First and foremost I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC! Thank you!

I loved this novel that was set in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A mystery or a curse? That’s what June is trying to find out when it comes to the stories of women in her life.

When her grandmother dies, she’s left with family secrets and the threads of time seem to unwind and transport her back into the 1950’s where the murder of the minister has the small town of Jasper up in arms.

June is the main suspect of the murder but has no memory of how and why she would do such a thing, for all she knows; her body has also been stuck in 2023.

I loved the concept of this novel. The time traveling and mystery made me not want to put this novel down

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
This is the first title I have read by Adrienne Young, and it will not be the last. The Unmaking of June Farrow is a beautiful story that slowly unravels backwards to bring you full circle. The answer to the mystery was easily solved, but the way this story is weaved together makes for an amazing journey that you will want to make along with June.

I just enjoy Adrienne Young's style of writing and creative imagination. Her books are always so interesting with a touch of a magic swirling through each story. The Unmaking of June Farrow was fascinating and enjoyable from start to finish.

This story is about June, a woman who is from a family of cursed women. Throughout her family history, each woman knows that a time will come when they will lose their mind-- seeing and hearing things that aren't really there, getting confused and feeling lost in the world they live in. When these things start happening to June, she sets out on a quest to find answers and embarks on a journey that will change not just her present but her past and her future as well.

I always love a story that plays around with the concept of time, and that is a huge plot point in this story. It can make your brain hurt to try to figure out the timeline, but I also just found it to be so interesting. As with all time travel type of stories, it does require you to suspend your disbelief because if you really try to make sense of all the time jumps, it just doesn't work. In this book, some of the rules of how the "time travel" works seem contrived to fit the purpose of the plot. But whatever, I was more than happy to just go along for the ride with this one!

I have seen several people recommend this as a good fall read, and it does have a cozy, mysterious, magical vibe while not being scary or creepy at all. A good book to curl up with on a chilly day with a hot drink and a blanket! I would also recommend Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young-- a book with a totally different plot but a similar vibe.

Part magical realism, part mystery, part second chance romance, part Outlander knockoff…
The Unmaking of June Farrow is a beautifully written one day read that delivered a lot, but not all. While it had momentum and lovely language, there were parts that dragged, characters that were frustrating, and questions that linger. (Seriously, the poor two male protagonists!) I liked it, but didn’t love it. There are a lot of small details to keep track of, and the tension outweighed the warm fuzzies.
3.5 rounded up.

This book made me so happy in my bookworm pants! It gave me yummy cottagecore vibes, magical realism, speculative fiction, swoony romance, a creepy mystery, the coziest of vibes, and all of the feels. I haven’t felt so spoiled by a book in a long while. I may have taken a few breaks during the day because I kept getting pulled away by other stuff, but I still devoured this book in less than five hours. I just couldn’t read it fast enough. I was truly and utterly transfixed.

The blurb doesn’t uncover enough of the plot for me to go over a lot of stuff because SPOILERS. That puts me in a bind because the one tiny bone I have to pick with this book would be under said spoiler banner. But that’s okay. We’ll go somewhere else.

Cottagecore: I usually prefer dark cottagecore because regular cottagecore can get old or overdone quickly, but Young really nailed the vibe and didn’t let it get out of control in this book. June’s family owns a large (some would say it’s almost magical) flower farm, so we’ve got all of those lovely flowers, coveralls, and soil-covered clothes. They live next to the Adeline River so there’s plenty of riparian river valley habitat: trees, bushes, fruits, vegetables, and tall grasses. It’s all very Appalachia, very verdant, and very cozy.

Magical Realism: Are the Farrow women witches or are they just extremely good with plants and pass this ability down the line by passing on the knowledge? Could be both. Could be either. People are literally drawn to have their weddings in the small town of Jasper specifically so they can use the Farrow Flower Farm flowers as fresh as possible. They grow flowers prettier and larger than the best flower markets in New York. This is tied to those cozy cottagecore vibes and lead into my next point…

Speculative Fiction: Okay, so I confess, magical realism and speculative fiction are my top two genres. Pairing them together is like hitting my literary g-spot. The curse that affects the Farrow women (spoilers) is fascinating, and I’ve come to think it must be the cost for their spectacular green thumbs. Everything comes with a price. Telling you more than that is ruining the fun.

I can’t tell you about the swoony romance because it involves spoilers. I can’t tell you about the creepy mystery (which gives me the yucks), but I can tell you I cried several times while reading this book. Not great, big, sobbing tears; but the gentle tears. The kind of tears that track down your face one at a time that you can wipe away before they reach your pillow. The tears of someone who was emotionally moved but not broken-hearted.

It’s a magical read and I can’t recommend it enough.

I was provided a copy of this book by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Magical Realism/Romantasy/Mystery/Speculative Fiction/Suspense Mystery/Women’s Fiction

4.5 rounding up to 5 stars!

I loved this story by Young! It was atmospheric, and I enjoyed the time travel element to the 1950’s. The mystery kept me wanting to know more. When one of the plot twists came toward the end, it shocked me only because I had this question but couldn’t figure out who it was, and when it was revealed, it hit me hard! I love when stories make you feel what the character feels. Young wrote a beautiful story! It is a perfect cozy mystery read with magical realism.

