⭐️ 4/5

Quick synopsis: James travels back to her rural hometown to investigate her brother Johnny’s mysterious death, which is claimed to be a hunting accident. She starts to unravel clues as she confronts her past, grief, and the truth about who her brother actually was.

I liked this book. I thought it was a “quiet” thriller, if that makes sense. It’s slow moving even though it’s a shorter book, lots of beautiful writing and descriptions of nature, her connection with her brother and the world around them. The ending was unexpected to some extent and made sense.

I would recommend this to others if you’re looking for a slow burn, yet short, thriller and family drama.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young a couple of months ago and absolutely LOVED it, so I was super excited about this book! Adrienne’s writing is truly some of the most gorgeous, evocative, & atmospheric prose out there. It’s a joy to read her books.

The mystery in this book centers around the death of the FMC’s twin brother. Not fully believing it was accidental, she decides to investigate. And there’s a lot packed in here: some magical realism (although it felt incredibly light and a little underdeveloped, to be honest), a mystery that slowly unravels, dual timelines, and even second chance romance.

I actually loved the relationship between James and Micah and found that to be my favorite part. The layers of the mystery were well executed and well written, but felt a little too quickly resolved at the end, making it feel rushed.

The story is a bit slow up to that point, but it’s clear the author is taking her time to show the details of the world she has created, and it’s a beautifully written slow burn. Other than pacing issues, I felt like this was a lovely story with a satisfying conclusion. Do I love it as much as June Farrow? No. But that one is hard to beat. 😉

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025 and it is one to read for sure! I really enjoyed it. Also, the cover is just absolutely 😍😍😍

WOW! I was extremely impressed with A Sea of Unspoken Things! This is so different, story wise, from Fable/Namesake and June Farrow, but I was so immersed in the atmospheric feeling that Young created in this book.

James Golden has returned to her small town home in California to settle the affairs of her twin brother, Johnny, following his death. As twins, James and Johnny have always shared a unique connection that can’t quite be explained, and after being away from her hometown for 20 years, she discovers that connection still exits even after Johnny’s death. As she reminisces about her past life in Hawthorne and goes through the remnants of Johnny’s current life, she starts to doubt how well she actually knew her brother and what that means for the choices she made to protect him throughout their lives. Now James feels that Johnny’s death might not have been an accident and she must unravel the mystery of how he died, all while trying to decide if she wants to come back to the place she ran away from or continue the life she’s created for herself in San Francisco.

I loved this book from beginning to end. Young is so descriptive in her writing, and it made me feel like I was actually in the places she was describing. The small town, inside of the National Park, created a great setting for the mystery part of the story. The people in the town know everything about one another and share gossip about one another, but are also very skeptical of new people, so you get that close knit community with a touch of dysfunctional small town vibes.

Young’s writing in this book really grabbed my attention. There is a weighted feeling to the closeness of the National Park, the small town and the secrets that are being kept. It adds a smothering, oppressive, ominous feel to the story and I felt like James was feeling all of those feelings too, as she found out things about her brother, that she had missed out on, over the past several years. I also loved seeing how the connection with Johnny still existed, and brought a touch of the supernatural to the story.

If you have read any other Adrienne Young books, then I would highly recommend A Sea of Unspoken Things. It is beautifully written, and definitely holds its own among her other amazing books.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Delacorte Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy of A Sea of Unspoken Things, in return for my honest review.

After fleeing her hometown after a tragedy decades ago, only another tragedy would be enough to bring James back to Six Rivers. In the aftermath of her twin brother's death, James returns to put his affairs in order. Her connection to her twin brother is something supernatural that she barely understands. But she knows that the explanation that his death was a hunting accident is not the whole truth. As James discovers more about Johnny's life and all of the unspoken things that he hasn't shared with her, she begins to question if she knew her brother as well as she thought. Determined to prove that Johnny is the man she thought he was, James sets off a chain of events that she could never have predicted.

There is something deeply magical about the way that Adrienne Young writes. Each story has a supernatural element and is based on the idea that we are all connected with nature and one another. A Sea of Unspoken Things is what I would consider a slow burn. There is a ton of exposition in the first half of the book setting things up and then barreling downhill into all of the events and action of the second half. James is an intrepid character and even though she sometimes has her doubts, she trusts her gut about what she knows in her heart about Johnny. I thought all of the action was wrapped up before the last couple of chapters and that I was wrong about my suspicions of a certain character. That twist at the end proved that my gut was also right when it came to this story.

