Another beautiful and haunting mystery from Adrienne Young, full of complex family relationships and some unexplained, paranormal magic.

In A Sea of Unspoken Things, artist James Golden is brought back to the small town she left behind long ago when her twin brother Johnny turns up dead. Though she’s told that Johnny is the unfortunate victim of an accidental death by a stray hunting bullet in the woods, James knows there is more to his death than anyone is telling her. Ever since they were little, James has felt an unexplained connection to Johnny’s emotions, and she could feel the moment he died that there might be more to it. As James works to unravel the mystery of her brother’s death, she must confront past lovers, friends, and enemies who now see her as an outsider. James realizes that all answers come at a cost, and the more she learns, the more she has to come to terms with the fact that Johnny might have had the most secrets to keep — and that her brother may not be the person she always thought he was.

❤️ What I loved: This book had all of the great hallmarks of Adrienne Young’s work - beautiful and descriptive writing, a wonderful blend of magical realism, and an emotional story of a community and relationships. I was interested in the many threads of the plot, from the mystery to the romance, from beginning to end and I couldn’t wait to see how everything played out. The romance is more minor to the plot than in some of Young’s other work, but I liked the romantic storyline in this book and thought it added to the story without taking away from the overall focus on the mystery.
💔 What I didn’t love: While I still really enjoyed this book, it struggled a bit for me personally with the pacing and reveal of the mystery in the front half of the book.

Fans of Adrienne Young will find a lot to like about *A Sea of Unspoken Things,* and enthusiastically recommend this to those who enjoy magical realism, mystery, or romance. It’s safe to say I’m now a certified follower of Adrienne Young’s work, and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 (4-4.5)

Acknowledgments & Disclaimers
✨ Thank you to NetGalley, Adrienne Young, and Random House - Ballentine/Delacorte Press, for providing an ARC and the opportunity to share an honest review of this book.
✨ All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
✨ My reviews and ratings strive to evaluate books within their own age-demographic and genre.

Review: Because I knew this was the same author who wrote The Unmaking of June Farrow, I assumed there would be some magical realism weaved in, but I also made the assumption that this was a romance. While there was a romantic connection, the focus was on the mysterious connection between twins and the seemingly communication from the beyond when one dies. This story was more of a mystery with some mystical elements. I did really enjoy the characters and the estranged dynamics between some of them. The plot presented clues and questions at a good pace, and it kept me interested throughout. Adrienne Young has a smooth way with words to make her stories flow easily for her readers.
I thoroughly enjoyed unraveling this mystery along with James and would recommend this book to those who like mysteries with a little strangeness you can’t quite explain.

Summary: James and Johnny were twins. Her mom wanted boys and named her daughter James anyway. The twins had a spiritual connection all of their lives. They were deeply connected, even sensing the other’s emotions and experiencing their highs and lows over the years. When a hushed accident happens to someone close to them, their close knit group of friends becomes distant. Years later, James has been gone since the incident and never returned. Now, her twin has been found dead and she must go back and face her childhood town and ex boyfriend of a relationship that never got closure.. It was bad enough she physically reacted to his death at the moment, but going home has her reliving details of his life before the accident. The problem is, they’re not her memories… they’re HIS. What is he trying to tell her and was his death really an accident?

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dell Publishing for an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest review!

This book took “slow burn” to a whole new level. Nothing interesting happened until a good 70% in, and I actually have no idea why I finished it. So, so boring. I have read other reviews that said the writing was beautiful, but I thought it was painfully repetitive and redundant. Total Bummer!!

A Sea of Unspoken Things is a beautifully written mystery about the lengths someone will go to protect their family. Adrienne Young’s writing is incredibly atmospheric and captivating - she has a way of transporting you into the book that I can’t get enough of!

I loved the complex relationships and ties to nature and art throughout the novel. One of the twists didn’t work for me, but overall I really enjoyed the story for the atmospheric, small town mystery that it was!

Adrienne Young really is becoming one of my favorite authors. I really enjoyed this one- she's found a great formula. The atmospheric writing, the mystery, and the light romance all come together into a story I really liked. It didn't quite capture my attention in the way SFF and TUOJF did thought. It took me longer to read and I didn't care for the characters quite as much- they maybe didn't seem to have as much depth?

I'll continue to pick up her books because they really work for me! But this one was my least favorite of her 3 adult novels.

"We could fill the fucking ocean with the things we never said to each other."- great line!

A vividly atmospheric small town mystery with a great twist of an ending.

