A Sea of Unspoken Things is a contemporary mystery about a woman who returns to her childhood home to investigate the death of her twin brother.

James Golden left her small Northern California logging town twenty years ago for art school and a new life in San Francisco. But that meant leaving behind her complicated twin brother, Johnny, and her first love, Micah. When Johnny is killed in a hunting accident, James feels compelled to come home to uncover exactly what happened—and what secrets her brother was keeping.

Like her previous novels, A Sea of Unspoken Things is a dark and atmospheric tale of bad deeds, small-town life, and lost love. I enjoyed the mystery and paranormal elements of James’s investigation into her brother’s life and death, as well as their complicated relationship. Adrienne Young’s writing is beautiful and lyrical and her characters have depth and nuance.

I received this arc from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group. I really enjoyed this book. This is a mystery with a bit of fantasy mixed in. James and Johnny are twins who grew up in a very small town. These two characters have always shared a supernatural connection and were inseparable until James moved away for art school after they graduated. After she moved, she and Johnny slowly drifted apart, but that connection between them never went away. And when Johnny suddenly dies in a tragic accident, James feels all of his pain and knows before she even receives a phone call that he is gone. But something about his death just doesn’t sit right with James, so she returns to their hometown to uncover the truth about her brother’s death and to rediscover who her brother was. Along the way she also reconnects with her high school sweetheart Micah, who grew up right alongside herself and Johnny. This book had me guessing until the very end which I love! Adrienne Young is also an incredibly descriptive writer. In every scene it was so easy to imagine being right there next the characters in this little mountain town. If you love a good mystery that will keep you guessing, then you should definitely check out this book when it is released on January 7th!

I tried to give this author a try again, but I don't think their writing style is for me.

My biggest peeves:

- Too wordy, making the pacing slow for me. I don't get gripped in enough,

- I didnt enjoy the characters too much.

- I was invested in the magical realism as promised, fell flat to me.

Adrienne gives us the mystery and often crazy family dynamics and truthfully this was no different. I had no idea what to expect and I’m not going to lie she kept me on my toes. I tend to find I slow down while reading anything of hers which is a feat in and of itself. There’s so many layers to each book and I kind love the confusion. She always wraps it up in the end and boy did she. I tend to leave and think about her books for a bit after reading.

Things I Enjoyed…
🦉Small Town Mystery
🌊 A Tiny Dose of Magic (but truly unique)
🦉 Wolf Dogs
🌊 Second Chance Romance
🦉Reads Slower
🌊 Intertwined Stories

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House and Delcorte Press for this ARC!

After the death of her twin brother, James returns to her small hometown to settle his affairs and find out the truth of her brother's death. James must face the memories of her youth while also investigating the strange and almost paranormal tie she still feels to her brother.

Young continues to be so good at creating a setting that I can vividly imagine, the town and every location felt very lived in and real. The plot was a little slow at times, but with her writing I don't mind just immersing myself in the characters and environment. The mystery kept me thinking and surprised me at certain points. It was definitely less romantic that June Farrow, but I still enjoyed the connection between James and Micah (and I have a soft spot for second chance romances anyways).

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!

ARC Review
A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young
Pub date: January 7

A Sea of Unspoken Things was a great, atmospheric read with magical realism aspects and a whodunnit woven throughout the pages. Much thanks to Ballantine - Delacorte Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed how quickly I was drawn into this book. I’m not typically a thriller or mystery reader, but I have to say, this one got me. More than a traditional mystery, though, I liked how Young brought the forest to life, the flashbacks to the FMC and MMC’s pasts, and their struggles to overcome them in the wake of a best friend and brother’s strange death.

I recommend this book if you like magical realism, stories about finding yourself, and a mystery thrown in.

A SEA OF UNSPOKEN THINGS
BY: ADRIENNE YOUNG

"A SEA OF UNSPOKEN THINGS," is the newest novel by this brand new Author to me, ADRIENNE YOUNG." I am so thrilled that I took a chance by requesting this because I almost didn't based on a few reviews that said that they liked her previous books better. I was aware of at least two previous books that I had wanted to read, and now they have become must reads as soon as possible based on this fantastic reading experience with this one. It is marketed for the Mystery/Thriller genre and I have to say that it was less thriller, but definitely a mystery that I really enjoyed enough from beginning to end to earn five stars plus from me. It was so well written with a very atmospheric setting woven into the whole novel imbued in the excellent prose like a beautiful tapestry. I really loved it because the character development as well as the plot was so well developed. I didn't realize the magic realism that this had until I finished this, and noticed it is one of the descriptions, since the story was believable and it was subtle and everything seemed plausible. Now, as I reflect back I remember where it appeared, and I wondered if the magical realism upon looking back where it appeared was something that I wondered if it could be real. Since it's obvious to me now, I thought about it after finishing it, since the phenomenon where the understated magical realism in this story existed is something that I've heard of to which it pertains is partially true. I'll tell you why. It is a known fact that twins have a deeper sense of feeling what happens to each other than mere siblings do. It's not something that's out of the ordinary, since most people are already familiar with this concept.

