4.5/5 stars - I could NOT put this book down!

James Golden returns to her hometown in remote Northern California after her twin brother has died. As she tries to tie up loose ends in his life, she finds herself questioning what happened to him and reflecting on the tragic circumstances under which she left her hometown twenty years before.

Part a mystery (what happened to her brother? Was his death truly an accident?) and part a moving narrative about grief, this novel is beautifully written and treads the line between literary fiction and mystery, with a touch of magical realism thrown in.

This is the second book I've read by Adrienne Young and she's becoming an auto-buy author for me.

Another genre bending and blending book from Adrienne Young. One thing I love about her books is that you can recommend them to so many people, fans of fantasy, mystery, literary fiction, romance, and magical realism. This book felt first and foremost like a mystery. While the front half of the book introduced us to our characters and helped us understand them, the second half felt more like a murder mystery. The first half was a bit slow, but I stayed up until 12:30 reading because I couldn’t put it down once I hit the back half.

Adrienne Young continues to write the most beautiful stories. Her words allow the reader to immerse themselves into the story. This one is no different. Five stars for this gorgeously heartbreaking story.

James is summoned back home when her twin brother Johnny dies under mysterious circumstances. James left home for Art School and now resides in San Francisco. From the moment James steps back into Six Rivers, all is not what it seems.

James and Johnny, along with their friend Micah, have secrets. They also have a shared past. James has to confront all of this when she returns.

James and Johnny also have an unexplainable connection. If you have read this author’s previous books, you know she weaves a tale that has elements of magic. This book is no different.

This story is heartbreaking and beautiful. My favorite scene comes towards the end when James puts some of the pieces together. It’s just a beautiful moment for me that really brought the whole book together. I also loved the ending.

Adrienne Young is an auto buy author for me. I know from the first page, I’m getting an immersive story that will leave me breathless. This one exceeded my expectations - as this author always does.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, Delacorte Press, and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this incredible book. It releases on January 7th - 2025. Preorder your copy now - you will not be disappointed. I will always recommend this author’s books!

This book tackles a woman’s journey as she goes back to her small town that she fled twenty years prior, to bury her remaining kin, her twin brother. It tackles her grief as well as discovery of the person he was as compared to the person she thought he was, as she uncovers more mysterious things related to his death. This book unravels into her questioning if she ever truly knew her brother and what he was really doing on the gorge.

I found the elements of grief her very interesting and the lyricism that she uses to describe the connection the FMC felt with her twin brother, giving it a somewhat magical realism to it that I found fascinating.

Wow, this was beautiful. A haunting yet heartwarming story of girls attempting to escape their small forest hometown, of the urge to protect family at any cost, and ultimately of justice, self, love, and belonging. Adrienne Young’s writing is so gorgeously atmospheric, I was riveted by every chapter as the threads of this mystery slowly untangled.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Young hit the mark with a compelling story of a twins’ connection to her brother. She returns to her small mountainside hometown and goes on an emotional adventure that challenges everything she knew about him.

I’ve loved all of Young’s books and this one was no exception.

Adrienne Young writes some of the most atmospheric books, This one is no exception. In this one, we are put right in the heart of a small town in northern California. James heads home to finish a project her brother was working on up until his untimely death. Once there, she begins to feel that something is not quite right about how Johnny died. She also feels like the connection that she has always felt with her brother is still there.

I loved the subtle magical realism of this book. Young does this so well. There is never any question as to whether the things James was experiencing were real. I also really liked watching James return to the place she grew up after "making it big" in the big city. Her interactions with the people in town and her old high school friends were interesting and added a lot to the story and helped us learn about who James really is. There is a romantic element to the book that enhances everything and a big fluffy dog that I fell in love with. The setting in the surrounding forests provided the perfect backdrop to this quiet mystery and made me want to stay snuggled up to continue reading. I am a huge fan of Young's writing, but this book might be my favorite of hers so far. If you enjoyed Spells for Forgetting, I think you will really like this one.

I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This story is beautifully written. The atmosphere is haunting and suspenseful, the plot has just the right amount of twists and turns, and the characters are multilayered….I was not able to put this book down until all the secrets had been revealed! Adrienne Young has become one of my new favorite authors. I highly recommend adding this book to your TBR!

The experience of reading an Adrienne Young book is always a magical one. Weaving the reality with the magical, our story brings the seemingly mundane life of a girl who lives in a forest town to a place where the reader isnt quite sure what’s real or not.
Returning home, our FMC finds herself in the middle of a mystery with no questions answered. Questions like: “Who? What? Where? When? How?”, and most importantly “What if?”.
With a mix of suspense and magical realism, A Sea of Unspoken Things shows us that we can return home, but at what cost?

