The prose was lyrical and beautiful but the plot itself was lacking. I was disappointed because I typically enjoy this writer. The pacing lagged and nothing happened for the first 40 percent of the book.

This was just too similar in theme to Good Dirt, which I read directly before it. I would definitely read another title by this author though.

I enjoyed reading this. James has returned some twenty years after to her hometown from her life in the city. Her twin brother Johnny has died in a tragic accident. Her twin has always been felt by her and even after his death, she can still feel him. Small town tragedy with no resolve. James is determined to put her brother’s spirit to rest by solving what happened to him, and at the same time realizing that she really didn’t truly know him.

A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the first time reading this author. I have heard her novels are great, but this was disappointing for me.

What I liked: The ending accelerated finally, and the story made more sense. It was a lagging start to a rapid crescendo. The element of mystery and secrets kept me vaguely interested.

What I didn't like: At the beginning, the plot was tedious and slow. The characters' development was lackluster. The story was not engaging, and I had difficulty resisting the urge to DNF.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, for the advanced reader's copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#Netgalley #ASeaOfUnspokenThings #MysteryandThrillers #SciFiandFantasy #WomensFiction

pleasantly surprised!! loved the mystery with a little bit of sixth sense/magical woven in. ending left me a little meh but it was very immersive and i enjoyed reading it.

the feelings of the loss and the family and love was just all very deep and had me feeling everything, which is why i liked it so much.

i had low hopes because June farrow was a flop for me - it was marketed as mystery with a little magic but it was like magic with a little mystery. this was way more mysterious while still including some magic!

many thanks to netgalley and random house for the arc!

James' twin brother Johnny is accidentally shot one day in the national park near their childhood home. James now needs to return to a place she ran away from twenty years earlier. Very quickly James learns that memories are long and not much changes in a small town. While James is there in order to go through all of Johnny's documents for the research project he was hired to take part of. Johnny was a photographer who was monitoring a few owls in the local park. When James starts to go through his documents and finds some odd photos causing her to want to find out what happened. As James digs deeper into how her brother died and his life over the last twenty years, she starts to learn things that make her feel guilty.

A Sea of Unspoken Things was an interesting concept but I felt failed on several levels. There was a repetitive nature to the story that had no narrative purpose. James would discover something and then blame herself somehow for it. Her guilt was so prevalent in the story but then when the reveal comes it feels like a little let down (at least for me). This is not a long book but it feels like it takes a very long time to come to a conclusion. After 225 pages of guilt and boring investigation you get a quick 40 pages of resolving two mysteries before an epilogue. I will say that I can see where people would enjoy this book much more than I did but it just was not a great book for me. This is a good solid book that just might not be for people who are used to more action and mystery story readers.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from Penguin Random House Group/ Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review.

James Golden returns to her small hometown when her twin brother (Johnny) suddenly passes away in a hunting accident. She had fled the town right after high school and this is the first time she has returned. She is there to collect work for a conservation project Johnny had been working on leading up to his death. As soon as she arrives, she is suspicious that his death may not have been an accident. She now has to face the townspeople along with the boy she loved and left behind to find the truth. In doing so, she may just find that the brother she loved so dearly might not have been the person she thought he was.

I love the supernatural elements that Young’s adult novels have included. In this novel, James and Johnny share a bond that transcends the grave. I found their dynamic to be very interesting whether in flash-backs or current-day. It was not what I was expecting. This book had so many twists and turns that I felt suspicious of everyone, including Johnny. Once I finally got the chance to sit and read it, I could not put it down (which is why I’m writing this review at 1:30 am)!

Adrienne Young is an automatic-read author for me and this book just solidifies that ever further. I followed Young’s writing process for this book on her IG sub, so I already felt invested in this story. Needless to say, I was so excited to receive an ARC.

I started this but wasn’t able to fully get into it, hoping to come back to it at a later date and try again!!

The book was entertaining, but there wasn't anything that grabbed me. Also, the connection to the dead brother seemed a bit too fortuitous at times. It made everything a bit too easy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by this author, and while there were elements I enjoyed, it didn’t fully land for me. The setting of Six Rivers was atmospheric and alive. I could easily picture the forest and the weight of its secrets.

The bond between the twins, James and Johnny, was interesting, but I found myself wanting a bit more development in their relationship.

I appreciated the mix of magical realism and mystery, and some twists caught me by surprise. However, the pacing felt slow at times, and I struggled to stay engaged.

I’m still open to reading more from this author in the future, and I’m curious to see how their other works compare.

Such a dark, sad story about sibling love, growing up in a small town and being true to yourself. Great mystery, I didn't see the end coming till I was almost done with the book.

After her twin brother Johnny’s tragic death, James Golden is haunted by the unshakable bond they shared—a connection so deep she felt his death before the news came. Traveling to the small town of Hawthorne, California, to settle Johnny’s affairs, James is forced to confront a shared, shadowed past and the man she once loved. As she uncovers Johnny’s hidden secrets, James must untangle the truth about his life and decide which revelations are worth bringing to light—and which should remain buried.

Adrienne Young has this uncanny ability to fuse quiet suspense with gut-punch emotion, and A Sea of Unspoken Things is no exception. It’s the kind of slow-burning mystery that doesn’t scream for your attention—it lures you in, bit by bit, until you’re completely tangled in the undercurrent of secrets and silences.

At its heart, the story is a grounded, emotionally layered mystery, but what really pulled me in were the whispers of the otherworldly—psychic echoes between twins, a sense of presence that lingers beyond the grave. These glimmers of magical realism are subtle but mesmerizing, and honestly, I wouldn’t have minded if Young leaned even further into that eerie territory.

