The writing in this is undeniably beautiful. Its the kind of writing that puts you immediately in the time and place, and yet you get lost in it and never feel like you're reading.
The start of the book is so atmospheric and honestly a little creepy. Adrienne nails the unsettling vibe of June trying to figure out what is happening to her and what is real.
Once the plot starts to pick up, you lose a little of that atmosphere, but there is plenty to keep interest. I wouldn't say the mystery element is particularly difficult to guess in advance, although I don't know if the wrap-up is completely satisfying.
I think for me, the biggest challenge of this book is that it is a romance where we don't see any of the portions where the characters meet and fall in love. It is all told in memories and "visions" and so I just never connected with their story. If you don't view the romance as central, and can enjoy it for more of a magical realism mystery, I think you'll be more satisfied.
I have loved so many of Adrienne's YA and now adult books, and I continue to look forward to what she will do next.

Wow! Kudos to Young because this is simply a master class in genre bending. A little mystery, a little romance, and a lot of magical realism. If there’s ever a book to go into blind, it’s absolutely this one. I had an idea of what to expect after reading the synopsis but I was way off! I didn’t feel completely invested until the 25% mark but I urge you to pay close attention to the beginning because there’s so many easter eggs that reveal themself by the end of the book. The prose is absolutely beautiful and the book is so atmospheric. Spells for Forgetting wasn’t my favorite, though the writing was equally great, and this one just exceeded all my expectations. I think the only think keeping this from being a 5 star read was that I wanted a bit more of certain characters or storylines. Had it been a little longer, maybe I would’ve gotten the answers/closure I needed. But honestly it’s just a really great, unique read. I’m sending Young my therapy bills for all the stress and heartache this gave me. Highly recommend if you enjoy magical realism, slow burn mysteries, family curses/secrets, strong female characters, and the star-crossed lovers trope.

4.5 ⭐️

Even though I’m sitting here thinking “what the heck did I just read” I’m also thinking about how wonderfully beautiful and amazing this story was.

It took a bit for it he story to fully click in my brain but I also could not put this book down as I turned pages just to try and learn more about what was happening.

Young has amazing story telling skills and they are in full effect here!

Can’t wait to put this one on my bookshelf!

This book was very slow but it read just like a movie! I wish I could read more about what their lives were like after June made her decision and I know that I’ll be thinking about this book for days!

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young follows June, the last living Farrow woman, who is determined to be the end of her family’s curse - all the Farrow women before her have slowly lost themselves to madness.
This was an excellent read, intertwining a murder mystery with magical realism. I enjoyed the setting and the characters, and the story was beautifully written.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for granting me access to the book in exchange for an honest review.

I was SO EXCITED when I was granted this ARC: Adrienne Young is one of those writers who tells a story about a character but also builds the world they live in so completely that you are fully immersed before you realize it.

She is easily one of my favorite authors and she did not disappoint with June Farrow!!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early! After reading Adrienne Young's adult debut, I knew I was interested in picking up more adult books from this author in the future. And this book definitely did not disappoint. This book was lovely.

I don't want to go into the synopsis or anything like that because of potential spoilers and going in blindly to books like this is always more fun in my opinion. So instead, what I will say is this:

I glanced at a couple reviews about this book before I came to write this, and if you are one of those people who don't typically read anything with a sort of time travel or portal fantasy, don't let that steer you away from this. I personally did not find it complicated at all. While the element is there, it's clear and concise and time does't overlap or characters don't bounce back and forth in a way that makes anything feel overly confusing.

Also, if like me you find the beginning like twenty percent or so to be super slow, DON'T STOP. Just push through further because it is definitely worth it. I can also say with absolute certainty that by the end, you will be so glad for the beginning because it is so lovely and beautiful in the end.

This book just confirmed it for me that I want to continue reading this author's adult books going forward because I have yet to be disappointed. The concepts are always unique and the writing is so beautiful and the characters are so charming that you can't help but root for them. I would definitely recommend this book!

THIS BOOK. From the first page I could not put June Farrow down. I fell head over heels in love with the atmospheric setting and the relationships you are introduced to right from the start. There’s a mystery at the core that keeps you flipping the pages, but there’s also a deep connection you feel with June that leaves you wanting to read more about her, wanting to follow her as all of these things unravel. The halfway point blew my mind. Adrienne is a master of her craft to have woven all of this together. But she’s also unparalleled in her talent for storytelling and this book showcased that so well. I am officially obsessed with this book and cannot wait to read it again when it comes out and I can hold a physical copy in my hands. Everyone should read this, end of story!

