"The Unmaking of June Farrow" is an enchanting blend of mystery, family legacy, and self-discovery that kept me hooked from the first page. As a working mom, I deeply connected with June's struggles to reconcile her past while making tough choices for her future. Adrienne Young’s vivid storytelling and heartfelt characters made it easy to get lost in the lush setting and intricate plot. This book is a reminder of the strength and resilience it takes to unravel life’s mysteries, and it left me feeling inspired and uplifted.

Adrienne Young is such an interesting, moody, atmospheric writer. This is so far my favorite of her books. I notoriously hate anything with time travel or enough magic that plots don’t line up neatly and I’m writing this as a compliment: the plot had too many holes or eyebrow-raisers for my taste and I didn’t even care. It was just that good that I could look past my small grievances as enjoy the incredible ride she took me on.

3.75 stars

I love Adrienne's writing. Her writing is so atmospheric! She has a way of breathing life into her prose that makes them feel so real. This story is grounded in a sense of place.

I loved the time travel/time slipping element to the story. It's right up my alley and I thought it was pretty well done. I didn't find it hard to keep track of timelines and the rules, but I do wish we learned about it faster.

My biggest issue is the pacing. I found it slow -- and repetitive at times. The secrecy and pacing made it hard to connect with the characters. It felt like I was watching the romance play out with June, without really engaging with their emotions.

It's unique and I enjoyed it. I think a lot of others will like it, too, but it might not be for everyone. I'd happily recommend it!

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Break my heart, why don’t you?!

What an utterly magical book. The writing, the emotions, the setting, the characters, the heart- are all just gorgeous!! I felt like I was in this story and watching it all unfold from my porch. All of my senses Just wow. Magic is real, and it’s in these pages.

I really enjoyed the mystery and intrigue found both within the characters and the plot. I couldn’t put this one down. I really enjoyed the depth the alternate timelines added to the overall story. And the settings felt so alive!

So I'm torn on this one. The concept was amazing and the characters were great. The book kept my attention and I enjoyed it to the end, but there was something about it that wasn't for me. Maybe the pacing? Not sure, but at times I found myself wanting to read ahead just to maybe be able to skip over parts because i didn't want to DNF it, but some parts were... meh. Overall, I would recommend this one. Thanks for the ARC opportunity!

I actually read this book a few months ago and it still lives in my head rent free. I personally think that is Adrienne Young's best piece of literature to date. In this book we follow June who lives in a small town in North Carolina. This mysterious curse has plagued the Young family for decades and it has finally taken June's grandmother. After the funeral, she finds a bunch of cryptic clues that deal with her mothers disappearance. June finds out that not everything is as it seems and it's up to her to figure out this curse and break it forever.

This was such a raw emotional book. The character development was amazing. I felt as though I was living on the farm with these characters and I wanted to know what was going to happen next. This book is complex, twisty, unique, and one that I would recommend to anyone. I can not wait to see what she writes next.

4.5 stars .

I CANNOT EXPLAIN HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS BOOK. Adrienne Young has done it AGAIN. I loved the mystery/magical realism combination so much and the atmospheric vibes of the story were PERFECT for the season.

Trust Me! Don’t read a synopsis on what this book is about and just read it. Allow it to unfold and immerse you in the words. It is beautifully written and mysterious. I was so intrigued after a few chapters that I could not put it down until I was finished. You can’t help but say this was a great book in the end!

In *The Farrow Curse*, we follow June Farrow, part of a lineage of women haunted by a mysterious curse that alters their past and future. As the story unfolds, we learn about the enigmatic red door that symbolizes their shared fate. June's determination to end the curse for her family drives the narrative, making her the last Farrow.

The book masterfully blends magical realism, mystery, women's fiction, and a touch of romance, creating an engaging and emotional experience. The compelling plot, with its twists and turns, keeps you invested, especially as you navigated the complex timelines. While the romance felt more told than shown and some plot points could’ve been explored further, the overall journey of self-discovery and life-altering choices was beautifully executed.

I recommend keeping notes for the timelines and rereading the beginning for added enjoyment after finishing the book. I really hope there's a movie adaptation, the story has such a cinematic quality to it. Overall, it’s a mesmerizing tale that resonates deeply, the lingering questions I was left with not withstanding.

I really like Adrienne Young’s work and her writing: she’s SO good at creating atmosphere, and I’ve liked her characters and plots in her other books. Unfortunately, this one didn’t totally work for me. The writing is excellent, the premise/concept is great, and it's very compelling (I read the majority of this in one sitting). But the plot went in a direction that I didn’t really like, which hampered my enjoyment of this in the end.

This author continues to knock it out of the park. She is a master at world building and is a fabulous atmosphere creator.

I’ve realized that this is an author whose books work well for so many people and yet I struggled with finishing this book at the moment, will set this down and might come back to it in the future

Adrienne Young is always a must buy author for me. I always preorder her books signed. So it was nice to be able to read it before it actually came in. It was the best magic realism book in a long time. Definitely worth the five stars. It makes me think of Practical Magic with the breaking of a generational curse. And I loved the setting of this book, having been near there myself. The first ten chapters were a bit slow, but the rest of the book made up for that! All in all, I would highly recommend this book.

