The Unmaking of June Farrow

4.25 ⭐️

I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this one, but I loved Spells for Forgetting, so I had to try it.

The Unmaking of June Farrow is part mystery, part historical fiction, part sci-fi all wrapped together. June must unravel her families secrets through the past as she discovers what she and the women in her family are capable of.

I really enjoyed this slow mystery as it unfolded. Pieces clicked together so neatly at the end and it was beautifully written. Definitely won’t be the las book I read by Adrienne Young!

Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC!

At this point I believe Adrienne Young can do no wrong! I love all her books that I've read and this is no different. I devoured this book in a day and every minute of it was delicious. I didn't want to put it down but I never wanted it to end either! This is the kind of book I highly recommend going in blind for. This book does a great job of genre bending and the less you know the more you can experience the atmosphere that Young so masterfully builds. You get a little bit of everything- mystery, romance, and magical realism all in a beautiful story about heartache, loss, and second chances. Don not wait on this book!

The Unmaking of June Farrow is such a fun, plot twisty, read! I love the magical realism and how it ties into the Farrow women’s history.

This story follows June Farrow, the last of the Farrow women and she is determined not to carry on the family curse. Her mother disappeared long ago leaving her grandmother to raise her. But the curse that comes for all Farrow women has started to come for June, with her seeing and hearing things that aren’t there, including a door. But what will happen when June realizes she can actually touch the door?

Towards the end I felt the romance in the book was a little rushed, but given the context of storyline it actually makes sense and isn’t as rushed as I initially thought. Overall I think Adrianne Young did a wonderful job with telling a story about loss, heartache, and second chances.

Thank you to NetGalley, Delacourt Press, and Penguin Random House for the eARC!

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm—and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.

It’s been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere—the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

First and foremost, I need to know who approved this cover. Why do we have Addie LaRue font on a multi timeline book? It feels a little too on the nose for me. Otherwise, love this. All the Farrow women had their own complex reasons for doing what they did and every loose thread is so neatly tied up by the end. I wish we got a little bit more of Eamon and his feelings though.

I’m still crying over this book. This was incredibly atmospheric and heart wrenching. This writing was poetic and immersive. The characters had great dialogue and dimension. The plot was so good, I loved the mystery thriller aspect. I had high hopes after reading and loving Spells for Forgetting and this book absolutely met my expectations. Loved it!

my first adrienne young book and certainly not my last! this was a BEAUTIFUL story of family and second chances with a touch of magical realism to really draw you in to this enthralling tale. i loved every second of this book and i implore you give it a read if you haven’t considered it already! i can’t wait to read more from her and dive into her backlist

This is Adrienne Young’s best book yet!! I was continuously surprised by the events of the book, the writing was beautiful, and the last few chapters left me sobbing. Pre-order this book right now. It will leave you in awe.

This book was amazing. I just completed this book and I am in awe of the writing. June Farrow was an average girl living in the mountains on a flower farm, she was raised by her grandma after being abandoned at the local diner. All the women in her family are stricken by a “sickness” that is passed from mother to daughter of their mind unraveling. Some are early in life and some are much later. The story of June’s life unfolds page by page. It is a story of wonderment and tragedy. Don’t miss this read.
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book and offer my opinion.

if Dark Matter by Blake Crouch was written by a woman, it would be The Unmaking of June Farrow.

a cozy fantasy read for mystery/thriller fiends. light on the (unconventional) romance and heavy on the women's fiction. I savored its exploration of the bonds of female familial relationships. I hesitate to share any further information, as this one is best read blind.

thanks to random house publishing group for the arc in exchange for an honest review!
✦ 4 stars

I have the review posted on my Bookstagram, linked below! Great book! Would rate 4.5 stars but worthy of a round up to 5.

I love Adrienne Young and The Unmaking of June Farrow was no exception. This book was magical. This book is twisty and complex in all the right ways as we explore June’s time travel adventures. There were so many exciting twists I didn’t see coming and that’s something I loved the most about this one.

This was a tale about the Farrow women and time travel. At times, I found it a bit hard to follow. But it was a testament of true love between June and the man she choose to build a life with.

Thank you to NetGalley and Adrienne Young for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.

I was hooked from the first chapter of this book. I devoured this book. I’m a huge fan of Adrienne Young’s other books, but this one may just be my favorite. It’s just the peak of creativity; I’ve never read anything like it. I’m not a huge fan of mystery type books, but the blend of magical realism and dash of romance is what makes this book stand out from the rest. It’s genuinely a book I would reread again, which is not something I say (or rather write) lightly. I love the author’s attention and exploration of grief throughout the book. I highly recommend if you like magical realism, slow burn romance, second chance romance (but in a more creative way than your typical second chance romance), fake dating, family curses/secrets, and strong female characters.

Thank you, Net Galley, and Random House Publishing Group, for sending me an arc of this phenomenal book in exchange for an honest review. Thank You, Adrienne Young for continuing to impress me by your already elite writing skills.

June Farrow knows there’s something different about her – there’s something different about all the women in her family. All the Farrow women seem to meet with the same fate – a slow unraveling of the mind. June’s own mother, Susanna, is known throughout their small North Carolina town as a madwoman who left June. Since her mother’s death, June has been raised by her grandmother.

After June’s grandmother passes, June is forced to confront what she has known for the past year – she is seeing things that aren’t there and hearing noises no one else does. Is she going to lose her senses at her young age? When a red door appears, June begins a journey that will shake the very foundation of everything she knows. Once June walks through the door, she finds herself in the past. She’ll have to trust others and trust herself to solve the puzzle of her family’s curse.

This book will have you turning the pages to find more clues to June’s past, present, and future. The family dynamics will tug at your heartstrings, and the lengths to which June goes will resonate with any woman who has ever put her family before herself. The magical realism combined with themes of love and loss makes for a heartbreaking yet hopeful story.

