisher; all opinions are my own, and a review was not required.

I truly feel like Adrienne Young can do no wrong. She has once again created, in June Farrow, a protagonist I root for through all her ups and downs, flaws and all. I will say that earlier parts of the novel dragged a bit for me, but once I finished, I could look back and see how everything came together. I want more books about the Farrow women!

Wow. Adrienne Young’s newest novel, The Unmaking of June Farrow, was such a twisty, heartfelt, beautiful story.
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We follow June, the mystery around the Farrow women, and the curse that has plagued them for generations.
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I feel like this is a book that readers just need to sit back and enjoy as this amazing story unfolds.
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Young manages to weave mystery, magical realism, and romance in this story. It sweeps you up and keeps you entranced until the very end. I’m going to be honest and say I wish there had been another scene or two at the end. 😌
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Mystery, secrets, romance. This is a perfect fall read. I loved it!
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Thank you to netgalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read this book. 🤩

“The wind caught me, pulling my hair across my face, and I filled my chest with summer-sweet air. Dragonflies danced on the sparkling water below. But when I turned around, the door was gone”

June Farrow, like the Farrow women before her, is cursed. At some point, they unravel and altogether have time slipping between in their mind and senses. It leaves her often feeling lonely and as an outcast in her small Appalachian town. June knows this and lost her mother to it. Faced with challenges after the death of her grandma, she is spurred to dive deeper into her mother’s disappearance and the mystery of the Farrows.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It had me from the first page. A soft weaving of this mysterious trait and how it’s followed the Farrows through time. There is an element of mystery of what happened to June’s mother and what exactly is happening to June as she experiences the unraveling she has been told would happen.

Young writes in such a way that leaves you wanting to understand more along with June. She sets the scenes beautifully and leaves you with a happy ending. June is such a strong character and I just love her and what she had been willing to attempt and sacrifice for her own.
Young tackles writing about time travel, which can get very messy, and takes something complicated and puts it in a way that makes sense and easy enough to understand while also displaying the challenges the Farrow women have endured because of their mysterious ability.

The ending is soft and beautiful and satisfying, and I am so excited to read more of Young’s works.

4/5

Adrienne Young's books have such an incredible sense of place, whether they are transporting you to a rainy island in the Pacific Northwest or a small town in the mountains of North Carolina. She wraps the book around you, weaving the characters and their stories into you until you can't let go. I really felt like I was part of Jasper, North Carolina. I felt the judgy eyes of closed-off town, the love of the close-knit Farrow family, and their willingness to do anything to survive.
I was immediately grabbed by the story and the mystery of The Unmaking of June Farrow. The book appears one way on the surface, but the more you read the more intricate the story gets. I loved how it managed to surprise me, make me think, make me feel, and mostly how it made me keep turning the pages because I needed to know how it all connected and how it was going to end.
Go into this book knowing as little as possible! Just allow yourself to be transported to a small town and into the lives of the Farrow women. Follow the red door. Trust me.

I can say that I've read many books that explore the concept of time, specifically those that navigate the delicate intersection of love and time. Ultimately, all these books distill down to a common theme - we belong to the time from which we originate, and our rightful place is exactly where we currently find ourselves. "The Unmaking of June Farrow" by Adrienne Young is another lovely addition to this list.

I should start by saying that I had high expectations for this book after reading Adrienne Young's "Spells For Forgetting" (which, if you haven't read yet, you should). "The Unmaking of June Farrow" did not disappoint. Young possesses a unique talent for crafting magical-realism-infused small-town settings that evoke both apprehension and a desire to cocoon oneself within their mysterious ambiance.

June Farrow is one of the most relatable and vulnerable characters I've met this year. At 34 years old, June knows she will someday lose her mind. It's been programmed into her family's history. The Farrow women unravel until they cease to be. With this knowledge, June puts all her wants aside, pushing away the future she desires so the people she loves do not bear the brunt of her undoing. But as time moves on, so does its toll on June worsen. And in a split-second decision she cannot avoid, she thrusts herself into the unraveling world that has been taunting the precipice of her mind. One in which she just might find everything she has ever wanted.