This book made better use of time travel in its plot than any fantasy I’ve read. It wasn’t just a device to get characters moving on the chessboard. Some of the overlapping timelines had me like 😮 by the end.

I found the first 1/3rd of this book a bit ho-hum. But the reveals at the end made me go back and reread the beginning in its entirety. Those early scenes resonate so much more once you learn the truth. So pay attention, even if the temptation is to skim.

The romance (Eamon and Mason) fell a bit flat for me, but at the end of the day, this book is all about the Farrow women. June and Birdie and Margaret. Such a wonderful, moving dynamic. It made the time travel something poignant and an act of love.

I had no idea where this book was going, and while it ended up having an interesting concept, there wasn’t much else that I enjoyed. It’s a magical realism story about alternate universes/parallel timelines. It did have some twists that were unexpected and the author does have an evocative way of writing— she places you right in the thick of the story and there’s a strong sense of place and setting. But, overall it was unnecessarily convoluted and had a lot of arbitrary/unexplained rules. The main character, and us as the readers, are kept in the dark about what’s going on for so long. It started out fine because there was an element of mystery, but it quickly began to feel dragged out and I was getting frustrated with the lack of information. The characters seemed intriguing at first until you come to find that that’s basically all there is to them, nothing deeper. I also hated how the arc of a specific character, Mason, was handled. So all in all, an alluring premise with lackluster execution.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

Review posted on Goodreads 7/28/23
Review to be posted on YouTube 8/2/23
Review to be posted on TikTok 8/2/23

This was the most unique kind of second-chance I’ve ever read. I can’t even adequately describe the rollercoaster ride this book took me on while trying to work everything out.

June Farrow is part of a family of women with a long-standing generational curse of living in split timelines. As timelines battle in their minds, the mental state of these women deteriorate around the unraveling. As June begins uncovering the secrets of her family history that have been kept from her, she finds herself in a tangled web of time that needs unwoven.

I have to admit, I was completely confused about the way that time worked for this entire book. Even now that I’m finished, I’m still positive I didn’t fully understand it at any point while reading. While that took me out of the story at times, ultimately I was completely engrossed in figuring out the mystery right alongside June. I don’t want to say too much and spoil anything, but I had my hopes and suspicions about how things would end up. I was pleased with some outcomes and completely surprised by other revelations in a lovely way. I may have been thinking too hard while reading, but overall I really enjoyed this incredibly unique story.

I had high hopes for this book but i couldnt get into it at all. The premise sounds great but the story fell flat for me.

Farrow women have been going mad for generations, and a year before her grandma passes June Farrow has a vision that she is sure is the start to her decline to madness. But as the pieces begin to come together it’s clear that it might not be madness after all but something all together more extraordinary.

Really enjoyed (and was definitely guessing!) by this magical realism meets fantasy book.

First off thanks to netgalley for providing me an ARC!

Adrienne Young does it again! What I love about her writing/books is that she doesn't conform to 1 genre. This book, like her first, is like 3 genres in one. This book has fantasy, romance and mystery.
The Farrows are not normal women.. They've all gotten "sick" and June is trying to avoid the fact that her sickness is starting. Her grandmother had just passed and she's trying to figure out what to do. June finds an old photograph of Nathaniel Rutherford, a beloved preacher who was murdered, and what looks like her mother. June starts diving more and more into her family's past. The more she dives, the "sicker" she gets.. She's seeing things and hearing things that aren't there. Including a red door. When her grandmother's oldest friend, Birdy, finds out that its starting to happen to June. She gives June a letter with an address and tells her to go through the door.
When June walks through... she finds a whole other life waiting for her in 1951 and she will finally get the answers she's been looking for about her family.

I highly recommend this book!!

I did not want this book to end. I thought it was a great time traveling book with interesting characters.
I loved the strong female characters, but I did wish that some characters were more developed. Overall a strong book, with a lot of plot twists and I could not put it down.

June is strong willed and knows that something is wrong with her. The Farrow women are cursed with mental illness but no one will tell June how that mental illness is afflicted. She must figure it out for herself.

