“We were standing only inches apart, but I could feel the canyon that stretched between us. We’d ripped open the seams of a years-old wound, and it didn’t matter how much time had passed, it would never heal. I was beginning to understand that now.”

James visits the small town that she grew up in to unravel the truth of her twin brother’s mysterious death as well as confront her haunting past that she has tried so hard to escape from.

I read The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young a few months ago and really enjoyed my time reading it, so I was eager to grab a copy of her new book release. Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me. I felt extremely disconnected from all of the characters, the story felt slow and repetitive and rushed at the same time. It just didn’t flow well. I didn’t predict the ending, however it felt as if the author tried to come up with the most random twist to catch us off guard in order to create a “surprising” ending when really it left me with more questions. I was looking forward to the magic realism in the story, but it was maybe 1% magic realism, 99% mystery.

A Sea of Unspoken Things was a super interesting read. I loved the character study and the writing felt propulsive. I'd read more from the author.

i love adrienne young’s slightly mystical writing. always an enjoyable time, a slight mystery, and romance to top it off

Thank you to Random House Publishing, Netgalley, and Adrienne Young for granting me this ARC!

If you absolutely loved the touch of supernatural and unexplained phenomenon in The Unmaking of June Farrow, you’ll find it here! Also, if you love small town mysteries with a smattering of romance, this is your book!

Why only 3 stars? It honestly took me forever to get into this and hooked, but once I did I wanted to figure out what to Johnny!

I tried to give this author a try again, but I don't think their writing style is for me.

My biggest peeves:

- Too wordy, making the pacing slow for me. I don't get gripped in enough,

- I didnt enjoy the characters too much.

- I was invested in the magical realism as promised, fell flat to me.



thank you to net galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review *

An atmospheric murder-mystery with a hint of the paranormal. This story follows James and she (yes, she) returns to her small, Northern California hometown to investigate the death of her twin brother. Its a slow-paced, character driven story. I did not mind the slow pace, as this wasn't meant to be an action-driven story. And despite the slow pace, I felt sucked into the story while reading. This falls a bit flat from a 5 star read for me, something just felt lacking. Maybe it was because I didn't think the romance element added anything to this story and we didn't really see enough of it for me to "buy" it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing a digital ARC of this book!

The writing of this book is amazing and instantly pulls you in from the start. I felt it did drag a little in the middle and took a while for anything big to happen. I did like how the author captured the dynamics between the different characters.

I hate I didn’t love this one more. I just recently read The Unmaking of June Farrow by this author and loved it. This was just okay, very slow, and I was just waiting for it to pick up more than it did. So besides that, nothing was horrible about it, it has great atmospheric vibes, the writing is great.
Spells for Forgetting by this author, was more the speed of this book. More of a mystery with very very light fantastical/magical realism moments.

I am so obsessed with Adrienne young and her books. This Is my third book by her and of course it was great. The way Young writes atmosphere and setting are unlike any other. I loved the twin bond element of this book and what made it even more special is that Adrienne young is a twin herself, so it make the bond between James and her twin, Johnny feel even more real. This one was little slower than her others I’ve read, but I still really enjoyed it and the mystery as well.

In this captivating atmospheric novel, a woman investigates her twin brother's mysterious death while confronting the ghosts of her own haunted past.

The book setting and writing style is very intriguing; guiding the reader along a tension-filled story line exploring grief, sibling bonds, and confronting your past. As much as the story was gripping and engaging, it never really delivered the big bombshell I felt was just around the corner. There were some twists and turns, but many seemed obvious.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Delacorte Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have enjoyed some of her previous work a lot better. I don't think this lived up to what the author has written before. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't great.

I loved Young's latest—all the lush, atmospheric setting details and complex family and friend backstories that I've come to expect! I loved the layer of sibling dynamics brought into this, as well as the past romantic relationship and mysterious intrigue.

Adrienne Young will forever be one of my favorite writers. She does an incredible job crafting beautiful and atmospheric novels. 𝗔 𝗦𝗲𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 combines small town mystery and magical realism, resulting in a stunning story of nature, family, grief, and love. As a mom of twins, I felt particularly connected to James’ story and her desire to solve the mystery of her twin brother’s death. She relied on her instincts and her strong connection with her brother to find out what really happened to him, and that strong twin bond reminded me of my own children.

Adrienne Young also does a great job creating love interests that always make me swoon, and Micah was no exception. Micah was the love her life, left behind when James decided to start a new life outside of her small town. I enjoyed watching their second chance unfurl once she came back to town.