The setting was perfection. Think thick woods, a small-town hush that feels almost too still, and a sense of isolation that seeps off the page. There’s something beautifully unsettling about it all. Every detail seems to mirror the emotional storm the characters are weathering.

And speaking of characters—wow. These aren’t your typical mystery tropes. They’re messy, tender, and achingly real. The relationships are full of tension, history, and unspoken pain, and Young handles it all with such nuance that it lingers with you long after you close the book.

If you like your mysteries slow and moody, with just a hint of the supernatural and characters who feel like they’ve lived a whole life before the first chapter even begins—this one’s for you.

Thank you Delacorte Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

How can a story be both a comforting read and still slowly unveil the characters' backstories? The answer lies in Adrienne Young’s masterful writing. She expertly withholds information, but in a way that never feels frustrating. Instead, it creates a sense of anticipation—you know the full story will unfold, you just have to take the journey with the characters.

In *A Sea of Unspoken Things*, James returns to her rural California hometown after the death of her twin brother, Johnny. Having left for college following a tragic event, James is now forced to face painful memories while unraveling the mystery surrounding Johnny’s death. The cast of characters is large, and at first, it’s unclear what the central storyline is, but Young’s writing is so captivating that you are effortlessly carried along as the layers of the story unfold.

It's this delicate balance of withholding and revealing that keeps you hooked, making the reading experience immersive and rewarding.

Such an amazing book! Beautifully written! Adrienne young books suck me in every time ! 💯 recommend all of her books!!

This was a phenomenal read. Murder mystery in an atmospheric small town and wild woods. Every time I thought I'd connected pieces together to finish the picture, another would appear. As always with Young, her settings act like a character all of their own and this one was no different. What was odd about this one was the word choices, the font, the story (I don't know--all of it?) made you feel slowed down reading it. As if the world stopped time and you could take a moment to appreciate each individual word on the page.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Delacorte Press for the ARC of A Sea of Unspoken Things!

James, an artist living in the big city, returns to her small town after the tragic death of her twin brother Johnny. Despite Johnny and James being all that is left of their family, James has not been back home since high school, running away rather than facing the tragedy that happened there. But Johnny's death forces her to return and once she is there and trying to figure out what happened to Johnny she uncovers more mysteries than she solves, some of which may implicate her own brother. Despite being twins and having their special twin connection, James is beginning to learn she didn't know her brother at all.

While not my favorite by Adrienne Young, this was another excellent novel by her. I was captivated by this small town mystery and while I wish there was more magical realism, the story had some great twists and turns that I did not see coming. All of the characters' flaws are on clear display and the story is so deeply human and full of grief on so many different levels. It is a deeply human novel.

I did end up listening to the audiobook of this one and the narration was excellent.

I have to protect my peace on this one. As an identical twin myself, I’ve spent decades now being asked if I had a sixth sense, could feel my twins pain, sense them….etc. Originally, from the synopsis, I hadn’t realized there was a heavy magical realism vibe with the twin relationship. Due to this, the slow pacing and sibling death, I chose to DNF this at about 40%.

There is a great deal that is special about being a twin but I can’t handle reading a book about the death of that sibling, let alone a layer of mysticism about it.

What I will say and why the 3-star despite DNFing is the authors writing is incredibly lyrical and soothing. I would definitely try something else from her but for right now this hits too close to home.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a slow burn for sure, but once the fire blazes it is a wild blaze. I stuck this one out because I actually really enjoy the writing style of Adrienne Young, I enjoyed it in The Unmaking of June Farrow. I find a lot of the narration to be similar to internal monologues and stream of consciousness. I did however find serious issue with the fact that they said "The California Academy of Sciences" EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. No abbreviations no just saying, "the project," it was always the full phrase which no one would reasonably say in conversation. NO ONE.

For that very specific reason this book cannot be rated four stars. The editor dropped the ball on that. It's unnatural.

Young's novels always turn into a binge read for me, and this one was no different. I finished it in less than two days.

As a supernatural/paranormal fan, I was completely there for James's twin connection with her brother that continued even after his death. Johnny died from a gunshot wound and, despite being miles away, James felt the pain the second it happened. She shared the vision of the last thing he saw - his view of the trees above as he lay in the forest. While staying in his cabin and moving about the town, she continues to feel his presence, and it's overwhelming at times. As she delves deeper into his life and wraps up loose ends, James begins to wonder if she ever knew her twin at all. But things aren't adding up, and she doesn't believe her brother was accidentally killed by stray gunfire from a hunter as local law enforcement states.

I had part of this mystery figured out, but another aspect came as a complete surprise. I love it when that happens. Besides the question of what happened to Johnny, there's also a missing girl he mentored in photography and an incident that occurred when Johnny and James were in high school that resulted in the death of a student. Friend/secret high school boyfriend Micah aids James in her search for the truth. It doesn't come as a surprise that they rekindle their relationship. I wasn't feeling the chemistry between them, but it's also not a primary focus of the story.

If you're not reading this author, you should immediately add her to your list. She's written both adult and young adult titles. For readers who enjoy prose-like writing, immersive small town mysteries, and a dash of the supernatural.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love Adrienne Young's writing but this particular story did not grip my interest as much as in previous books (The Unmaking of June Farrow was insanely good!) This book is definitely different, without any magical aspects. I also found the whole thing sort of somber and sad, which was not the vibe I was expecting. The book is very slow in the beginning and I never found it picking up as much as I had hoped. I did like this one but didn't love it.