For lovers of The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, Age of Adeline, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, and a hint of Where the Crawdads Sing, this is for you!

My interest started with the murder mystery plot and piqued with the confusion of overlaps of timelines, but really solidified with the concept of a love that crosses through all possible timelines. So heartwarming to read a book where love truly has no barriers and always finds a way.

I just knew from the premise of this book I would absolutely love it, but what I found was a deep admiration for Adrienne Young's beautiful writing. This was my first of her books but it will absolutely not be my last!

I haven’t read a book that, after I finished it, made me stare into the deep abyss of my brain for an hour totally and completely confused, and content.

Adrienne Young as an author is someone who takes a simple story line and twists it in every way the reader would never even dream of. The story of the Farrow women is a bleak one, and I started reading the book feeling absolutely terrible for June. The simple knowledge that you are slowly, or not so slowly, losing your mind is something I’d never wish on anyone.

With each page I turned, I think my jaw dropped just a little bit further. When I finished it, I put it down in my lap and simply stared.

To say I loved it would be an understatement. Did I think it was perfect? No. But the feelings I’ve felt three days after reading it stands to reason that this book will be one of the best ones of 2023.

For years, June Farrow has waited for her family’s curse to catch up to her. Living in a small mountain town in North Carolina, it was no secret to anyone that her mother had gone mad and then disappeared, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother. June has just laid her grandmother to rest after watching her suffer through similar symptoms. But what she hasn’t told even her closest friends is that she’s been seeing and hearing things that aren’t there as well.

Soon, June discovers a series of cryptic clues that leave her with only more questions, including a letter that says simply “Trust me.” One of her recurring hallucinations is a red door, and the next time it appears she decides to walk through. Anything she does after this point will change both the past and the future. She’ll also find herself thrust into someone else’s love story, family, and a likely murder.

The time-bending initially threw me for a loop and I’ll admit I was confused at times. However, as you near the end, you realize just how cleverly multiple stories have been woven together. This is one that I would love to see come to the big screen one day.

Thank you to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, and Penguins Random House for the advanced copy!

i picked this up for a few reasons.

the first is it's set in north carolina, where i'm from. the second is that the plot summary promised witchy mystery. mystery i got, the witchiness a lot less so.

the farrow family is cursed. slowly but surely, each woman in the farrow family ultimately goes mad. june hopes the curse is a myth until she starts hearing her name being called, starts seeing things, and ultimately stumbles upon a mysterious door in the woods. she then realizes that her mom didn't just skip town, there's more to the mystery of her mother's disappearance that remains to be seen.

once her beloved grandmother dies, june is told this: if you see the door, walk through. when she does, june finds herself amongst strangers decades before, but the strangers seem to know her...

it's hard to review this one without giving too much away. there's a curse, yes, and there's time travel also. love is at the core of this story, but familial/generational love, as well as a sweeping romance too.

if you picked this up expecting witchiness and practical magic vibes, put it back down because you won't get that here. however, the story itself is really beautiful and explores deep family history, generational traumas, small town dynamics, and a second-chance romance that you'll adore.

not what i expected, but a perfectly unexpected surprise.

This is a lovely tale of magic, madness, heaven, sin (😏) and ultimately the power of love, all told in the gorgeously atmospheric style Adrienne Young used in Spells for Forgetting

The story centers around June Farrow, the last woman of her family line who are all cursed with inevitable madness. We follow her as she learns the stories of several generations, spanning over 100 years.

I won't be giving much detail, which could get spoilery pretty quickly. This book was slow going at first, as it is told from June's POV, and a lot of it takes place in her mind as she deals with, and tries to figure out, how the family curse is affecting her sanity. Also, the author really takes her time describing the settings in detail, which does a fantastic job of transporting the reader completely in the story.

I found June to be exasperating at times, as she herself kept secrets while at the same time being upset her family kept them too. This actually does become integral to the story, but the whole "using secrets that, if told would end the drama" is one of my least favorite plot devices.

Around the 30% mark, the story really picked up and I finished in one day, staying up till 1 am. The twists were a little mind-bending, and this is the type of story that will have you thinking about it long after the last page is turned.

Have you ever seen a meteor shower? Well one is coming because Adrienne Young has delicately crafted another book that immediately had me giving it 5 stars. Sorry, 5 meteors. It feels wrong to love another one of her books so much. (I’m just going to look like a suck up at this point.) I didn’t need to find more room and space to take up in my heart than I had before. Some how here we are, adding an extension that is fully filled with June Farrow.

This story. Let me say it slower. This. Story. She weaves a whole entire life in these pages. When you close this book, when you finish it, you’re forever encapsulating the Farrow women’s history in your mind. One of the most memorable books I will ever read. And Eamon, you owe me some tissues. “My life ended when you left.”✨🌾🚪

This one was thought for me to rate.
I enjoyed the premise and the setting. It had great fall vibes with a bit of Magic and mystery. I thought the plot was really unique and intricately developed.
Unfortunately, I found it difficult to connect with the characters. I felt that they were all very surface level with little depth or development. I also thought that certain plot elements got really complicated and confusing. I found myself rereading and flipping back to chapters to try to wrap my head around what was happening.
I love this author and really appreciate that this book was something different. But the development of the characters and plot didn’t work for me.

