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

3.5 stars

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

Young truly writes beautiful imagery and small town settings. I remember falling in love with The Unmaking of June Farrow last year, and I still recommend it to people. A Sea of Unspoken Things was no different in the imagery and setting. I could almost feel like I was there in the setting with James as she searches to find out exactly what happened in relation to her brother’s death.

However, there were some parts of this book where I was so bored in regard to the plot. I was working on trying to connect so many ideas to the mysteries and twists of the book only for it to fall really flat for me. I’m sad I didn’t like this one as much as I wanted to.

CW: grief, death, gun violence, murder, sexual assault, abandonment, violence

This was a departure from what I am used to with Young's stories but that didn't make me love it any less. I am always in awe of how lyrically beautiful her writing is. The world building in this story is lovely not over the top but it gives a clear picture letting you feel as if you can see the town and the gorge in your mind. I loved James's character and thought that her heartbreak and struggle to come to terms with what was unfolding before her tangible and genuine. I will fully admit that there were points in the story that I thought the truth would come out to be one thing. Only to think something completely different a few pages later. I liked the way that this played out and found the twists and lies to be gripping as I desperately wanted to know what had really happened to Autumn and her brother. I also loved that even though James was still struggling internally with all that had gone on that she was showing great character depth as far as her healing and moving forward with her life. Even though there was no "magic" in this story I would absolutely read another mystery from Young and this further solidifies her as an auto author for me.

I really enjoyed this work which delves into topics of familial love, childhood romances, and how trauma shapes our lives. I’ve previously read Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young and thought this was a much more fleshed out and engaging read. The characters felt real and flawed, the setting was isolating but familiar, and the plot was relatively fast paced. The ending was easy to predict but I don’t think this took away from my overall enjoyment of this work.

I recommend to fans of mystery novels, particularly set in small towns/rural settings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for access to this ebook in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this book and all the others by Adrienne. I loved the mystery behind the storyline and the rekindled romance. The setting was a favorite, having a small town near the woods. It made the story feel even more mysterious and gave a bit of a thrilling aspect. I think the author did a great job with the pace of the book and I was kept interested throughout.

Adrienne Young just knows how to craft a compelling, mysterious, atmospheric adult magical realism story. This one wasn't as much of a home run for me as 2023's June Farrow, but it was an incredibly bingeable read! I loved the main character and her journey of discovery - it felt like we were figuring things out in real time with her which I really enjoyed. The premise of this story was simple but the way it played out was complicated and complex in a way that really scratched an itch in my brain.

Overall, I think this was a really fun and quick read that will appeal to mystery readers and fantasy readers alike. This book relied on magical elements much less than her last two adult books, which I know will be a draw for some readers and a deterrent for others. Personally, I missed how much magic was infused into her last two but still enjoyed this for what it was.

This is the third book that I have read from this author and I have enjoyed them all. She is a talented writer. This one was fantastic on audio. A mystery set in a small town as a woman tries to find answers in her brother’s death.

I've got to say this wasn't my favorite by Adrienne. It was still a good book, don't get me wrong but it was much, much slower paced than her first 2 NA novels. I really liked the story between James, Johnny, and Micah but the sometimes it felt like the 20 years in-between their friend dying and Johnny dying didn't add up. Just the way it was written sometimes it didn't make much sense. There was a LOT going on with the whole story that made it feel tiresome to read until about halfway through.

Things I loved about this story was the unique twin connection between James and Johnny, the way Adrienne describes the town and forest makes it feel like it has its own soul, and the almost ghost story aspect of it. It really was a good book was just a lot going on and maybe my brain just couldn't absorb all that 🤷‍♀️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Mystery
Ebook

First of all this book is extremely well written. I wanted to just take my time reading each page. It is a mystery with some magical realism.

James (girl twin) comes back to her home town when her brother Johnny dies. James keeps seeing Johnny and feeling his presence. She feels like he is telling her his death is not an accident.

I love the way Adrienne Young writes. This made me want to pick up more books by her.

#netgalley #netgalleyarc #aseaofunspokenthings #adrienneyoung #adrienneyoungbooks #mysterybooks #mysterybook

This was such a great book!!! It was slow for me to get into in the beginning and didn’t have me hooked until around 40-50% but once I was hooked, I was HOOKED!! There’s so many mysteries to be uncovered throughout this story and the plot twists were crazy!!! There’s a lot of descriptive scenes throughout the book that really made me feel like I was in the story which I think is really hard to achieve and this author did it well! I can’t wait to read more of the authors work!!

Obviously fantastic. Did anyone doubt that it would be? Of course not. This book was as beautiful as it was mysterious.