What I loved most about this book was how I found myself in June. I think we all have walls and layers, defenses we put up to keep from getting hurt, but also to keep ourselves from hurting others. June has known her future, or at least she thinks she does. And with this self-proclaimed knowledge, she creates a barrier. Keeping her circle small, so the fallout is minimal. Her beloved Gran, the ever-present Birdie, and her unwavering best friend, Mason - June's family. This bubble provides June with safety, consistency, and predictability. Yet, what these shields and barriers, these defenses and fortifications, prevent is the unpredictable, the risks, and the opportunities to explore a world that could potentially be better.

This book, in its most basic sense, is about trusting yourself. June embarks on a journey of self-discovery, learning to lower her defenses and comprehend how life can unfold differently when she chooses to deviate. To break the barriers of her making and find a way to create a new life for herself. The one she has only ever dared to dream.

"The Unmaking of June Farrow" plays with time and love, throwing in a bit of mystery through some haunting twists and tales. If you are to take away anything from this novel, it should be that your vulnerability is what makes you brave. Time may be finite, but within its bounds lie countless moments worth seizing, even if it means taking daring leaps into the unknown.

Headfirst, fearless!

She’s done it again folks, everything this author puts out is gold! I truly loved this story! June was a great FMC, never annoying or immature. It was cool to ride the mystery with her, and every guess I had I was wrong. Great mystery, great book!

This book was so good. I tore through it trying to guess the mystery the whole way through. Of course I was wrong about 80% of the time, but it was fun to keep trying. The reveals constantly had me gasping and shouting “what??” I have never made so many annotations in a book to keep track of my thoughts.

I really enjoyed the FMC, and the journey she went through to discover the secrets of her mother’s disappearance and the curse of the Farrow women. I never found her annoying, but was constantly rooting for her to have a happy ending with her star-crossed love. I wanted things to work out for her, and for her to be happy; I felt like she deserved it.

Adrienne Young really tugs at my heartstrings with the way she writes her FMCs. I also enjoyed that June was older (in her early thirties) as opposed to being in her late teens or early twenties. Sometimes it’s nice to have a MC that’s a little more mature and settled in their life before things start happening. It made her very relatable for me both in the way she handled her grief over the lose of her grandmother and her stress over the trials she experienced.

I was already recommending this book before I had even finished reading it, and I will be recommending it for quite some time.

To begin, thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me to read an ARC of The Unmaking of June Farrow.

I have so many things to say about this book! If you read no further than the end of this sentence, let your takeaway be GO READ THIS BOOK!

Okay, now that we have that out of the way. The Unmaking of June Farrow is the story of June Farrow, a woman who has lived her life knowing that one day she will lose her mind to a madness that has plagued the women in her family for generations, and a madness that no one seems to be able to explain to her. When the story begins, June is burying her beloved grandmother and secretly experiencing the beginning of her apparent decline. As her "symptoms" increase, so does the mystery, and this mystery will truly take her where she never expected.

No spoilers yet....just one very tiny foreshadowing reference
It has taken me days, and a hell of a book hangover to begin writing this review. I was honestly in shock and awe over how much I loved this book and how deeply it pulled at my heartstrings and just about every other emotion out there. I have read other books by Adrienne Young, and I really enjoyed them, but this unbelievably special book just dug itself so deep into me. I picked up this book and was intrigued, though not surprised, by the time June walked through that door, this book had me in a chokehold. I don't even know if I can exactly point to why, other than this book just had all the warmth, longing, yearning, and deep love and connection I could ever dream of in a book. Even while writing this review, I am relieving all of these moments I felt so strongly and feeling the echoes of those emotions as I write. It may sound dramatic of exaggerated but I genuinely was taken aback by how heartfelt this book was. Finding oneself, learning family history, the ROMANCE. My god. No words. Just swooning.

