This was my favorite read of 2023. I loved the time travel aspect and family history. Such a fun book!

Thank you Netgalley for giving me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

I really love Adrienne Young storytelling and the time travel was really well done. The mystery, the love story, the murder, the characters, everything was really well done. I'm glad that I kind of figure out what was going on with the murder but I was really wrong about most of my speculations.

The Farrow women are known for their flower farm and the curse that has plagued their family line. June decides she has had enough and risks everything to end their families century old curse, solve her mother’s disappearance and hopefully find love along away.

R E V I E W:
Adrienne Young has done it again. Last fall she wrote Spells for Forgetting which was perfect and she’s back at it again with this fall release. (@adrienneyoungbooks please keep doing these fall vibe books, they are everything)

This story was just wonderful. The plot was perfect, the characters were perfect. You’re just hugging June the whole time hoping she can figure out what’s going on and the ending is just perfect. Everything is pieced together and it’s mind blowing. I will 100% read anything this author writes, especially her fall releases. Just a great story. Definitely recommend. This book could be read all year long.

Took some time for me to get through this one but I enjoyed it. June was a like able character and I being someone who loves flowers I loved that they had a Flower Farm.

The Unmaking of June Farrow is easily one of my top books of 2024 and we are only a third of the way through. This was only my second 5 star read of the year, and I cannot recommend this enough. I don’t want to go into too much detail with the plot, as I really think this one is best to go into blind and enjoy the ride!

This story spans multiple genres and tickled my brain in just the right way. It has fantasy/magical realism elements, with historical, small town romance and a mystery woven throughout. While the romance wasn’t the main aspect, it definitely was a phenomenal bonus. I absolutely adored their story and my heart was bursting the whole time.

The writing is so beautiful. It was magical and atmospheric. The imagery was stunning and the characters were charming. I loved the different timelines we got and was able to visualize so much of what was described. This book really was so captivating. The mystery of June Farrow really sucks you in and makes you want to devour the book to find out what is going on. This book is imaginative and complex, but also heartwarming and charming. It was so unique and brilliant and I really cannot recommend it enough!

I listened to it for the most part on audio, but swapped it out with my physical copy when I had the chance to sit with it. I highly recommend this in whatever format you prefer, as all versions were magnificent.

I am just absolutely blown away by this stunning masterpiece of a book. If you are a fan of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue or The Time Travelers Wife, I highly recommend checking this one out! It has similar magical realism elements to those books, but with a small town romance and mystery feel. This was such a fantastic book and I really hope everyone reads and enjoys it!

The Unmaking of June Farrow is what I would consider to be a perfect 3 star book. It's fast paced, a very quick read, and the lore is genuinely interesting (although also a little bit convoluted towards the end). The writing itself is atmospheric and flows beautifully, making it really easy to pick up the book and keep reading until you're halfway through the book without even realizing it. There's honestly a lot I liked here plotwise- the time traveling is interesting and the concept of the "fraying" was a really creative way to add extra conflict into the story. Even the murder mystery aspect of it was pretty interesting- despite the fact the answer to it was pretty obvious (although I don't hold that as a negative against the story, I'm pretty sure it's meant to be obvious) it was still interesting getting all the bits and pieces put together again as June slowly regained memories. That being said, what really brought down my enjoyment of this book were the characters themselves. June often felt very bland and passive up until the very end of the story- she accepts her situation pretty quickly and I was often so frustrated with how she refused to push for answers from others along with how everyone seemed to decide it was a good idea to not tell her anything despite the fact that her going in blind was putting everyone at risk even more. I just wish she was more willing to push back against what people were telling her to do without explanation instead of arguing and then folding almost immediately. Another aspect that didn't really sit well with me is the romance- since so much of it hinges on memories June is only just regaining and technically has never even experienced and not current experiences she has with Eamon, the romance never really felt believable to me since we never really got to experience the first time they fell in love and instead are in June's pov as she remembers that another version of her did love him. That being said, despite these parts that I didn't really enjoy- I still for the most part did like the story. The blurb really didn't do a great job describing the plot as it seems to be marketed as a star crossed romance which is really isn't. This is definitely more of a sci fi time travel mystery with a second chance romance more than anything else.