After reading The Unmaking of June Farrow last year I was very excited to receive an early copy of this book by her. It has a bit of a slow start, but this book provides a beautifully written setting with a tad of romance between the FMC and her brother’s best friend.

Adrienne Young does it again. This time, I could feel her personal connection to the storyline and characters much more than in her other novels. The twin connection that James and Johnny had was so visceral, tragic, and bewildering that I often found myself clutching my own chest while reading, trying to imagine what it would feel like to be so bonded to another human. What I love about this book, besides the many twists and turns, is the idea of unconditional love. Young definitely leaves us with the question of whether love should be unconditional at all, and whether there are limits to what we would do for the ones we love.

If you love creepy, haunted settings, mysteries that unravel slowly, and characters so real it's like they're in the room with you-- you should try this book.

4.5 stars, my onlyyyyyy “flaw” with this one was a rather rushed ending. loved everything else about it, how flawed the characters were, the loyalty the main character has for her brother, the romance with brothers best friend, and the traditional romance. unlike other books young has written, unexpected in the best way

Actual rating- 4.5*

I actually loved this book. Adrienne Young has become one of my favorite authors. While many have said they didn’t need the last chapter, I found it comforting to see James settling into her life with Micah and creating the family she never had but always wanted.

While I wouldn’t call this book magical- it did have notes of tethering of twins beyond the borders of life. I found the different stages of Johnny’s appearance through the book to be telling of how close James was to finding the truth. His communication from beyond (or wherever he was) was palpable and I felt Young was able to describe in a way that made you feel like you experienced it yourself.

The twist at the end was surprising and not, and while there were a couple of things *technically* unanswered, I do wish the loose end with Ben had been tied up.

I appreciated the growth of Rhett, the self awareness that maturity brought to others, and the way they were able to show Johnny, the always needing to be saved brother, growing to become a mentor and find his way.

This book had an err of mystery, a lot of love, and overall, left me feeling content, happy, and warm. Well done.

Mystery/thriller is not my usual genre. But I read The Unmaking of June Farrow by the same author and enjoyed her writing style, so I picked this one up. It definitely did not disappoint! Even though I did predict the ending around the 75% mark, I enjoyed the way Adrienne wrapped up the story and the details that were included. I felt like the pacing was on point, not too slow or fast, and the level of suspense was just right as well. I also appreciated that there was a slight romantic side plot.

Thank you @prhaudio and @randomhouse for this phenomenal alc and arc!!

“I had only one thought: that he was a storm in the clouds, just minutes away from breaking.”

If you’re looking for a book that is so hauntingly beautiful that you can’t put it down, then this one is for you! I am convinced that I will devour anything Adrienne writes.

✨A Sea of Unspoken things was mysterious, heartbreaking, shocking, and heartwarming. I did not expect it to make me so emotional, but I was sobbing by the end. The mix of suspense with a romance subplot was perfection. There are broken characters that made my heart ache. Watching them heal felt like the sun coming out during a gloomy winter day.

✨James and Johnny are two halves of a whole. They’re twins and ones that have a magical connection. They’re able to physically feel each other’s emotions and know when something isn’t right. They have an unbreakable bond and will do anything to protect each other. Sometimes that means crossing a line that they shouldn’t.

✨The audiobook is narrated by Christine Lakin, and that’s all I needed to know to request it. As always, she did an amazing job bringing this story to life. You could feel the eerie atmosphere from the way she told the scenes.

✨ The second chance romance is written as a subplot. It was the perfect mix of romance and mystery for me. Micah, James, and Johnny had a close-knit friend group growing up. At one point it became more than friendship for Micah and James. But a happy ending wasn’t something they ever found. Now that they were working together to unravel his secrets, some of those old feelings are starting to resurface.

“That was us, I thought. Snapping into place so easily and then struggling to just be still there. “

A Sea of Unspoken Things has:
💙 Small town
🔎 Murder mystery
🪵 Second chance romance
🦉 Eerie atmosphere
✨ Secrets
☕️ Magic realism
🩶 Grief and healing

Adrienne Young once again wrote and atmospheric, lush, haunting story that had me wanting more with each turn on the page.

I love the author’s use of imagery and nature (I’ve also read Spells for Forgetting) but I had a hard time getting into this. Finally, at the halfway point I was engaged and ready to find out how the mysteries of Six Rivers (the northern Californian hometown that the main character finally returns to after 20 years) would unfold.