Okay my one tiny piece of an "I wish" from this book.....MAJOR MASSIVE SPOILERS
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Like really huge ones so look away
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I so, so, SO desperately wanted one more scene between June and Eamon at the end. When she chooses her life with him and Annie (HOW could you not?!), I really reallyyyyy wanted a full scene of them reuniting after she is able to escape from Caleb. I know we get the wedding scene and I loved that I just really would have loved to have one more moment where we get to see her go back to him and see the moment where it really sets in that she is here and she is staying and choosing him and choosing their life together. I was so actively looking for that moment

To an outsider looking in, every Farrow woman is cursed to go mad. To the Farrow women, one day their minds begin to fray like the ends of a rope. But to June Farrow—aside from her mother who abandoned her as a baby and then disappeared—the curse of the Farrow women is just a sickness that has claimed the life of her grandmother and has now begun to plague her. But when a door that only she can see appears, and secrets begin to reveal themselves around her, she finds that maybe there is more to the women in her family than meets the eye.

This book was an absolute masterpiece. If I can give one strong word of caution, do NOT try and figure this mystery out as you read. Learn everything alongside June and unravel it at her speed, right along with her. I could not wrap my mind around it all until I allowed myself to sink into her shoes and absorb the gravity of the impossible happening around her. And then it was nothing short of beautiful.

June was a fantastic lead. Determined to be the last Farrow, but also deep within her heart longing for the life she knows she’s giving up because of it, her journey was equal parts heartbreaking and breathtaking. I wish I could say more, but there is so much you just don’t want spoiled!!

The mysteries surrounding the town, the disappearance of her mother, the unsolved murder of a beloved preacher, and of course the visions that June believes to be hallucinations, are all intriguing and build at a fantastic pace. I absolutely devoured this book in two sittings and was too engrossed in every detail to notice the pages ticking down to a heart stopping and perfectly satisfying conclusion.

The characters were fantastic, the romance was above and beyond any second chance-type trope I’ve ever read, and the bond between the Farrow women left me crying like a baby from the sheer beauty of its layers. It’s an incredible story of women down through generations defying evil, logic, and time to accomplish the impossible—all for the unconditional love of their daughters. It’s atmospheric, it’s beautiful, and it is a MUST read!!

Thank you so much to Random House - Ballantine, NetGalley, and the author for provide an early copy of this book for review!

Wow. Absolutely LOVED this book and I couldn't read it fast enough. Firstly, there is just enough spookiness and romance that makes it a GREAT fall read. Secondly, having June, the main female character, be in her thirties makes it super relatable to a reader like me and those I recommend books to. Third reason to love it was because of how descriptive the writing was. It's not often I feel completely transported to what the author is describing, but this book did just that and I truly felt like I was in Jasper, North Carolina.


Below has spoilers!!

[I love that June also is pretty normal other than the fact that her family is cursed and can time travel. She is just a woman who cares for her family, falls in love, and tries to best handle what life throws her way, making it so relatable to readers. Though her solving the mystery of her mother's disappearance really shocked me. I mean I gathered that Nathaniel was going to have some play in the disappearance but I didn't think he would be the reason for her disappearance.

The Unmaking of June Farrow was one of the most mind-bending and unexpected books I've ever read! Adrienne Young takes us on a poignant, sensitive and soul-searching journey with the protagonist, June Farrow. This is a lovely tale of a woman discovering who she is, how to make sense of what is happening to her, deciding where to put down roots, and who to give her heart to in the middle of impermanence.
June is from a family of women who are all expected to go mad at some point in their lives. It's a curse passed down from mother to daughter. At the start of this story, June has just buried her grandmother who had been showing signs of insanity for many years. Her mother, acting erratically, disappeared years ago, leaving a baby behind. And at age 34, June is already having episodes of what she assumes is the family madness.
June lives in the mountains of North Carolina, where her family has always owned and run a flower farm. Like many other magical realism novels I've read in the past few years, this novel includes plants and caring for the land. The mention of various kinds of flowers and how to tend them is sprinkled throughout the book. When she's not working on the farm, June has a penchant for research. She has been trying to discover more about why her mother disappeared and where she went. She's also working on uncovering the mysterious death of a local minister that looms over their small town. With a cryptic clue from her grandmother, and words on an old envelope, June sets off one morning, determined to find answers. Where the path leads her is beyond her wildest imaginings. She will need much courage to face the truth and will discover a love she never thought was possible.
I highly recommend The Unmaking of June Farrow to fans of magical realism and fantasy. You will be captivated by June and her journey. Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for this advanced reader's copy!

