I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Unmaking of June Farrow is hands down my favorite read of 2023. I finished this book in a single evening, completely unable to tear myself away from June’s story. Adrienne Young has absolutely outdid herself. Each sentence was crafted with such skill and intent - I am literally still in awe.

The characters are complex and so easily known. I felt as though I was along with June in the uncovering of her path. The story was just all around beautiful. There are themes in this book that capture motherhood, loss, grief, and love so perfectly.

I cried as I devoured the last 100 pages of this book. Sad tears, angry tears, happy tears.

Please buy this book. You will not regret it.

There are good authors, there are great authors, and then there’s the inimitable Adrienne Young. I first fell in love with her literary work thanks to the deeply engrossing “Fable,” series, followed by the forbidden allure of “The Last Legacy,” and her hauntingly poignant “Spells for Forgetting.” Once again, I’m left reeling after having finished her latest novel — which I’m also convinced is her best yet. (This is saying a lot, as I count “Fable” and “Namesake” among the greatest YA books of this generation.)

“The Unmaking of June Farrow” follows protagonist June, who has just lost her beloved grandmother, in part to what she believes is their mysterious, longstanding family curse — one she herself has started experiencing inexplicable symptoms of. June is determined to figure out what’s wrong with her before it derails her life entirely; and, in the process, is trying to figure out what happened to her mom, who left her with no explanation in the care of her grandmother when she was just a baby, and hasn’t been seen since.

The world-building in this is unbelievably well-done. Set in the mountains of North Carolina, spanning a period of several generations, in “The Unmaking of June Farrow,” Young richly captures the reality of life in a small rural Southern town, all the while crafting a tale where the impossible becomes possible, and a lost girl finds her way back to herself. Without going into too much detail, everything works here. From a gorgeous slow-burn romance to a thrilling pursuit for the truth, Young is no stranger to perfecting the art of fiction.

If it isn’t already obvious, I devoured this masterpiece, and I’m willing to bet you will, too.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an ARC.*

This book is brilliant. Have you ever read a book that plays with time and time travel and at the end of it thought "that made total sense"? No? Me either...until this book. And oh my gosh the romance. THE ROMANCE. I was up late one night in the dark reading next to my husband and started sobbing because of a beautiful moment. This book is utter perfection.

I am on a mission to read all of Adrienne Young's books this year and I only have two more to go!. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Young's writing is so atmospheric and beautiful, and I feel so lucky that I received an ARC of this book. I enjoyed this a lot, and I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys their stories with a little bit of magic.

June Farrow has come from a long line of Farrow Women, all who have been cursed with madness for centuries. This madness led to the disappearance of June's mother, Susanna, and June is determined solve that mystery. It's been a year since the madness has started creeping in on June—she has begun to hear and see things that aren't there, including a red door that sporadically appears in odd places.

Clues begin to reveal themselves to June about her mother's disappearance and she discovers that the red door may be the answer to all of her questions. June decides to take a chance and walk through the door, revealing a unexpected journey that may help her solve the mystery and break the curse that her family has suffered through for centuries.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. Again, the writing was so incredibly beautiful and I felt like I had been plopped right into June's farm. This was an engrossing mystery and romance and I felt myself reading it quickly so the mystery could reveal itself, even though I didn't want to read it too fast because I wanted to savor the writing as well. I think that the story did slow down quite a bit in the middle and I lost a little interest, but it picked right back up and was met with a satisfying ending. Young's adult fiction has been fantastic so far and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book opens up with June Farrow’s Gran dying from “mental illness” but the doctors can never figure out what’s actually wrong with her. June has started having these same episodes a year prior but doesn’t tell anyone.

She starts digging into her past and it causes her to go down a rabbit trail of who her parents are and who she really is. There’s just enough magic and suspense to keep you on your toes!

I gave it a 4 ⭐️ because it was a little hard to follow with some of the time traveling and fictional aspects. My mind just couldn’t wrap around some of it 🤣 I think if I was to reread the book I’d see a lot of Easter eggs that would make other parts of the book make sense. Such a great read!

Thanks NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my Honest review!

