4.5 stars rated up
Junie had been in my NetGalley approvals for quite some time, but I am a moody reader and for some reason, I kept passing it up. Our book club selected it for our May pick. Unfortunately I had issues and didn’t read the book in time or go to the discussion but I’m really glad I read the book. Despite our book club having mixed feelings, I enjoyed this book.

Junie is 16 years old, living in the south before the civil war. She has been a slave since she was born. Her sister has recently passed away and Junie is struggling with becoming a woman, the loss of her sister and other family members and her own future. She is the personal maid to the estate’s daughter Violet. She believes her and Violet are truly friends. The master brings a young man and his family to the home to court his daughter. Junie and the coachman, Caleb, begin a friendship that transitions into more. In the meantime, things at the estate are heating up. Junie is being visited by the ghost of her sister, she brings up horrid things that have happened to her family at the estate. Junie is unsure of her future and longs to set her family free.

This book was based loosely on the authors ancestry. I could feel so many emotions in this book. This is a beautifully written debut book. The characters, specifically Junie, but even some of the other characters had depth, emotions and personality. I looooved Junie, she was headstrong, compassionate and kind. I gave off half a star because I wasn’t particularly fond of the ending. I wanted so much more!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an advance reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Ever since hearing the author speak last summer....I had been anxious to read this one. Will recommend to most of my readers because it is a powerful story. The book has it all, characters you won't forget, a storyline that will pull at your heartstrings, and even some magical realism. All of that combined makes it a book that transcends genres and appeals to many different readers!

Description
Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie.

When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junie’s life, she commits a desperate act—one that rouses Minnie’s spirit from the grave, tethered to this world unless Junie can free her. She enlists the aid of Caleb, the guests’ coachman, and their friendship soon becomes something more. Yet as long-held truths begin to crumble, she realizes Bellereine is harboring dark and horrifying secrets that can no longer be ignored.

With time ticking down, Junie begins to push against the harsh current that has controlled her entire life. As she grapples with an increasingly unfamiliar world in which she has little control, she is forced to ask herself: When we choose love and liberation, what must we leave behind?

Junie is a powerful and emotional story.
Junie is a teen girl who is enslaved on the Bellereine plantation in Alabama. She becomes friends with the masters daughter Violet.
Junie has a sister who passed away, Minnie, and she believes it was her fault. Junie talks to Minnies spirit throughout the novel.

There are a lot of elements to this powerful story. Definitely recommend if you like historical novels and even if you don’t (I typically don’t.)

Also the cover is absolutely beautiful!

Thank you to netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine's. Junie herself was definitely the highlight for me - she felt real and complex in a way that kept me invested throughout the story. I was also pleasantly surprised by how well the ghost elements were incorporated. Instead of feeling tacked on, the supernatural aspects genuinely enhanced the emotional journey and added this perfect layer of atmosphere that kept me turning pages.
The middle of the book did lose me a bit, though. There was just SO much happening all at once. New characters, additional plotlines, unexpected twists - individually interesting, but together it was a lot to keep track of. I found myself having to backtrack occasionally to figure out how everything connected, and the main narrative thread sometimes got buried under all the extra stuff going on.
By the end, though, Eckstine pulls it all together in a way that felt satisfying. The conclusion circled back to what I loved about Junie as a character and delivered the emotional payoff I was hoping for. While not perfect, this book definitely deserves four stars for its memorable protagonist and the skillful way it blends ghostly elements with genuine human drama. If you enjoy character-driven stories with a supernatural twist, Junie is definitely worth picking up!

Somehow this was an uplifting beautiful story of a young girl enslaved and serving a rich family in Alabama. Told through Junies voice, you see her grow up adjacent to her master’s young daughter Violet. Through reading and poetry they find beauty in their young lives. Junie is also grieving the loss of her sister and begins seeing her ghost in odd places, as though she is asking Junie to finish some mysterious quest. Deeply moving book about a young woman surviving of a life of slavery during a civil war and uproar with the ability to read, write, love, honor, and remember those she loved.

A soon to be classic, mark my words. This will never leave my mind.

A beautiful story of redemption, forbidden love, friendship, family, and freedom. Nothing connects with my old soul like historical fiction, and this one exceeded expectations.

Truthfully, my expectations were not very high at the beginning, and I almost wanted to DNF… but I’m so glad I didn’t. This has got to be one of the most painfully raw stories I have ever read.