I highly recommend this to readers who love magical realism and small town mystery! Thank you NetGalley and Delacorte Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have loved many of her books and this is probably my least favourite. The character’s felt more shallow than usual. The romance felt forced. They had zero communication (no text, no email, no phone call, no in person) for 20 years and changed from teenagers to adults in their 30s, but after a couple weeks of minimal contact they were suddenly in love again. I did like the murder mystery and the resolution of it. It had the same melancholy as the other books. If I was rating it on melancholy alone, it would be 4 stars.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title. All thoughts and opinions are my own and were in no way influenced by receiving this copy.

I typically am a big fan of Adrienne Young's work, both adult and YA, Fable and The Unmaking of June Farrow are some of my all time favorite reads. However this book was just, not it.

I was disappointed in the plot. The magical realism in this story fell flat. It read more like hyperbole twin-tuition than anything spooky or mystical.

I also hated our bad guy(s) of the story. I'm pretty sure that for most of the story we all thought it was one of the same two people who killed Johnny, if it ended up being foul play (I'm trying to be vague for spoilers sake here). But what it actually boiled down to was an adult having beef with an actual child DESPITE being said child's friend and mentor?? That's (excuse my language) fucking weird.

***Spoilers ahead because I don't want to keep being vague***

It's disappointing that what was supposed to be a murder mystery about Johnny ended up being a murder mystery about Autumn. Like yeah I know in books often a subplot will tie itself into the main plot that ends up being a way bigger deal than our main character thought it would be initially. But this one was just annoying. Like they decided that Autumn was dead and stopped looking for her body that very realistically could've still been out there beings they know the exact spot that she fell and it had only been 6ish months? I know wildlife would've done something to the body + decay but like. Come on that's someone's family out there, she was just a kid.

And they do this whole shindig for Autumn and James and Micah, the two most believing that Johnny died in foul play, were just damn I guess it was an accident huh? That sucks for old buddy old pal, RIP King, and spread his ashes. And only THEN do they LOOK AT THE WALL of pictures and then ASK A FEW QUESTIONS, like why does no one ask questions in this town?? Especially with as easily as people freaking answer them.

What did the owls have to do with this freaking story. I thought the owl with the messed up foot would be a bigger deal, like he had the answer to Johnny's death?? But then they just, forgot about the owls for the back 2/3 of the book, other than when they needed to bring back in James' love interest that we completely forgot about for 9/10 of the book.

Also I don't care who this author is and that these are her characters. But after reading this book, James was not the character to leave S.F. and go live in her po-dunk little home town. She FOUGHT to get out to the point that she hasn't talked to her brother in YEARS and when he dies it still takes her MONTHS to get out there to clear up his estates.... sorry but that girl isn't one to live in that small down again.

I always enjoy Adrienne Young’s books and this was no exception. This wasn’t my favorite but it’s still a solid read. I think I was hoping for more magic and less hunting at magic or the supernatural. Also, I think the ending wrapped up too quickly. In the last 10%, we had all but given up hope of ever finding justice for Johnny and I thought that seemed odd. I wanted the reveal to be a bit flashier.

Overall, I’d recommend reading this one if you like Adrienne’s other adult books.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall, I liked book. I’m not a fan of murder mystery, which this very much felt like to me, but the ending was good enough. I’d probably give it 3.5 stars, but I rounded up because it’s not my fave genre, but it wasn’t a bad book either. There’s a touch of magic in her other books that I’ve read. I didn’t care for it in this book, as it didn’t seem to help the story along. I received this book as an ARC and I’m grateful for the opportunity to read it.

This story had me at the edge of my seat from the very beginning! I’m not usually one for suspense and mystery… mostly because I’m a scaredy cat about everything 😅 but I was hooked.

We follow James, our FMC, as she returns to her quiet rural hometown of Six Rivers. Her twin brother Johnny has passed, and the moment she feels it in her body (quite literally) before the call even comes in, you know this is going to be a heavy one. There’s a deep, almost unexplainable connection between them and is written in such a haunting way, it gave me goosebumps at times.

James doesn’t believe Johnny’s death was just some accident. And even though she left town twenty years ago to escape the past and the weight of old secrets, she finds herself going back in forced to face it all if she wants the truth.

This book had a GRIP on me almost immediately. The way the author starts the story sets that eerie, emotional tone right away, and I found myself flying through the pages needing to know what was coming. I had to literally force myself to put it down and take care of IRL responsibilities.

I really enjoyed this one. It’s my first time reading Adrienne Young, and after seeing so much love for her work, I truly get it now. Her storytelling pulls you deep and immerses you that makes you want to keep reading (no matter what you need to be doing instead!). I’ll most definitely be diving into more of her books.

Thank you to Adrienne Young, NetGalley, and Random House Publishing for the chance to read this story in exchange for an honest review.

Nice writing and descriptive leading to a very atmospheric read but I never connected to the characters. Not very suspenseful, I kept waiting on it to make a turn.