June comes from generations of women that seem to succumb to insanity. It was a given that as a Farrow female you would go crazy with hallucinations and delusions, often disappearing, perhaps committing suicide. In reality, each woman "moved" into an alternate universe where she lived a different life. June was left as a baby by her mother who disappeared from her life forever. Her body was never found but suicide due to mental illness was suspected. June lived in fear of following in her moms footsteps and going crazy at a young age. She watched her grandmother die, who often did not speak or know where she was. She vowed to never have children so that the insanity would end with her. What June discovers is not insanity, but rather a curse on her family. This book was good but I really had to pay attention to what I was reading. Otherwise, I found myself to be confused due to the different timelines. Very imaginative and magical, I would recommend this book for those that like multiple timelines, fantasy and time travel.
My rating was rounded up from 3.5 stars to 4 stars. Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC. This review is my own.

I started this book last night and finished it today. I could not put it down. It’s just the right mixture of mystery and thriller and intrigue. The world Adrienne Young creates pulls you in from the very first paragraph, sentence even. In short, I may read it again tonight.

The story opens with the death of June Farrow’s Gran, and the first chapter sets up the mystery of a family of women bound by a curse of “mental illness” that occurs suddenly and seemingly without warning at various points in their lives. At 34 years old, we see that June’s madness had begun the year prior but is growing in intensity in the aftermath of the passing of her Gran. Determined to uncover the mystery of her mother’s disappearance and comforted in the fact that she will be the last Farrow woman to succumb to insanity because she had remained intentionally childless, June eventually is forced to face the inevitable and tell her remaining loved ones about her hallucinations.

Her Gran’s best friend, Birdie, is not surprised or concerned to hear about June’s hallucinations, and hands her another piece to the puzzle. June presses for more information, but Birdie tells June that she had promised long ago not to interfere and wouldn’t break that promise for anyone, not even her. She leaves her with one simple instruction: when the red door shows up, June needed to walk through it.

There were a couple scenes that were for a mature audience, but in my opinion, they weren’t crude or crass, and they didn’t drag out. There were also a couple of scenes of violence. If it were a movie, I’m sure these collection of scenes would make it a an R rated movie.

I still have questions, but these questions aren’t gaping plot holes. They may be intentionally left to provide material for future books— I’d definitely read future books about the Farrow women. The questions may be intentionally left to make you wonder long after the book is finished. If so, well done, Adrienne. I really enjoyed this book.

***Editing to add that this is a book you’ll want to read twice! There are little Easter eggs cleverly scattered throughout the book that you can’t properly enjoy until you’ve read it once through — also yes, I am currently rereading this book and enjoying the effort Adrienne put in to making this book as good the second time around as much as the first!***

I’d like to thank Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Unmaking of June Farrow is an achingly beautiful tale that's brimming with evocative joy and sorrow.

Readers follow June as she begins a rendezvous with fate that she neither wants of truly understand. As her life begins to unravel, June must rely on the generations before her and her own quit strength to forge her way to the life she truly wants.

June's story is so intensely human. While the circumstances of the generational curse are otherworldly, I felt empathetic to the hard choices these characters ultimately choose. While it is unlikely that readers will ever have to make such choices they do cleverly echo the choices that most folks lives are made up of and speak to the way those choices create one's reality. For me the quiet moments are what really made this story special but the mystery of it all is engaging and propulsive too.

I can think of only one other character that has effected me like June ( Addie Larue) she is someone who I will think of fondly and often.

I loved this book so much I read it in one day. Could not put it down. I found it to be a beautiful love story. I also really loved her first adult novel.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

If you’re someone who loved things like Time Traveler’s Wife or anything related, this is for you.

That being said, I’m not into time travel stories, but the story was cute.

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young is a wonderful fiction that has it all: mystery, suspense, wonderful characters, history, and a bit of fantasy all rolled into one.

I have really enjoyed several of Ms. Young’s books in the past, so I was excited to read this one as well.

An excellent story with well-created and drawn out characters that create a fascinating narrative that weaves the present and the past together. The author does a wonderful job balancing all the elements of real vs supernatural, present vs past, and heavy vs lighter threads (such as the curse and romance). Not many would be able to pull this off, but Ms. Young certainly has.

4.5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Delacorte Press for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 10/17/23.

Thank you to the publisher for the arc!

I absolutely adored this. Family secrets, magic and romance all set in a small town? I couldn’t put this down.

I didn't think she could top Spells for Forgetting but this one was by far the best I've read in a while. The perfect mix of mystery, family, romance and everything else to love in a book. Can't wait to add this to my shelf.