Adrienne Young is so good at creating such a feel with her writing and setting. It is SO atmospheric and I love it. I can feel and visualize the small town and all of the vibes. It was very mysterious, and I was intrigued to know how the ending was going to unfold. It did take a while to get to the end (not in a bad way) but I did think the ending was rushed. And I think the ending was a bit convenient. I still really enjoyed it, and I will always read books by this author! Not that I should compare but I liked it more than Spells for Forgetting but not as much as The Unmaking of June Farrow.

What could we possibly say? I couldn’t even pretend to know how you could take a whole life, a whole person, and put it into words. Goodbye is a lost language. A silent one.

Adrienne Young is quickly becoming one of my “must read” authors. I’ve truly enjoyed both of her books that I’ve read so far and I fully intend to read everything else she has written. In A Sea of Unspoken Things, Young explores the difficult question of how well can we truly know the people we love the most and finding out who we are both with and without them. Young has such a gift for description that I can’t help but feel like I’m actually there, experiencing everything along with the characters. And I loved all of the characters, even the ones we only get to know because of James’s memories. I even enjoyed the characters who turned out to have been murderers, finding them easy to sympathize with. There were so many twists and surprises throughout the story and it had me enthralled all the way through. If you haven’t read any of Young’s books (or even if you have), A Sea of Unspoken Things should definitely be on your TBR.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

TL:DR - this atmospheric mystery set in a northern California forest is slow to begin with, but worth it in the end. 🌁🎨📸🧐🌲🦉

Oh wow. Okay. Where to start with this one? I haven't read any of Young's books before, although <i>The Unmaking of June Farrow</i> has been on my TBR for over a year now. This was highly anticipated though, because I've heard great things.

The book is complicated, and my feelings on it are even more so. About 40% in I was ready to DNF it. The story seemed so meandering and while it was atmospheric and the writing was lovely (lovely!) I just did not CARE what was going on.

James is searching for details about how her twin brother, Johnny, died. Sure, they said it was a hunting accident, but she just doesn't believe that, and the apparition of her brother coming back has convinced her to go back to her hometown and find out what's up.

Sounds super interesting, yea? But James as a character is hard to pinpoint in the beginning, despite her narrating the book, and Johnny is an absolute mess. Some of his characterization was so out-of-pocket in the beginning that I have to wonder if Young really even knew what she wanted from him. It was off-putting, considering this was the main plot point of the book, and combined with the incredibly glacier pace of the plot in the first half, I was about ready to call it quits and be done.

I'm glad I didn't. The second half of this hooked me in and suddenly the plot focused in brilliantly. Do I think it needed to take that long? Absolutely not - especially because the end (last 10%) felt so rushed and weird. I wish this had sped up the first 50% and slowed down the last 10%. But the last half of the book was in fact fascinating and really well done, and I'm glad I stuck it out.

So go into this with an open mind and a willingness to break through what is, for lack of a better word, a slog. If you're the kind of reader who likes atmospheric mysteries (this is a mystery, not a thriller, although I've seen it marketed a few places as a thriller) with a touch of magic realism, and you have got the patience for it, I would definitely recommend it. It is well done, and I did indeed enjoy it from that perspective. However, if you need to have a solid grip on character and plot within the first half of the book, this probably isn't a great choice for you.

Of course I chose one of my most highly-anticipated novels of 2025 for my first review of the year. Sadly, it didn’t come even close to living up to my expectations.

A Sea of Unspoken Things isn’t just a bad book: It’s a boring book. It’s a boring book that constantly put me to sleep and didn’t do anything new for the magical realism/paranormal fiction genre it occupies in the publishing sphere.

Adrienne Young has been a hit or miss author for me in the past. I didn’t like her YA novels but I loved Spells for Forgetting and The Unmaking of June Farrow. I had hoped this book would fall more in line with these latter titles, but I honestly felt like this book looked for its own plot the entire time I was reading it and never settled on one.

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

3.5⭐️
The first half really dragged and I honestly debated on DNFing, but I’m glad I pushed through. Around the halfway point the mystery finally got started and I was surprised at the end.
I know it wasn’t the point of the story, but the romance felt really shallow.

I don’t consider this a spoiler, but at the end of this book, James says something about how some art she had created feeling hollow and like she was just going through the motions. It’s a little funny that Adrienne Young wrote that because that’s exactly what this book feels like. It feels like an Adrienne Young book in some good ways - there’s a small town, a mystery, and the writing is beautiful overall - but it’s missing the heart I’ve come to know her books for. The worst offense though? This book was BORING.