A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Release Date: January 7, 2025

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read this eARC. The story follows James Golden as she goes back to her hometown for the first time in twenty years to try and understand the circumstances surrounding her twin brother’s suspicious death. Secrets from the past and present come to light as she learns what happened.

A Sea of Unspoken Things is a beautifully written atmospheric and haunting novel. Young’s descriptions of the forest and the town make the setting come to life. They are as much a character in the story as James and Micah are. The story is fast paced and keeps you guessing right up until the last few pages. I love the little bit of the supernatural that is thrown into many of Young’s books. The supernatural is subtle in this one but still one of my favorite parts of the book. If you enjoyed the Unmaking of June Farrow then you should definitely give this one a chance!

First of all, thank you NetGalley and the author for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted so badly to like this, but sadly I didn’t. :(
I found it so hard to complete and found myself really struggling due to being so bored with the storyline. I wish the story had been just a little bit MORE. I think it had the potential to be super good in my eyes based off the description. However, it just ended up not being for me. 💔

The pacing felt uneven for me and the book didn’t pick up until around the 70%. I did like the twist and turns in the story. If you like the author, you’ll enjoy this book.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher.

After reading Spells for Forgetting, I was so excited to read Adrienne Young’s new release A Sea of Unspoken Things. This is small town story revolving around Johnny, who recently passed away from a tragic accident and his twin sister James who has come home to tie up loose ends. James has a strong connection with her twin brother, but soon realizes she’s been away a while and does not know much about her brother’s life now. The story starts out a little slow, but I didn’t find it boring at all. I was so immersed and it was so beautifully written that felt almost magical. The book was the perfect length and with a few twists at the end. Overall, this as a great read and I’d recommend it.

A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young

“A woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death while confronting the ghosts of her own haunted past.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5: Adrienne Young is an auto by author for me. Her writing is so atmospheric. Her characters are complex. I felt like I was standing right in this mysterious and alive forest. This mystery was everything I wanted. (Extreme mood reader…)

-mysterious forest
-supernatural connection between twins
-second chance romance
-small town secrets

There was a healthy dose of suspense and a few good twists throughout the book. I was invested from the first line, “we were made in the dark”. It had the perfect fall/winter vibes.

Adrienne also had a way of writing about grief that you could feel so clearly and powerfully. She wrote about how powerful the love of family can be, both the good and the bad. I always appreciate when an author makes the story more real/relatable.

I did feel like “A Sea of Unspoken Things” was very similar to her other book, “Spells for Forgetting”, but because they are both so beautifully written, I didn’t mind the similarities. She can clearly write an isolated small town with buried secrets.

Favorite kindle highlights:

“We were made in the dark.”

“You didn’t realize just how much this first was trying to kill you until you got out.”

“The question felt like finding land, and my answer was a boat running ashore.”

Available January 7th, 2025! I highly recommend you adding this one to your (already long) TBR!

A Sea of Unspoken Things is the latest adult mystery from Adrienne Young. With contemporary fantasy elements woven in, I found this impossible to put down! When James is summoned back to her hometown after her twin’s death, it’s the last place she wants to be. As James starts to conclude her brother’s affairs, she is forced to examine the relationship she had with her brother. In their small town, everyone knows each other and some secrets are buried deep. Was Johnny who she thought he was?

Adrienne Young’s writing is incredibly atmospheric and intricate. I love the sensory details of the woods; it makes you feel like you’re walking besides James as she retraces her brother’s steps. The bonds of the town still have a strong hold on James, even though she’s done her best to distance herself in San Francisco. The mystery at the heart was compelling and kept me guessing until the end. I loved the exploration of the sibling relationship between James and Johnny, especially as James questions what her brother might have been capable of in darker moments. I devoured this in a day!

Readers who enjoy captivating mysteries and complex characters will love A Sea of Unspoken Things. I can’t wait to read what Adrienne Young writes next!

Thank you to Adrienne Young, Delacorte Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc.