My heartstrings were pulled at continuously. This is such a phenomenal story, a true masterpiece. There’s not nearly enough words to describe the love I have for this story. I will never stop recommending!

Highly recommend reading along with the audiobook—it’s fantastic and makes everything impossibly better!

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾!

Stunning, heartbreaking, and beautifully written.! This is a novel I won’t soon forget. I loved Junie and Violet’s relationship. While this time period is hard to read about, Junie is a heroine who shines through. I love her love of family, her ghostly sister Minnie, and the way everything comes together in the end. So satisfying!

While the plot has merit, I found the character development lacking, especially with Juni herself. I wanted more background, more emotional layering, and more insight into her family and inner world. Caleb, her love interest, was a bright spot—a strong, grounded character who served as a much-needed voice of reason. His warnings to Juni about misplaced trust in her “masters” felt especially resonant.

One major critique: Juni remains angry and bitter throughout the novel, and while that reaction is valid given her losses and trauma, her arc felt stagnant. There was little sense of redemption or healing, and that left me wanting more from her journey. By the end, she still seemed consumed by bitterness, which made the conclusion feel emotionally unresolved.

In the end, this was a decent read. I think it might have worked better as a young adult coming-of-age novel, given its themes and tone. Still, I appreciate what the author tried to do, especially in highlighting a lesser-seen dynamic within a very familiar historical context.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this novel. I hope to pick it up again in the future for a full review.

A fast read, but felt a little young. Makes me think that this would have worked better as a YA book.

Special thanks to the author & @ballantinebooks @randomhouse for my gifted copy‼️

This book was so good Junie is a compelling historical fiction novel that follows a 16 year old enslaved girl born on the Bellereine Plantation in Alabama. After the sudden death of her sister Minnie, Junie is burdened with grief and can’t shake the thought of her sister dying or feeling as though it were her fault. When Junie learns that she could be torn from her family one night she does the unthinkable raising Minnie’s spirit from the dead. Doing so would soon reveal dark secrets harboring Bellereine forcing Junie to take matters into her own hands.

Junie was such a strong character but so stubborn and rebellious at times. If she was told not to do something she had her mind made up to do it anyway. Miscommunication and withholding information was the cause of Junie’s strained relationship with Minnie. I loved Caleb’s character and the wisdom he tried dropping on Junie about her role in Violet’s life. Funny how Violet turned out to be exactly who I thought she was. Junie giving her a taste of her own medicine was priceless and unexpected. And Mrs. McQueen that woman was so slick and evil . . .

Overall, I enjoyed this book‼️ I especially loved how the author incorporated the magical realism elements, it was perfectly executed. It also didn’t take long for me to connect with the characters. The pacing was perfect and the writing was so layered and immersive. If this isn’t on your TBR I highly recommend you add it.

“I just think you deserve more than a pretty view, Delilah June. You deserve to take all the beauty of this world and hold it in your hands. You deserve to bite it like a peach and let the juice drip ’til your fingers get sticky.” -Erin Crosby Eckstine, Junie

This debut novel had a fierce grip on me like none other. Its haunting elements, forbidden romance, dramatic writing, and soul-stirring storyline held me fast to the end.

Junie has been enslaved since she was born in Alabama. Serving as a maid to her best childhood friend, Violet, Junie is often weighed down with grief over the recent death of her sister, Minnie. Often known for being too carefree, Junie nightly steals away to the woods to find solace. One night, she sees the ghost of her sister roaming. Minnie soon tasks Junie with a way to save her soul and their family. However, when guests arrive from New Orleans, Junie's task may prove more difficult than she realizes. She eventually ends up enlisting the help of the guests' footman, Caleb, to help her in exchange for reading lessons. As their deal progresses, Junie suddenly feels more for Caleb than she bargained for. Between not wanting to give her heart away, figuring out Minnie's puzzle of a plan, and possibly having to go wherever Violet goes, Junie is faced with a difficult choice. What must she sacrifice for freedom?

These characters haunted me for several days. I found Eckstine's ability to focus on the joy and everyday lives of Junie, Caleb, Minnie, and her family admirable. Of course, the elephant of slavery in the room was not ignored in the story. In the author's notes, Eckstine enlightens the reader by sharing her intention to steer clear from the brutality of slavery and focus on the depth of characters and great storytelling. She achieved her goal. The theme of Minnie's ghost playing a part in Junie's character arc was a beautiful storytelling choice. The mixture of forbidden romance and the looming puzzle of a quest for Junie brought depth, adventure, and urgency to the plot.