There were times I thought the mystery was about to get really interesting, which kept me wanting to come back and read more. Unfortunately that quickly fizzled out each time. While the prose is lovely, there were times that listening to the dialogue on audio made me feel like I was watching characters in a video game where the player has to talk to each person in the town as a task. I also can’t say I felt attached to the romance at all.

I don’t think this is a bad book, but it’s also not as amazing as I really expected this would be.

Thank you to PRH Audio for the free audiobook!

The only thing James and Johnny Golden have ever had is each other. For as long as she can remember, James’s deep connection with her twin brother, Johnny, has gone beyond intuition—she can feel what he feels. So, when Johnny is killed in a tragic accident, James knows before her phone even rings that her brother is gone and that she’s alone—truly alone—for the first time in her life.

his is my first Adrienne Young book, and it did not disappoint! I really enjoyed Young's writing and her description of the town. She really captured the small town aspects and I enjoyed being able to picture all the locations within my mind. It gave dark, it gave creepy, mysterious all the things perfect for this genre.

It did take a little while for the story to pick up, hence why it wasn't a 5 star for me. I was really waiting for the action to happen, and then when it finally did it happened so quickly!

This book definitely kept me hooked and I ended up finishing the whole thing in 24. I can't wait to go back and read Young's other books.

Thank you so much Net Galley and RHPG for this E-Arc. A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young is out January 7th, 2025.

Overall, this was an enjoyable and fast-paced read. I felt like there was a strong and interesting plot which kept me wanting to read more. However, while the book was fast-paced, I felt there was a lack of suspense which took away from the twist at the end. I also didn’t feel connected to the characters and would have like some more details about them in order to fully immerse myself in the story. All that being said, I did enjoy this book and would definitely recommend it to others!

thank you to the publishers for an arc!

honestly pretty bummed I didn’t enjoy this more than I had hoped, because this sounded right up my alley and I was very excited for young’s writing. as expected, the writing and descriptions were beautiful and immersive, and the atmosphere of the story as a whole was super intriguing. unfortunately, the plot nor the characters weren’t as interesting to me… this was very very slow and I found myself really wondering where the plot was going. this didn’t feel much of a gripping mystery but was more of me just wondering where this was supposed to go… I think if we had some more time with johnny and his story, this would’ve been more interesting. there was a ton of potential here and I think readers can definitely expect to enjoy the writing and how atmospheric it is, but I needed more than that from the plot and the characters to truly be invested in the story

I was somewhat let down by this book. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it ended up feeling disappointing.

The pacing of the story was really slow, and it made it hard to stay engaged. For the first half of the book, it felt like nothing was happening, and everything seemed like filler until the mystery started to pick up. There were a few moments where I thought it might get better, but they never really went anywhere. The mystery itself was interesting, but the slow pacing made it hard to stay invested in the plot.

This was definitely a character-driven story, but unfortunately, all the characters were two-dimensional and felt flat. The main character, James, especially stood out as shallow. I just couldn’t connect with her. There was something about her that made it hard to take her seriously. She felt empty and lifeless to me. For example, when she faced emotional moments, her reactions didn’t feel believable or real. I'm not sure if that was intentional.

That said, the setting was pretty well done, and I did enjoy the atmosphere it created. The small town felt like a character in the story.

In the end, I was really hoping for more, but this book didn’t quite hit the mark. If you enjoy slower, character-driven stories, you might like it more than I did. But for me, the slow pacing and lackluster characters made it hard to stick with.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review

Immerse yourself in the dark of the forest…

James escaped her small hometown deep in the woods of Northern California & has built a life over the course of the past two decades roughly 350 miles south of it in San Francisco. But when her twin brother is killed, she heads back into her past & realizes that her connection with Johnny isn’t completely gone…

This is my second Adrienne Young book & let’s just say I’m a fan! Wow can she weave a complex plot, & the setting is phenomenal. The characters in this town came to life, the supernatural aspect of the twins’ relationship was mysterious & intriguing, & the romantic element of interacting with her first love again had me invested.

Thank you very much to NetGalley & Delacorte Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4.5⭐️s This is my first book by Adrienne Young. Personally, very pleased with her writing style. A Sea of Unspoken Things is a soft romance with a murder mystery. Not my typical read. Highly recommend if you want to branch into a murder mystery but appreciate a romantic element.

James’ twin brother Johnny has died. Everyone says it was probably an accident. Johnny was always going into the wood for his research. James doesn’t feel right about an accident though. She’s always had a different bond with Johnny. More than they typically say twins have. He’s not left her. Not yet. James believes Johnny may be leading her to something or someone. With the help of Micah; the only other person they both trusted, James goes searching for answers in the town she ran away from twenty years ago.