This definitely had some low grade eerie elements. This also was beyond the usual scope of atmospheric which sounds like a cliche, but there's no other way of describing how much that element exists in the writing in the best possible way. It begins when James who is a woman, felt in her body before she was notified that her twin brother Johnny was killed. They both were about thirty seven or thirty eight years old. James is a successful artist who lived in San Francisco, who left her home in a remote small town in an isolated, beautiful area surrounded by nature when she went to college. She is driving back to the small cabin in Six Rivers which was her childhood home to wrap up a project her twin brother Johnny was working on in the wilderness. She can feel in her body a sharp, piercing pain in her chest between her ribs as she approaches the canopy of old, tall trees that block out the sun as she approaches. That's the same spot in which her brother got shot which is a mystery of how it happened. When she arrives home her brother Johnny's best friend Micah who was also close to James since they all grew up together since childhood arrives in the driveway. He is there to drop off the twin's dog named Smoke.

It's been twenty years since Jame's has last come home and seen Micah since she left for Art school. She and Micah seem distant considering their history. He has stocked the cabin with some groceries for her, and he leaves soon after. Jame's and Johnny had infrequent phone calls to which she has always felt a tether to him even though he was mysterious about his personal life. Now in the cabin where they raised themselves she can feel Johnny's presence everywhere and he doesn't feel deceased even though she is keenly aware that he is. James feels responsible for a lot of things that happened in their past, particularly for helping him get him the job that he was shot while doing it. She gets right to work by combing through the work that he was doing when he was in the woods on a Gorge where all three of them grew up spending time there. There's no WiFi at the cabin and she does some work in a diner in town that is now owned by Sadie who Johnny had an off and on relationship where Johnny strung Sadie along.

She has met with the officer that is Amanda who gives James back Johnny's jacket that has a hole in the chest with the blood stains, and Amanda tells Jame's she's not going to stop looking what happened to her brother. Jame's often Johnny's phone and computer to the diner to see what information she can find herself since she can sense on a deep level that her brother getting shot wasn't an accident. It's a mystery what he was doing that day out on the Gorge since he didn't have his camera or safety gear. Jame's feels a roll of film in the pocket of the blue jacket her brother was wearing the day he was shot. As she goes through everything she finds breadcrumbs of information that leads her to different people to track down that she starts to investigate on her own. I as the reader was totally immersed in Jame's search for what happened to her brother. I felt so pulled into this complex, but it was easy to understand the mysterious process as it proceeded. There were straightforward elements in regards to Jame's investigation, but there were things that were hinted at that had to do with Jame's, Johnny's and Micah's past that I was deeply interested in learning more about since those were slowly revealed. All the while James could feel Johnny's presence and I as the reader could also feel it as if he was there with her. The writing was deeply descriptive and so palpable that I was able to feel what Jame's did as if somehow I was a silent witness alongside her. As step by step, she uncovered new people to contact through the negatives she developed into photographs which in some she would discover hints. From his work and emails from his computer, to contacts and unnamed phone numbers that she realized that although she was still strongly tethered to her brother, she learns that she didn't know a lot about him. At the same time, she knew him on a very intimate level. And then there's Micah.

You will realize while reading this if you do, which I highly, highly recommend this for it's a multilayered mystery that I felt I was on my own odyssey as this was a wonderful page turner. It's intelligently written that was so realistic and universal that as I said above I didn't realize the magical realism until I saw it was one of the tags here on Good Reads. Then the parts that I questioned the pieces of my musing after finishing it snapped together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. I've decided that I prefer that undetected magical realism to the novels where it's more obvious. That makes this mystery novel so unique, since it's a brand new realization that I never knew about myself since I do enjoy it. I really hated to end this novel, and already I can tell that it's one that I'll never forget. It was said in some reviews that I read from fans of her previous work, that they were disappointed that this had less magical realism than her others as if they were disappointed. It's always so fun and delightful to discover new authors whose previous work you can't wait to get the chance to read after having such an excellent reading experience. This book believe it or not is a lot about human nature and is beautifully written. It might seem premature to say this so early in the year, but this is going to be a top favorite read. I think it deserves to reach as wide of an audience as possible, and there's a lot more to this than I have written in this review to discover. I LOVED IT!