This story follows James on her journey to discover what happened to her brother Johnny. She returns to their hometown for the first time after 20 years and is faced with some secrets from the past. Through her life she’s always felt a special bond with her brother and feels like he is trying to communicate with her in a way even though he’s done, I really enjoyed this magical realism aspect!! Micha and James reconnecting was also sweet to witness! This had all the aspects of Adrienne’s writing that I love - mystery, moody, magical, with a hint of romance.

There are lots of twists and turns - I kept thinking I had it figured out but at no point did I guess anything correctly. This is definitely a good read if you want a quick read that will keep you guessing!!

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳”

4.5 rating!

This one had a dark, atmospheric vibe in a good way. I loved “The Unmaking of June Farrow” so I couldn’t wait to read this one. It told the story of twins with an almost supernatural connection. James (a female) feels like she is being guided by her twin brother, Johnny to solve the mystery of his death. She doesn’t believe that it was an accident. With a lot of mystery, a little romance and a twist, this is an enjoyable ride. I am giving it 4 stars because I think I hyped it up too much in my mind. It just didn’t feel as satisfying as I wanted it to!

Having come to Adrienne Young's work through her more fantasy books, I was surprised to see a novel in the mystery genre. Don't be fooled by the fantasy tag on Goodreads; this book is solidly realistic with a touch of magical-realism, and even then it's arguable.

As always, I found Young's prose to be enjoyable and found a few lines for my commonplace book. I liked how the mystery was resolved by the end, with a conclusion that tricked this reader! I also appreciated how much time went into developing the small town into a character itself. It was easy to envision the setting, which made the other aspects of the book that didn't work for me a little less impactful.

But I couldn't help but feel more work was done to characterize the town and James's brother, Johnny, than for the main character, James herself. I never felt like I actually understood who she was beyond what she did for her brother and to escape her brother. I also felt this way with Micah's character development, which made the romantic subplot fall a little flat for me, but it was still super adorable to read. Because I never felt like James stood out as her own character separate from her well-developed brother, it was difficult for me to get into this book. When the murder investigation picks up though, reading the rest was a breeze.

If you like small town mysteries with a touch of romance, pick this one up!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House for giving me this opportunity to review this book!


I've read a handful of Adrienne Young's other books, so I was pretty excited to see a new one coming out!


This book was different than I was expecting. It wasn't as much fantasy/ magical realism as I was expecting after reading The World of Narrows duet and the unmaking of June farrow. It was slower paced and more mystery. I do wish the James herself had a little more depth, she just felt kind of flat.


Nonetheless it was well written and enjoyable once you got through the first half. Solid read 3.5 ⭐️

After reading The Unmaking of June Farrow in December, I was so excited to go back to Adrienne Young's work. A Sea of Unspoken Things had a similar air of mystery that June Farrow did, but with more intensity in the end. I will say I felt the first half of the book was a bit slow, and I had trouble going back to it day after day. There were enough little bits of what was the come laid out, however, that I knew I wanted to stick it out and find out what all had happened. I am glad I did, as it was an interesting story with so many layers. A great choice for someone who loves mystery and murder 🫣

Adrienne Young has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Something about the simple, yet lyrical, writing style she has makes it easy to get swept up in what's happening with the characters, and the small-town vibes that she emulates in her adult novels never fails to impress. Six Rivers felt like a place I've been to, a place I grew up in, and it made getting enveloped in James' story that much easier. I thought the mystery element of this was interesting, and I'm not mad about the second chance romance between James and Micah. <3 I thought the pacing worked well - allowing for James to get used to the town again after being gone for 20 years while simultaneously unraveling her brother's death - and I think the way it came to an end was cute (albeit a little predictable and cliche).

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: ✍️Surreal Fiction
Recommend:✅

I could absolutely not put down “A Sea of Unspoken Things”. I was hooked from the first page and what started out as a straight novel about a woman’s grief over losing her twin quickly turned into a mystery that I couldn’t wait to get to the bottom of. And, the mystery unraveled in a way that would rival the best mystery writers. Adrienne Young can do it all.

James has to return to her isolated mountain town she fled after high school when her twin brother, Johnny, is killed in a hunting accident. When she arrives she begins to feel her brother around her, like she did when they were young. While trying to wrap up all of his loose ends, she begins to doubt his death was an accident as Johnny continues to come to her from the *beyond*.

This is simply about a beautifully written novel and a legit mystery, something you don’t always see. I loved it.

You’ll love this book if you love:
✅Isolated Locales
✅Mysteries
✅Woo Woo Shit