I am a true Adrienne Young fan now. This book was heart warming and heartbreaking at the same time. A great magical realism book.

This book has everything I want and didn't know I needed! Mystery, magical realism, small town, farming life, a little bit of a thriller, and one of those romances that gives a quiet love but is oh so beautiful. I loved the time period and how atmospheric the story is written, which cannot be overlooked, as I think it adds to the overall story and makes it just that good. I'm leaving out a major piece of why this book gripped me, which is a huge spoiler, but it is what makes this book have such a twisty plot. It was brilliantly written that there weren't any plot holes in how twisty it was. I've been a long fan of Adrienne and this is her best adult book yet!

June and the Farrow women in her line of history have a mysterious curse, making the women go "mad." June's mother had mysteriously disappeared when she was younger, being raised by her grandmother. Not long after her grandmother passed, June started seeing and hearing things, leading her to search for her missing mom.

Thank you Delacorte Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review will be posted on Instagram.com/torrey.story the week of 10/8/23.

Every once and a while, a book comes along and steals your heart.

The Unmaking of June Farrow is a heartbreaking and hopeful novel about how love can cross all boundaries, even time. I knew I loved Young’s first exploration into magical realism, Spells for Forgetting, and was so excited to dive into this one. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this was the most perfect combination of fantasy, mystery, and sci-fi. June Farrow is a fantastic protagonist that enhanced the story further.

June Farrow, like all the Farrow women before her, is cursed. Everyone one of them eventually descends into madness they can’t escape. June’s mom’s solution was to disappear when she was a child. When June starts to see and hear things that aren’t there, she is more determined than ever to end the curse, by not having any children to pass it down to. When her Gran passes, June’s hallucinations are more frequent. But what if June is not hallucinating? What if that red door she keeps seeing leads to answers about her past?

I love that the theme of this book is love, but mainly familial. The women in this book are so strong and protective of each other. No family is perfect, and there are moments where they hurt each other in the process of trying to love. Seeing the love of mothers, daughters, and granddaughters portrayed in such a profound and realistic way was very touching. The romantic love was just as touching. June in the beginning is completely closed off to the idea of caring for someone in that way, believing it would be selfish of her. It was wonderful to see her grow from believing love is selfish to seeing how selfless it is.

The small-town atmosphere of this town is enchanting. Much like in Spells for Forgetting, this book takes place in a small tight-knit community, that lends itself to intrigue and mystery. Young has a talent for bringing fantasy elements into our mundane world in a way that feels believable. I was so utterly enchanted by the setting that I felt like I was there.

I did not expect such a fantastic mystery, but it was so clever. We have the mystery of the Farrow curse and June’s mother that wove a complex and detailed plot. The twists and turns, for the most part, took me by surprise, and the ending shocked me! It was such a satisfying, if not a bittersweet, conclusion to the emotional journey I had been through.

If I had to nitpick, the only thing I’d say is the mystery aspect of this book got a little too heavy at the end. While time travel was explained throughout the book, there is a dense section at the end, that is key to the story but hard to get through. Things also wrap up a tad too nicely for the mystery aspect, but these are very minor things that did not detract from my fantastic reading experience.

The Unmaking of June Farrow is going to be a beloved book. I would compare this to Addie la Rue in terms of the character depth while having a more active plot. Pick up this book if you love mysterious small towns, strong women, and love stories that transcend time.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and RandomHouse Publishing Group for the advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions shared are my own.

Expressing my enjoyment for this book feels nearly impossible. The Unmaking of June Farrow effortlessly weaves together elements of magical realism, time travel, and overarching witchy elements. Through the journey of June Farrow, who fearlessly confronts perils to break her family's curse, unravel her mother's vanishing, and embrace love, the narrative captivated me.

Normally, I skeptical about stories involving time travel, given the tendency for unresolved questions. Astonishingly, by the book's conclusion, every inquiry I held found a satisfying resolution. Though I completed the book just a few days back, I'm already eagerly anticipating revisiting its pages in the near future.

Breathtaking - Unpredictable - Magic

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5
📚: magical realism/mystery

🤍 read if you like
▫️ time travel
▫️ murder mysteries
▫️ magical intrigue
▫️ second chance romance
▫️ mad woman - by TS

All the women in the Farrow family are cursed with the same fate: at some point, young or old, they will start to go mad. It happened to her mother when June was just a baby, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother. When the hallucinations start, June knows her time is coming. But when her grandmother dies, and leaves her a cryptic letter, June starts to wonder if there's more to the Farrow women's history than she thought.

This is a little bit like Adrienne Young's last book, Spells for Forgetting, but also nothing like it at all! The story is completely unique, surprised me left and right, and had me mentally constructing a timeline/investigation board in my imagination to try and follow the progression of the story (insert A Beautiful Mind gif). The twists and turns kept me wondering right up until the reveal! What reminded me of Spells for Forgetting was Young's way of weaving magical realism into a light thriller. It was all so well crafted that I couldn't put it down!

True to all of Adrienne Young's books, the writing in this is atmospheric and beautiful, and the imagery is masterful! I felt like I was IN June Farrow's shoes; I could see myself dancing at the Midsummer Faire, and feel myself in the fields with her, looking for something that shouldn't be there. Am I slowly going mad too?

Overall this book is a blend of magical realism and mystery, but it's just as much about love, self-discovery, sacrifice, and the lengths one will go for those they love.

CW: remember that while Adrienne Young has several YA books, this one is an adult novel, with more mature themes and elements.

This is not my normal genre but I really enjoyed this book! The characters felt like real people and caused me to feel real emotions. It was fairly easy to follow and well written. I liked it!