Thank you to @netgalley @adrienneyoungbooks, and @randomhouse for the advanced reader copy. It was such a pleasure to be able to read A Sea of Unspoken Things.
#aseaofunspokenthings #adrienneyoung #netgalley #mystreythriller #romance #scifielements #advancedreader #bookreview

A Sea of Unspoken Things is not your typical magical realism cozy mysterious read we usually get from Adrienne, BUT I honestly think it is time we stop putting her wriitng in a box and take this book for what it is. I absolutely enjoyed this one. It is a small town mystery that has similar vibes to her other books where there is a mystery to be solved, a deep connection to nature, and intense family dynamics. The writing I felt like was well done and I enjoyed the predictability and also the twists (what I failed to predict).

I think this book is rating low simply because too many people are going into this with different expectations that failed to deliver, but for those of you who enjoyed The Paper Palace, Bear, Where the Crawdads Sing, or even The God of the Woods, I would happily recommend this one.

We come into the story starting with a death announcement of the twin brother of our protagonist (James) who travels to the small town of Six Rivers to collect his things. She (James) discovers that Johnny's death may not have been related to a hunting accident after all, and stirs up past dirt that the town has silently kept hidden. Neighbors and even an old beau has a secret- and this was definitely a slower paced book but overall I enjoyed the final reveals near 25%.

Content: fade to black, a few f-words (not too bad), mystery/crime

I absolutely loved this book. I had high expectations since I also loved the Unmaking of June Farrow, but I enjoyed A Sea of Unspoken Things even more. We follow James as she returns to her small Northern CA hometown after many years away to deal with the death of her twin brother. I thought the pacing was perfect - I was immediately sucked in and though there were some slower parts throughout the book, I still could not put it down. Adrienne Young's prose is also beautiful and I loved the description of the forest and how it really felt alive. I would describe this as a mystery novel with supernatural and romantic aspects. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine for the ARC!

Adrienne Young has once again delivered a masterpiece in A Sea of Unspoken Things. This atmospheric and gripping novel plunges readers into a world where familial bonds, haunting secrets, and the relentless pursuit of truth converge.

The story follows James, a woman tethered to her twin brother Johnny by a connection that goes beyond mere intuition. When Johnny dies in a tragic accident, James is drawn back to Six Rivers, to settle his affairs. However, her arrival is anything but simple. Confronted by their shared ominous past and Micah—the only man she’s ever loved—James is forced to unravel Johnny’s mysterious life and the secrets he kept. As she delves deeper, she discovers that her connection to her brother isn’t entirely gone, raising questions about the days leading up to his death and forcing her to confront which truths should be revealed and which are better left buried.

In true Adrienne Young fashion, the setting of Six Rivers felt alive. Her vivid and transportive descriptions make the town feel both enchanting and foreboding. The characters are intricately crafted—relatable, complex, and unforgettable. James’s journey is one of pain and resilience, and her interactions with Micah bring depth and tension that heighten the story's stakes.

The pacing of the novel is perfectly executed. I was on the edge of my seat, devouring page after page as new revelations came to light. Just when I thought I’d figured something out, Young masterfully twisted the narrative, proving me wrong in the most satisfying way. Her writing style is immersive and evocative, seamlessly weaving together elements of surprise with a cohesive storyline that grips you from the first page to the last.

This is not a book to read in multiple sittings—it demands to be consumed in one. Everything fits together like a perfectly constructed puzzle, leaving no loose threads. A Sea of Unspoken Things is a must-read for fans of atmospheric mysteries and emotionally charged stories. It’s a book that will linger in your mind long after you’ve closed its pages.

Twins, James and Jonny Golden, have always had an unusual connection. When Johnny is killed in a tragic accident James knows he is gone before her phone even rings. Now she finds herself heading back to a town she swore she would never return to and a past she wishes she could forget. With the help of her first love, she begins to put her brother’s affairs in order only to discover Johnny may have had some secrets of his own. James soon realizes that her and Johnnys connection isn’t severed…is it her inability to let him go or is he trying to warn her from the other side.

A Sea of Unspoken Things explores family connections, lost loves, and the many secrets of a small town and its residents. As with many of Young’s novels the story combines past and present events as the full plot is slowly revealed. The novel provides a tense atmospheric setting among a small group of well developed characters. If you are a fan of Young’s work then this novel will not disappoint. There were definitely some twists and turns that kept me guessing right up to the last page.