Oh Adrienne! You’ve done it again. I never thought that she can do a mystery for real but turns out, she can do any genre it seems. This book was yet another captivating, twisty, heart-throbbing small-town mystery that you’ll finish in one sitting. Actually, at first, I thought this is a man because it was James (Goddammit) looking for answers for his twin brother’s death but no, I discovered that James is a woman. In this case, it’s the fault of the twins' mother, who abandoned her children at a young age.
The connection between James and her twin brother Johnny Golden was so fascinating. I heard somewhere that twins can communicate with each other but never thought it’s kind of like this. Johnny creates chaos, and James is always there to clean up the mess and take the blame. This has been their life ever since a tragic event drove James to leave town to pursue her artistic talents, never looking back.
Nearly two decades later, she returned to the small town, bringing her brother's ashes and completing the important environmental project he started. She felt the exact moment her brother died, shot by whoever. James is convinced her brother’s death was no accident, and she’s determined fix her brother’s problems and uncover the dangerous situations he may have been involved in.
this fast-paced small-town mystery with paranormal and romantic elements keeps you hooked to the book.

Adrienne Young delivers another cozy town mystery. Adrienne’s writing is always beautiful work. Unfortunately this one didn’t quite live up to The Unmaking of June Farrow & Spells for Forgetting. I wish that we got POV’s from Johnny or honestly anyone else instead of it being solely from James Pov. All in all i’ll give it 4⭐️ I did have an enjoyable time.

& just take a minute to appreciate the beautiful cover 😻

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book….. I was internally screaming with joy when I received it! ❤️❤️❤️

This book comes out on 1/7/25 ❤️

I got an early copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think it goes without saying that any Adrienne Young book will grip and tear at your heart. In true Adrienne fashion, this one does just that. James returns home to the town of Six Rivera after being away for 20 years. Her twin brother, Johnny, was killed in a hunting accident, but James knows something is off about his death. Working on her own to try to complete his owl conservation project and to decipher his life, she runs into her old friend and lover, Micah. Together, they revisit their past and uncover many secrets along the way.

This books felt like so many things in one. Part mystery. Part love story. Part tragedy. All the things I would expect out of an Adrienne Young book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I loved Spells for Forgetting and the Unmaking of June Farrow from this author, so I was excited when I received the ARC for her latest work. Thank you Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and leave an honest review.

This one did not draw me in, as if I was a part of the story, like the previous two I mentioned did, BUT it still captivated me and maintained the same sense of magical realism that I adore. I found this to be more of a romantic thriller with a magical aspect. Still very atmospheric and intriguing, just not quite as all consuming as her previous works.

Johnny and James are twins, born and raised in Six Rivers. Their single father travelled for work when they were teenagers, leaving the brother and sister to watch out for one another and trusting the small town to take care of them. At 17, the two and their best friend, Micah, ran into trouble one fateful night. With a local teen dead and trouble following Johnny with every step he took, he sent James away to live her life without having to cover for him.
She never returned.
Until 20 years later, when she received the call that Johnny had died in a hunting accident.
The thing is, James knew before the call.
James always knew what emotions Johnny was feeling.
The twin telepathy she had for her brother spanned thousands of miles.
The day Johnny died, she felt his fear.
She felt the searing heat as the bullet sank into his flesh.
She felt the warm blood tricking from the wound.
When she closed her eyes, she saw what he did in his last moments, up until his vision faded to black.
She knew his death wasn’t an accident.
And returning to Six Rivers to confront the townsfolk she abandoned 20 years ago was the only way to have his case opened as a homicide.
Returning also meant facing Micah, her first love, because she would need his help for her investigation.

Together, James, Micah, and Smoke, the 20+ year old pet wolf who had always watched over Johnny and James, fight to discover the secrets Johnny was hiding.

Yes, I said 20+ year old wolf. I don’t know how old Smoke is, which is one reason for my ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating. I love wolves. I want a wolf. But this old fella was around before James left, and still full of energy and kicking it when she returns 20 years later. So, maybe Smoke is magical.

Overall, this was an excellent read that releases in January 2025.
Emotional connection.
Character growth.
Mysterious.
Atmospheric.
Romantic.
Small town drama.

Thanks NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy!

I am a big fan of Adrienne Young and the way she weaves in the magic realism into her novels. She is a wonderful writer and I enjoyed the novel but this one was a bit of a slower pace and very little magic realism that I was expecting. I definitely liked the characters but I would have liked a bit more about Johnny. I didn't feel connected to him and wish there would have been more content when he was alive and see the twin relationship that James felt for him. I was more interested in James and Micah's relationship. I will still recommend this one to others, but it just wasn't my favorite by the author.

James and Johnny Golden have that special twin connection and can feel what the other is feeling, so when Johnny suddenly dies in an accident, James already knows before answering the phone. She returns to her home town in rural California to find out what happened but she runs in the the only man she's ever loved, Micah.

James can still feel Johnny and tries to unbury the truth about what happened to him and the secrets that they were keeping.