When she sees the red door, does she go through it to find out for herself?

wow, all i can say is wow. this book blew my mind. it was so beautiful and heartbreaking and totally messed with my mind. but in a good way bc then you’re just trying to figure out how all the pieces fit together. the story of Farrows is saddening but the love they have for each other and the fierce instinct to protect is so strong, i loved that so much. i felt so bad for June and how confused and alone she must have felt with ppl that were supposed to be family hut couldn’t tell her everything. the scenes that the author writes were stunning and i loved how she describes how everything feels and tastes.
i loved Eamon and how passionate he felt about june and i just knew what she would end up choosing even though i secretly hoped it would be the opposite. the family ties and how everything fit together made me cry, honestly. i wish Mason was a little more fleshed out but since we only see him for a short time i understand why he wasn’t. the ending 😩 the ending just ripped my heart out. i was so so happy for june bc i knew that’s where she belonged but i still felt and unending sadness for her bc of the choice she had to make.
i have loved every book by Adrienne Young. this book was perfection. 5/5

thank you NetGalley and Random House for this digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Chef's kiss for "The Unmaking of June Farrow." I honestly had no clue what was going on during most of the book in the best way possible. Adrienne weaves this intricate story together and gives the reader just enough information for the larger picture to start forming without giving anything away too soon. I am so impressed by her ability to create this intricate story as I'm not usually a fan of "time travel" tropes (mainly because most authors leave to many holes and non-answers in time travel). However, Adrienne masterfully describes the concept of the red door, the rules associated with passing through, and the fraying rope of two intertwined timelines. And the best thing about it all for me was that I never once guess the twist at the end that makes this story come full circle. "The Unmaking of June Farrow" is one of my new favorite books!

Also, can we just take a moment to enjoy the descriptive writing techniques that Adrienne uses in all of her books? I can easily create her worlds and stories in my head due to Adrienne's strength in descriptive details.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing, and Adrienne Young for providing me with an advanced reader's copy of an AMAZING book!

You need to go into this book without any preconceived ideas!
I thought I had the twist pegged and was prepared to be disappointed but I couldn’t not read it when I’ve loved all of Adrienne Young’s other works. And I was pleasantly surprised and annoyed with myself for ever doubting the way she can spin a story and make it a beautiful journey!
The Unmaking of June Farrow follows the title character as she begins to unearth the cause of her family curse. All the Farrow women die due to a “sickness” that has plagued their family for generations. When June’s grandmother finally succumbs after a years long battle, June starts to receive cryptic messages and photos from her family’s past. The typical symptoms of this elusive sickness began a year before the story starts and June is desperate to find answers before she can no longer tell the difference between fantasy and reality.
I admit the beginning was a little slow but as soon as the intrigue ramped up, I could not put this book down until I found out what was going on! Young is amazing at creating an atmosphere and setting. I felt immersed in small town Jasper, North Carolina, surrounded by mountains, farms, and a central rolling river. June’s journey tugged at my heart and I felt the panic she was feeling that she might never figure out what was happening before it was too late. Her relationships with the other characters grew as the book went on, a natural progression for June and the reader as well.
Overall, I give this book 5/5 stars and I will be recommending it to any reader who’s a fan of magical realism and atmospheric writing! Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for sending this book for review consideration, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Already have this on preorder at my library! 😊

This was my very first Adrienne Young read, and I was NOT disappointed. Young does an amazing job pulling the reader into the story and keeps them guessing what will happen next. This book is the best mix of suspense, fantasy, and history rolled into one.

I don't know how to write this without giving any way too much! So, here is my best attempt:

June Farrow is well aware of the curse plaguing the women of her family. It's the very reason her Gran raised her and why her mother disappeared. Farrow women are just. . .different. It's been a year since June has started hallucinating -- hearing and seeing things that aren't there, but after the death of her Gran, she uncovers cryptic clues that have her questioning more about her mother's disappearance. Once she steps through a red door, she is dropped into 1951 with a life she doesn't remember. Her quest for answers helps fuel her need to break the curse.

I could not put this one down, and was surprised by several twists I did not expect. I recommend reading this if you like fantasy, thrillers, and a some suspense!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine, and Delacorte Press for this eARC! I will be adding this to my bookshelf once it's released in October!!

Oh I’m just such a fan of Adrienne Young and this book was no different. June Farrow knows the Farrow women are different, but as she buries her grandmother the vision’s becomes worse. As her world splits in two she goes searching for answers about her mother who abandoned her as a baby and she ends up going through a door, and on the other side she’s in 1951 in a life she doesn’t remember. Now desperately searching for answers she continues to try to find a way home realizing she will have to make a decision when the door reappears to stay or go. I read this in one day. I couldn’t put it down. Amazingly written and exciting I loved every minute of it. 5⭐️