After Spells for Forgetting I wondered, how would Ms. Young top this?? The Answer?? This book! With The Unmaking of June Farrow, Young, had proven she is a major contender in the world of magical realism. This has is all. Small town, second chances, and one of my favorite tropes TIME TRAVEL. Adrienne Young's writing is always, in my opinion, magical. Nothing can pull you into the plot like beautiful writing and an interesting story. Really looking forward to what's next. Adrienne Young has become an auto buy author for me. I will read anything she writes.

3.75

I've been eagerly awaiting the follow-up to Spells For Forgetting, and The Unmaking of June Farrow did not let me down. Another immersive, magical, beautiful novel from Adrienne Young!

One of the best books I've read in awhile. So original and well written. Excellent characters that you wish you could meet. I highly recommend this to everyone!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Gosh was this book absolute perfection. An incredible slow burn that slowly reveals the story, slowly amping up the tension, as an unputdownable story unfolds. Full of family, time travel, fate, and a great romance. I won't say much because this is a book that just needs to be experienced but this was an incredible genre blender that's going to stick with me.

*I received an e-arc via Netgalley from the publisher for review. Thank you for the opportunity to review. All thoughts are my own*

I have been a fan of Adrienne Young since her debut, and she has not disappointed me yet! She has become an autobuy author for me.

This book was amazing and one of my favorite reads from 2023! This book captured my heart and it was hard to put down. I just wanted to read it in one sitting!

If you love magical realism, love stories that transcend time, mystery, small towns, and strong female characters, then I think you will love this one too! I have been thinking about this one since I read it!

Highly recommend!

This book had so much promise, and then it committed the worst sin of all books: it was incredibly boring. And to be boring and also be a book about time travel which was incredibly difficult to understand the ins and outs of, I was just so disenchanted with something that I wanted to much to love.

Adrienne Young can do no wrong in my eyes. Absolutely stunning. I loved this book so much! Thank you so much Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

This book was so beautifully written. June farrow comes from a family where the woman end up falling into madness. When June sees a red door show up, she can’t help but go through it and try to find the answers to her timeline and what plagues the woman in her family.

This book absolutely blew me away. It's beautifully written, each character was crafted with such care and brought to life, whether they're one of the MCs or a supporting character, and the story was incredibly compelling. I haven't stopped thinking about this book since I finished it and can't wait to recommend it to everyone I know.

I bought Spells For Forgetting by Adrienne Young when that came out. I still haven't read it. I don't know if this is a sequel or just same world or something. I do genuinely want to try to read these books at some point, it just may take some time.

I adored every moment of this magical realism loveliness! It was very much right up my alley, book-wise. I'm sure it won't be for everyone but it was definitely for me!

I am always a little unsure about a story involving time travel, yet I always give those reads a shot. And with The Unmaking of June Farrow I am so glad that I did. I felt myself getting a little confused in the first section, trying to keep up with what was going on and calculating different numbers based on years and all that but I stuck with it and as soon as we started getting answers I felt myself eager to pick up the book every chance I got.

You get to know June so intimately, it makes you really feel for what she’s going through as she tries to cobble together her family over time and both find and get what she wants most - a family of her own. I loved the different relationships; the ones with the men were important, sure but I found myself most interested in the relationships between the Farrow women (which is really the point of the story anyway). Although, I will say watching the relationship between Amos and his daughter was also so heartwarming I felt myself wanting to reach into the picture and cuddle up with them both.

I felt that this was such a unique take on time travel and each new piece of information we got felt fresh and new… once I was able to connect the dots. For me, it did remain a little tough to keep up with what was going on, which June was which and what family member was where in time but the more I read the more I began to feel familiar on this world and everything began to make sense.

I have to admit, at first I simply didn’t care about the underlining murder plot but, as I got to the last third of the book and we delved more into it I ended up feeling much more interested/invested.

Overall this was a really enjoyable read!

What a riveting read! It's one where you aren't able to put the book down as the story is so captivating. There is a curse to the Farrow women, a mystery, family, love and time travel. Adrienne Young is so descriptive of the landscape in this rural North Carolina setting you feel like you are there. June Farrow is a young woman who is trying to find out what happened to her mother: is she alive or dead? June lives with her Grandmother who is very secretive about June's mother, Susannna. Additionally, June is having dreams and episodes she can't identify. Follow the story and you will be captivated as well. Highly recommended and would give this a 10 star if available.

I would read Adrienne Young's grocery lists.

Another banger from AY - while I prefer her fantasy novels, this one still hit home with me.