This book was pure magic. I love Adrienne’s books so much simply because of the atmosphere and characters she develops through her writing skills. June Farrow is no exception. I really enjoyed how she went about this story. I loved June as a character as well as the side characters and their relationships with June. I highly recommend going into this one blind as there are happy plot surprises that I did not see coming.

Thank you to @netgalley and @adrienneyoungbooks for my ARC of The Unmaking of June Farrow.


This is a book where I truly agree with what everyone is saying...the less you know going in, the better it will be! This story about generational curses, second chances, and familial bonds is one that could easily be spoiled in very few words and you'd really be doing yourself, and the story, a disservice. So avoid spoilers at all costs!

I really enjoyed Spells for Forgetting but I LOVE The Unmaking of June Farrow. The setting, the plot, the characters, the mystery, all of it! I highly recommend it!

I am completely in love with this book! 110% in love! As in if I could give it more than 5 stars, I would - - I'd give it so many stars. And truly this book may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it was definitely mine.

The Farrow women have been plagued by a curse for years and June is determined to not just understand it but end it. But there are things she's unaware of. Things she's forgotten or never knew. Things that change her entire perspective on what she thought she knew.

The magical realism that touches this story is gentle and paints brushstrokes across it in a way that makes you think it's barely there. Yet, it is truly at the crux of the entire plot. It is the core of it all. It's magic and love and choices. Impossible choices.

I don't want to ruin this book for anyone so I'm going to stop now and just say READ IT. It's beautiful and poignant and a little bit heartbreaking. And it's really special.....

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I had really enjoyed Young's very atmospheric, somewhat magical Spells For Forgetting last year so I went into this with very high hopes.
June Farrow definitely had all the components that made Spells for Forgetting work, small town mystery, some magic, family secrets and some romance. The audiobook (thank you @prhaudio) definitely enhanced the atmospheric writing. I was definitely pulled into the story and wanted to figure out the mystery. While I wasn't too keen on the romantic interest in the stroy, for me the biggest issue with this book was the magic itself. (Potential SPOILER) The curse in this novel has a lot to do with time travel and while some parts of it were explained, I was still left with a lot of questions on how everything worked, especially the locket. I also thought that there were a lot of missed opportunities on exploring themes like mental health issues, generational trauma.

Thank you so much to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Delacorte Press for the ARC

I hate that I ended up taking so long to read this book because it ended up putting me through an emotional whirlwind from about 10% until the end.

I did have trouble getting into it, which might have been the reason. The first 10% or so felt a little info dumpy so I feel like it could have been shortened a bit to get to the actual juicy stuff, which was when June got that picture of her mom.

I'm a HUGE huge fan of time travel, and I actually did not expect this book to have time travel when I first picked it up which pleasantly surprised me.

I would say that this book is like Dark (Netflix show) meets The Way Back (Hallmark TV show). It's not as messed up or involved in sci-fi as Dark is but involves family in a more homey way like The Way Back, but with twists like in Dark.

Once June went through that red door I had so much trouble trying to put this book down. I am an empath so the emotions that radiated out of his book consumed me to the point I was SO stressed out while reading it. You know it's a good book when it makes you feel this.

Adrienne Young has a way of giving you JUST a sprinkle of information and mystery to keep you hungry for more. And you devour the whole damn book until the end just so you can get that satisfaction of the reveal at the end.

I did not expect the twists and turns in this series to go the way it did so every page was a new, gasp worthy plot twist. I will need to get my hands on a physical copy of this book as soon as possible to add to my collection since this is going to be a favorite for a long time to come.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me the ability to read this early! This book is out now so don't hesitate to shop for a copy at your favorite book retailer :)

This book is perfect for the fall and spooky season!

June is the last of the Farrow women, She is determined to keep it that way because the women in her family all succumb to a curse. It's not that they see things that aren't there, but more that the things in their minds seem to reach through them and into the real world. And June has just begun to have the same visions.

June's mother abandoned her when she was a little baby, never to be heard from again, but slowly new pieces of information come to light about her mother and the mystery of her disappearance. June's search for answers leads her to cross the threshold into her hallucinations, only to find out the truth of what her family can really do.

I really recommend this book to anyone who loves a chill in the air, a hot tea, or the crunch of leaves under their feet.

The Unmaking of June Farrow was much different than its predecessor, Spells for Forgetting (which was not a favorite of mine). The Unmaking of June Farrow felt more developed on the whole, even though I still take issue with some plot points that I felt could have been easily resolved or that simply didn't make sense. I enjoyed the overall "mystery" of June's family but couldn't see much personality from June herself or chemistry with her love interest(s). The plot was more interesting than I had expected and I look forward to seeing how the author grows in the genre of magical realism.