Publication Date: January 7, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley, Adrienne Young, and Random House Publishing Group--Ballantine/Delacorte Press for generously providing me with my fantastic ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#ASeaofUnspokenThings #AdrienneYoung #RandomHousePublishingGroupBallantineDelacortePress #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

In the heart of the forest that lies in the center of their hometown, James's twin brother tragically loses his life in a suspected hunting accident. After James arrives back in the rural roan of Hawthorne, California to settler her brother's affairs and is forced to confront the ominous past she and Johnny shared, she begins to feel that maybe her brothers death wasn't an accident after all. With themes surrounding grief, forgiveness, love and sacrifice - once you're in, you won't want to put this one down.

This was my first Adrienne Young novel & I was not disappointed. Her writing has a way of really bringing the reader into the atmosphere of her books and once I was hooked, I couldn't stop reading. However, I did struggle in the beginning to want to keep reading. I had to let the plot develop further in order for me to care to continue as the early chapters felt slow - but I also couldn't tell if it was because there was this big mystery that I just couldn't wait to figure out.

I will also admit that I didn't have as deep of a connection with the characters as I had hoped, which lends a hand to my 4-star rating. With the topic of this book being so emotional, I really expected to feel something towards johnny and James. The writing didn't emotionally develop enough for me in this case and I really wish we had gotten more from their connection in a positive light so we could really see the good side of their relationship as well.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to finally read The Unmaking of June Farrow.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a ARC of this book!
WOW! Things started off slow, but once things picked up I could not put this book down. James (an interesting name for a female character- this is explained in the characters backstory) returns to her hometown after the death of her twin brother. Her story takes many twists and turns until she is able to piece together the mystery surrounding her brother’s death. My first 4 star read of the year, will definitely be recommending to others :)

Adrienne Young knows how to create a spooky vibe and "A Sea of Unspoken Things" did not disappoint. I loved the tiny magical element added to the story which helped pull you along as the mysteries unfolded. A fabulous little atmospheric mystery.

Thank you Netgalley and Delacorte Press/Random House Publishing for this e-ARC of A Sea of Unspoken Things! First, may I just say, I LOVE Adrienne Young as an author. I love her characters, I love her writing style, and her books are always the right balance of character building and plot.

This story is about our FMC James, who returns to her small town home after 20 years, in response to a call regarding what is to believed to be an accident that resulted in the tragic end of her twin, Johnny. James must face not only settling her brother's estate and belongings, but also all of the memories that she left behind in the town, including a childhood love and a dangerous secret.

This was my first voyage into reading an adult fiction/mystery novel of hers, and it did not disappoint! Mystery is not my favorite genre, most of the time because I can predict the story line and the "twist" by the first fourth of the book, but this one kept me on my toes, which I appreciated. I did not know for certain what was going to happen until right before the big reveals (of which there were not one, but two!), and my brain was constantly working to try and piece all of the information together.

I loved the character building of James, and her flashbacks that showed us the history that she had with the town of Six Rivers, and why she had stayed away for so many years; I thought this dual timeline was done very well, and I also enjoyed the slight bit of paranormal aspect that we get which leads James to discover clues about the nights/days in question (iykyk). I also really enjoyed the parallels between the main characters and some of the side characters, and how that played into the eventual reveal at the end. Lastly, Young's writing is just the right level of whimsical and suspenseful, while still delivering hard hitting messages about family and one's roots that were prevalent at the end of the story.

I very much enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading more by this author!

Let's just get this out of the way, I love Adrienne Young and will pick up anything she writes.

That being said, this book was...different from her usual. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
As usual, Adrienne Young provided us with a beautifully atmospheric book. i always feel like i am immersed in the landscapes and towns and feelings of our characters and this one was no different.

This one was more part Murder mystery/thriller than romance ( fade to black Spice here only) but that was not a bad thing. This started off really slow for me, but picked up about midway and before i knew it I was almost at the end.