Thank you, Netgalley, Erin Crosby Eckstine, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this incredible eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a book that will elicit powerful emotions. It’s hard to put into words what this book was like. I didn’t love it or enjoy it. It was too gut wrenching for that. But the author portrayed this family so well and you really got to know all of them. And Junie had so much courage and fire! She was an amazing main character. The writing in this book was spectacular.

"Junie" is based on the author's great-great-great grandmother who escaped slavery. It is not a typical historical fiction. Junie has spunk. The reader can't help but become endeared to Junie.

The Alabama plantation owner's daughter, Violet McQueen, is very close to Junie. She even taught her how to read. A love of reading was a shared passion they had. When the plantation falls on tough times, matchmaking begins. The book shows the ups and downs of plantation living for both the owners and their slaves.

The book includes love, separation, friendship, courage, death, and violence. There's some mysticism with a "haunt" who guides Junie. The author does a great job developing each character and their relationships.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. It will not disappoint. I very much enjoyed this book and didn't want it to end.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Thanks to the publisher, Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, and the author, Erin Crosby Eckstine, for the privilege to read this advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A mesmerizing story full of heartbreak and hope. Junie is steeped in history, folklore and a lost sister leading Junie toward a new life. All Junie wants is more than the life as a slave. Tension builds as Junie sees the truths about her sisters death and her life on the plantation. What the reader experiences is pure immersion in the world Junie is living and the supernatural at play.

Eskstine masterfully crafts a tale thats emotionally charged with truths and a choice.

Love in the end is the path to freedom.

Thank you, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books

Thanks to Ballantine and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

Junie is a spellbinding novel of one woman and her path to living her humanity. Junie is enslaved, visited by the ghost of her sister, struggling to survive as her enslaver looks to be married. Through this courting, Junie meets Caleb, enslaved by her enslaver's beau, and the two come together to imagine life outside of Alabama. But this isn't really a love story and Junie keeps pushing forward.

The prose and pacing of this novel were fantastic, This felt different than other novels focused on enslaved people. It didn't shy away from the absolute horrors of slavery, and it did not forgive the enslavers, but it showed the complexities of the relationships, the power dynamics at play as Junie tries to be free. There were twists and turns, but at the heart of this story is just that: heart. Junie's heart.

I really loved this story and while it isn't warm and fuzzy, it is necessary and beautiful in its honesty.

I loved this book so much that I went out and bought the audiobook. I am now listening to it. It is a book that you will not want to put down once you start it. It has interesting relationships and a nice mystery.

JUNIE is, by far, one of my favorite slavery inspired stories I've read in a long time. And I really appreciated the author's note at the end about how she wanted to tell a story about slaves that wasn't just the trauma and devastation a reader would typically see; although there definitely is trauma baked into slave stories, this one gives a refreshing amount of hope and gives a deeply complex set of characters. The story is really slow at first, but then once you get to Junie seeing her dead sister, Minnie, I felt like a whole new story. The pacing picked up and each new reveal got better. I have mixed feelings about the ending; I am pleased it felt more open-ended (we don't know if Caleb, Mr. Taylor, or any of Junie's family made it) but I also really wanted the bow that tied it all up. It was the happiest unhappy ending I've ever read! Eckstine's writing was beautiful, immersive, very descriptive, and also poetic at times (unironically, given that Junie loves poetry). Thoroughly enjoyed it!!

DNF 29%

I picked up this book expecting it to be exactly my jam, between the ghostly elements and the historical fiction elements. Unfortunately this was a book I found difficult to stay invested in. I paused it, and it's been several months now and I've felt no compunction to pick it back up. I may give this another shot at another time, but for now this book just did not work for me.

I loved this book so much. A little historical fiction, a little magical realism, a little bit of a ghost story, a little bit romance. It had everything I love in a good story, with a likeable yet ballsy FMC and a time period I don’t read about much. The author did a great job of placing the reader into the setting, commentary on slavery and the lives of the enslaved, the politics of the household, running an ailing plantation for enslavers desperate for money, and the interpersonal relationships of the stark cultural differences in antebellum pre-civil war Alabama. The two storylines between Junie and her ensalvers, Junie and her family/sister, and Junie and Caleb, were all captivating. I enjoyed every moment of this. Thank you NetGalley for the arc!