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young. Pub Date; October 17, 2023. Rating: 4 stars. Adrienne Young knows how to create an atmospheric novel that transcends time and brings mystery, intrigue and hope to the story. In this novel, she takes a family of women who have an uncanny ability to time travel and creates a murder mystery around them. I loved the powerfulness of the women, the setting within acres of flowers and the hope this book created by the end. This novel was a journey and one I was glad to take. I highly recommend this novel! Thanks to #netgalley and #randomhousepublishinggroup for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a beautifully written story from start to finish, one of my favorite written by Adrienne Young. If you are into magical realism, time travel, and a little bit mystery, I would highly recommend picking this book up.
5 stars

Had I realized this was a time travel story, I would have been perhaps a little more hesitant to read it, but I dove into this book hot on the heels of Spells for Forgetting and was firmly ensnared in Young's web before I cottoned on to what I was in for. I typically dislike and avoid time travel tales, as the mechanics behind it hurt my brain, and this one was no exception. With all of the rules surrounding crossing, characters existing in multiple times, and the back-and-forth June does, it was difficult to wrap my head around. Unfortunately, I'm not usually one of those readers who can just suspend their disbelief and roll with it, I must understand and thus I spent way too long wracking my mind trying to make sense of it all.

Still, I enjoyed the story. Young's writing is evocative and both easy to read while also being immersive. The book is, more or less, a love story in the vein of Outlander with the protagonist being forced to choose between two times and two romances. It was a bit heavy on the romance for my taste, but I did appreciate the slow burn between June and Eamon.

Young does commit my greatest literary sin, which is poor communication and withholding information for the sake of drama and conflict; it's lazy writing and it drives me crazy. June appears dreadfully passive as she well knows that people are keeping things from her, they are things that she should know, and yet she just goes along with being kept in the dark just so the dramatic reveal can be drawn out a bit longer. I prefer heroines who are a bit more active in their own storylines, and the use of this ploy was a disappointment to me.

There's also quite a bit of focus on motherhood, which isn't really for me. Just a personal preference, but I don't vibe with parenthood and don't care to read too much about it.

All that being said, this is a creative, well-written, and twisty tale, and I did enjoy reading it. I'm 2/2 on Adrienne Young's works and I'll be looking up her future output.

Excellent! Such a fun and unique storyline with a fantastic ending and characters. We read for book club and it was fun to discuss.

Adrienne Young’s The Unmaking of June Farrow is a captivating blend of mystery, romance, and time travel, set in the atmospheric Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. The story follows June Farrow, a flower farmer grappling with a long-standing family curse that has plagued the women of her family for generations. The plot delves into time-bending twists as June uncovers dark secrets tied to her family's past, particularly her mother's disappearance and the murder of a local minister.

What sets the novel apart is its intricate portrayal of time travel, where June navigates both her present life and the mystery of her past—especially when she discovers a mysterious red door that transports her to 1951. Here, she encounters Eamon, a man who claims to be her husband, reigniting a romance that June struggles to reconcile with her fragmented memories. Despite the complexity of the time-travel mechanics, the emotional core of the novel—June’s search for belonging and resolution—remains compelling.

Young’s writing excels in evoking the haunting small-town atmosphere and building suspense around the Farrow family curse. While some readers may find the time-travel aspects confusing, the novel’s lush prose and emotional depth make it a rewarding read for fans of magical realism and romantic suspense.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this title.

Thank you Delacorte Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review The Unmaking of June Farrow! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm going to need a few business days to recover after finishing Adrienne Young's newest release. If you adore Outlander, The Time Traveler's Wife, and the atmospheric vibes of Rebecca Ross books, you will fall in love with The Unmaking of June Farrow.

June Farrow is part of a long line of women who experience episodes of what people think are delusions and madness. For a year, June has been seeing dreams of a red door, blood under her fingernails, feeling the touch of an invisible lover, and it leaves her with dread as she begins to realize she is experiencing the family curse. For many years she has been wondering about the mother who left her at a young age. When June finds a photo of a woman who looks like her mom with the murdered town minister, she is shocked to see it dated in the past: 1912. The red door appears again for June and she decides to take the plunge and finally step through it...

I was so thrilled to receive an early copy of this book, especially after reading Spells for Forgetting. I apologize for not reading and reviewing this one sooner. Of course, I am absolutely kicking my own butt for not diving right in when I received it.

Adrienne Young is a fantastic story-teller. I love how she weaves words into such an enchanting and captivating way. The Unmaking of June Farrow is a brilliantly told story of time-travel, mystery, romance, and family. The characters are layered, and so well-developed. The pacing can be slow at times but the build-up to all of the reveals is completely worth it. I'm so happy Young created an ending that tied up all loose ends leaving no questions unanswered.

5 stars