4 stars! The Unmaking of June Farrow blends magical realism, a small town mystery, and a little bit of romance much like Young's Spells for Forgetting. We also get the same beautiful and atmospheric prose. Young is a master of blending different genres and elements together to create a story and transport you into the story.

The Unmaking of June Farrow is a multi-generational story of the Farrow women who are cursed and all eventually go mad. June herself starts seeing and hearing things that aren't there and after her grandmother's funeral, she receives cryptic clues about her mother's disappearance. June goes on a quest to discover what happened to her mother and to understand the hallucinations she's having. When June steps through a red door that has been appearing to her, she is transported back in time to 1951. I don't want to say anything else because I think its good to go in blind.

I loved the twists and turns in this story and all of the strong women.

Overall, I liked this one, but it is my least favorite book that I've read by Adrienne Young (still 4 stars though!). I didn't really feel connected to the love story. I definitely had to pay attention to the plot and as the story unfolded, I was constantly asking myself "does that work?". I'm trusting the author that there aren't any plot holes. I'm specifically talking about one part of the ending (that I loved), but is a little hard to believe that it never came up before.

Thank you to NetGallery and Random House/Delacorte Press for the eARC!

I loved "Spells For Forgetting" and I think Adrienne has definitely found her niche with cozy, mysterious towns with a secret mixed with magical realism and a bit of fantasy. I immediately loved June's voice and the town of Jasper.

The Farrow women are different and honestly the mystery holds right until the end. I love time travel and timey wimey adventures so I was very excited to dive right into this. All June knows about her mother is that she disappeared shortly after giving birth and leaving her to be raised by her grandmother as a newborn. She grows up knowing her family line is cursed to eventually get sick. When she starts having "episodes" she knows her time is up and her mind will soon deteriorate. Thanks to her grandmother, she walks through a mysterious door she keeps seeing and amazingly starts living her life decades in the past.

The whole book was so atmospheric and I loved unraveling the mystery of not only June but also Nathaniel and Susanna.

Thank you for Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

What happens when all the women in your family are cursed to loose thier minds? And then you find out the family curse is actually time travel? I love Adrienne Young's books, but I have only read her YA titles. This one was gripping. After losing her grandmother, June starts to uncover the family secret that only haunts the women. When she ends up traveling in time to another version of herself, she must make a choice. Stay or return. There's also a murder mystery to be solved. Fantastic read.

Thank you Adrienne Young, Random House Publishing Group -- Ballantine, and NetGalley for sending me an advanced e-book copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

WOW. This book is officially my favorite book I've read so far in 2023! The premise had me intrigued, and I got sucked into the story right from the jump. I read it in two sittings, stopping only to go to bed. I lay there, trying to go to sleep, but thinking about this book instead.

The Unmaking of June Farrow gave me everything I hoped for in a book about a cursed woman in multiple time periods in the middle of a mystery. While it holds some similarities with The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, I felt June Farrow delivered in a way that Addie LaRue fell flat for me. It was paced well, the characters felt fully formed and realistic, and key plot points came together in fun and surprising ways. keeping the action moving.

There was only one instance that took me out of the story. Two of the characters were talking about a horse and its name. The word 'horse' was said a few times, and the dialogue ended with a tag like "I replied hoarsely." Other than this one line, I loved everything about June Farrow and her story.

**My official review will be posted to Goodreads and on my TikTok channel two weeks before publication.**