When June Farrows mother disappears, she is raised by her grandmother on her thriving flower farm. After her grandmother’s death, june finds clues and uses them to try to solve her mothers mysterious disappearance. She hears ghostly wind chimes and hears voices calling to her. When June discovers a mysterious door she realizes that it is not a hallucination but that she can cross the threshold and embark on a journey to solve Susanna’s disappearance, break the curse that has affected her family for generations and maybe fall in love along the way. This story is romantic, mysterious, and magical and it’s another 5 star read from Adrienne young. Five wonderful stars! Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young is a book you don't want to start unless you have a lot of free time because you won't want to stop reading until the end.

The story of June Farrow, one of a multi-generation of women who have been cursed and June decides that she is going to be the one to end it.

The book starts with the passing of the Grandmother who raised her after her mother's disappearance. June starts investigating and finds clues that leads her to - No spoilers here. :)

Adrienne Young uses beautiful language and word play in the story of June and her family. I was drawn in by the way she wove the story of the Farrow women.

This was my first book by Adrienne Young, but definitely won't be my last.

I was given this ARC by NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

The Unmaking of June Farrow has all the trademarks I’ve come to expect from Adrienne Young: lyrical prose combined with atmospheric and immersive world building. This was such a beautiful and heartbreaking story of family and love. I really enjoyed the mystery of the curse to explore the impact of our past, present, and future choices. The scenes in this book were so vividly described and the characters were perfectly developed. Readers will fall in love with this haunting fall read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, and Random House for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

"The Unmaking of June Farrow" by Adrienne Young deserves a solid four-star rating. This enchanting novel combines elements of romance, mystery, and the supernatural to create a captivating and unforgettable story. Adrienne Young's writing effortlessly draws readers into the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, as they follow June on her journey to break her family's curse, solve her mother's disappearance, and find love.

The book excels in creating a sense of atmosphere and intrigue, with the haunting presence of the curse and the mystery surrounding June's mother's vanishing. Young's prose is evocative and the plot is well-paced, keeping readers engaged and eager to uncover the secrets of June's small town.

The author's development of characters, especially June, is commendable. June's determination to end the curse and her emotional journey as she unravels her family's history adds depth and relatability to the story. The romantic elements are woven seamlessly into the narrative, offering a touch of sweetness and warmth to balance the darker aspects of the plot.

While the book successfully combines various genres, there are moments where certain plot points could have been further explored or developed. Additionally, some readers may find the supernatural elements to be more pronounced than expected, which could affect their enjoyment of the story.

Overall, "The Unmaking of June Farrow" is a beautifully written and engaging novel that will appeal to readers who enjoy a blend of romance, mystery, and the supernatural. Adrienne Young delivers a story that leaves a lasting impression and keeps readers invested until the very end.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young. Wow. Excellent. Not many writers could pull off a book written in this manner of timeline complexity while keeping the reader's interest and entertaining them so well. I was captivated and mesmerized from page one.

June is the last in the line of the Farrow women, she’s made sure of it. There was no way she was going to foist the family curse onto another generation. Hearing people who weren’t there, hallucinations - madness hit them all eventually - and never ever a long happy life with a husband to share it.

Her mother disappeared mysteriously, leaving her alone in an alley at 7 months. Raised by her grandmother, she’s always tried to find out more about what happened to her mother but not gotten any real answers. And since her grandmother passed she’s gotten clues, but they only lead to more and more questions that she never knew to ask - about herself this time.

Like Spells for Forgetting, this would make for excellent fall reading. In fact, I dropped everything to read it on a wild stormy day and it was the best decision I could have made.
I don’t want to give up too much more for fear of spoiling the book, because the mystery is The Thing. It kept me reading ‘just a few more pages’ until the day was gone and suddenly it was past 2am and I’d finished.
I will say there’s plenty of supernatural goings-on, time travel, and more secrets than you could possibly expect.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC

June Farrow had vowed to be the last of her line due to the multigenerational curse that leaves the women of her family suffering with madness. But when June stumbles upon mysterious information regarding her past, she cannot help but pick at the thread of her life as it starts to unravel.

An incredible story I could not put down! Time traveling.. murder mystery.. family secrets.. romance.. this book had it all! I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.