I suspected who our villain was but not...everything. I'll leave it at that so I don't spoil it.
That being said, the ending was satisfying but.. a little flat for me? I don't know if I wanted more or what but...yes I wanted more. LOL.

All in all I enjoyed it. It was beautifully written, almost lyrical, but this book was not my favorite of hers and that's ok!
I still give it a solid 4.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House- Ballentine for providing an eARC. All opinions are my own.

Adrienne Young yet again delivers a beautifully atmospheric story, steeped in melancholic nostalgia. I have loved every single book I have read by her and this may be my favourite one yet.

I can’t exactly put my finger on what makes Adrienne Young’s writing so incredibly special, but it definitely has something to do with her innate ability to capture the tragic beauty of life and loss, of what ifs and could have beens, of pain and love. Her stories are so raw and real and relatable, and they HURT but in the best kind of way.

I will forever be in awe of her storytelling, and this book just solidifies Adrienne Young as one of my favourite authors of all time.

3.4 ⭐️

This is probably my least favorite Adrienne Young adult book though so far she on has 3 out.

The first half was really slow and dragged for me. I contemplated putting it down and picking it back up later but I pushed through. I will say it did pick up a bit in the last half.

As always, Ms Young’s writing is so good and atmospheric. I loved the forest setting and reading it in January just added something extra.

I liked the main female character, James. She was the definition of “my brother’s keeper.” Her brother was an interesting character though we only felt his presence in the book. I can’t say too much without spoiling it but I will say, I’m really glad that a certain situation involving him and another person was not the case. I kindof wished we got more from his character… more flashbacks.

Micah. I probably liked Micah more than James tbh. He was straight forward and I wish that we got more with him and James. I felt like their reunion was kindof rushed especially after 20 years.

The plot twists. Super anticlimactic and I just didn’t see it. I really can’t say too much without spoiling a major plot twist but I will say.. I had a feeling about one person.

The ending was cute.

The story for me was just okay. Wasn’t bad, wasn’t great but if you liked her other adult novels, I say give this a try.

📖 A Sea of Unspoken Things 📖⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Genre- Mystery. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Length- 288 pages. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Pub Date- January 7, 2025. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣My thoughts- I was really looking forward to this book, but unfortunately it didn’t blow me away. The writing is beautiful and the setting was captivating, but the actual story was very meh and the pacing was awful! ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣An artist returns to her hometown after the sudden death of her twin brother. There is a touch of magical realism, but it’s mostly a lot of James searching through Johnny’s belongs. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Overall- it just left me feeling meh. Three stars! ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of A Sea of Unspoken Things in return for my honest review!

This book moved at a slower pace but once the story picks up I was hooked. Adrienne is a beautiful storyteller and her books always leave me wanting more.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)

Every time I turned the page, I had more questions. 😅 I loved the journey of this and James’s strength of pushing through even when she was scared of what she might found out. The twin connection was so interesting and I loved the supernatural aspect of it! The ending fell a little flat for me, but overall it was a great read.

🥀Single POV
🥀Small town
🥀Twins
🥀Multiple mysteries!
🥀Secrets 🤫
🥀Second chance

A Sea of Unspoken Things was just the atmospheric mystery I needed. I love Adrienne Young's writing style and she never disappoints. That certainly holds true for A Sea of Unspoken Things. I was absolutely unable to put this down as soon as I started reading it. Young's ability to entrance readers is second to none. I admit, there were twists that I just did not see coming! A Sea of Unspoken Things is a story about twin bonds, loss, second chances, and facing the past to move forward in the future.

3.75 ⭐️

Firstly, thank you to Random House Publishers, Ballantine and Netgalley for this ARC read.

This book was pretty different from June Farrow but there was still some wonder and magic sprinkled in. More of a mystery and suspense theme with some nature and wilderness aspects.

I enjoyed Smoke, the twin dynamic and the small town. I don’t want to give away the ending but the ending was a tad disappointing for me as it how it wraps for some of the characters. I did suspect that outcome however.

Wowowowow.
The last 1/4 is a wild rollercoaster. I was unable to put it down and I'm still thinking about how it ended!

I didn't realize this was part murder mystery and it read like a thriller at times, which was perfect.
Adrienne Young is officially an auto buy author for me.

Perfect amount of romance. Fantastic red herrings! Great small town vibes, I honestly felt like I was in Northern California with them and I could feel and smell the pnw. It starts with a bang 🔫 and ends with the sweetest wrap up. Definitely recommending this to everyone.