I loved it once again such an amazing book written by Adrienne Young! I loved it so much. Captivating from start to finish with the character and plot development beautifully written and executed.

James returns home to deal with the affairs of her twin brother, who unexpectedly died. But her time home opens old wounds and relationships, and she discovers more about her brother and herself than she ever knew before.

This was my first Adrienne Young book and I understand the hype! A Sea of Unspoken things leaves little unspoken with Young’s incredibly descriptive writing style! She captures the single point of view of our female main character and immerses you deeply in the mental and emotional world like you yourself are them!

This book sucked me in and spit me out when I finished reading. The mystery of her twin brother’s death haunts her, their twin bond creating doubts and worries for her, while her past and the secrets, lies, and avoidance of it are all catching up to her.

The pace is very slow and steady and nothing crazy jarring happens like a mystery-thriller, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t surprises and breadcrumbs that left you confused as the mystery unfolds. There were a few points I guessed rather quickly, but there were some I was highly mistaken on that left me shocked.

I highly recommend this book and I’m so glad I had a chance to read it through NetGalley and Random House Publishing.

A Sea of Unspoken Things is the sixth Adrienne Young novel I’ve read this past year. I started with Spells for Forgetting, and I loved it so much I also read June Farrow and the Fable series, so I was so excited when I got approved for the arc of A Sea of Unspoken Things. This brought me back to the vibes of Spells with a similar mystical setting, an isolated town, and a murder mystery to solve.

The FMC James has always had a connection with her twin brother, and felt it when he was killed. She has returned to their Northern California logging town to help wrap up the conservation photography project he was working on, and begins to unravel the events leading to his death. The forest is almost sentient for her, and she continues to see remnants of her brother’s past.

I loved the genre-blending of magical realism with a thriller murder mystery, and a Hallmark second chance romance. I really wasn’t sure what way the book was going to go for the first half, and did not see the twists coming at the end. This felt fresh, and really cemented Adrienne as an auto-buy author for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Delacorte for providing an eARC for my honest opinion.

I was so excited to be given the opportunity to review Adrienne Young's newest story. The one thing I can say about her stories is that they are always something new with a serious topic to explore. This story follows James and she is suffering from being the fixer of her family. Her twin brother Johnny and her share this twin connection where they can feel whatever each other is feeling. James was able to get away from the small logging town by her art skills and never looks back. But when her brother dies in a mysterious way, James can still feel him all around her. She tries to undercover the brother she thought she knew and discovers that there are many secrets kept in the trees. With the help of her old love, so you know there will be a hint of romance as well.
What I love about this book compare to Young's previous books is that a romantic relationship wasn't the center of the story. It was about sibling love and growing apart while still trying to hold onto who you use to be. James is a flawed character that is kind of moody and not what you would imagine for a main character. This is one of the reasons I love Adrienne Young, is because her main characters are relatable and you can identify traits of the characters in you. Even with the little bit of mystical elements this book is heavily focused on being in reality. James is dealing with the consequences of leaving the small town and leaving her chaotic brother there. She has this imagine of Johnny as the teenager she left and as the story goes on, you realize that life didn't stop when she left. And more importantly, her brother isn't the care free, boy next door that she always labeled him as.
I appreciate that this story doesn't tie every lose end and there are some issues that will never be able to be resolved. The mystery never fully gets solved but what needed to be said and discovered has answers. I appreciate that there isn't one person who is a complete villain but everyone has motives for why they do what they do. This feels more grounded and you are left satisfied but also a feeling like the story will continue on without you reading it. I felt like these small coastal towns have a charm that Young continues to capture while giving us fresh stories of individuals that feel like they could be our friends or loved ones.

When James' twin brother Johnny dies, she comes home to the town she left when she was 18, and has to deal not only with losing him, but with the life she left behind.

Describing the plot of this book almost feels beside the point. There are mysteries that get solved and old wounds that begin to heal, but this book has the feel of grief: of things happening through a curtain of remove, actions only feeling clearer in retrospect. If grief is a mood, I think this book captures it so well. James is a character who feels incredibly realistically drawn as someone who has experienced a lot of trauma and not had the support or space to deal with it. Micah is an incredibly sweet love interest, and there's a sense that he has spent a lot of time trying to grow from their teenaged years.

I would really recommend this to anyone who wants to reflect on love and grief and how trauma can shape us at the edges.

4.5 Stars

I love anything and everything Adrienne writes because it is so fully immersive and you genuine feel like you’ve been sucked into the time and place that she is writing. Moody and atmospheric, A Sea of Unspoken Things is the gripping story of finding home while also being terrified of the truths you might uncover while on that journey.

James and Johnny are twins and when Johnny died from an accidental hunting incident, Hames is forced to return to their small forest town in the north of California. As she tried to piece together what happened to Johnny, James starts to unravel uncomfortable truths about herself, Johnny, their hometown, her first love, and the community as a whole.

Part thriller, part mystery, this story has moments of romance and magical realism making the whole reading experience feel otherworldly. The bond of twins is one the author knows herself, and to read this story knowing that really hits you in the feels.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me.

While I did like the writing and I thought the atmosphere that Adrienne was setting was done really well, I just felt this fell flat.

The pacing was very slow, which made me not connect with the characters. I felt like I had to force myself to pick this up to finish.

The pacing did not pick until the 70% mark, which made the ending feel very rushed.

Thank you Randomhouse and NetGalley for this eARC.

A Sea of Unspoken Things
by Adrienne Young
Pub Date: Jan 07 2025

A Sea of Unspoken Things is a captivating novel, it took awhile to pick up but when it did, WOW!

It goes from the past to the present and back and forth while James attempts to unravel her brother, Johnny's final days. You will love the mystery that unfolds in this story. I highly recommend this 5 star read!

Synopsis:
A woman investigates her brother's mysterious death while coming to terms with her own haunting past. 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.

Many thanks to #ASeaofUnspokenThings #NetGalley and #RandomHousePublishingGroup-Ballantine for providing me with an E-ARC of this fabulous 5 STAR book!

This was tragic and beautiful. Adrienne Young has such a precise way of writing a story that will pull out your heart…and this is no exception. I felt like I was a part of this town, and then everything wove together perfectly at the end.

Chefs kiss. No suggestions.

As always, Adrienne Young's writing is absolutely beautiful and atmospheric. Young transports you to Six Rivers with James Golden as she returns to the town she grew up in to sort through her recently deceased twin brother's life. Her motives are two-fold: finish compiling Johnny's work on a conservation project in the surrounding forestry and determine if his death truly was an accident.

As the story unfolds, James attempts to unravel Johnny's final days. We're introduced to a wide array of characters who continue to flesh-out throughout the book as we learn their history with the Golden twins. What caused James to flee the town as soon as she could at the age of 18? What was Johnny doing in the gorge the day of his death? Was there something nefarious afoot?

The mystery will grip you as secrets are unearthed from the past and present. The town and nature surrounding it feel like an additional character in it's own right. Tension is jumping off the page from the palpable oppression of the forest surrounding Six Rivers.

There's a touch of magic realism laced within the pages as James continues to feel Johnny's presence in every part of Six Rivers. It evokes the question that keeps coming up: what the fuck are we even here for?

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the advance digital copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This story is a heartfelt mix of love, loss, and hidden truths. The bond between the main character and her twin brother is touching, and the small-town setting adds to the mystery. While the plot is interesting, some parts feel a little slow or not fully explained. Still, it’s a good read for anyone who enjoys emotional stories with a bit of suspense.

[4.25 Stars😍]

✨||“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.”||✨

A Sea of Unspoken Things was my second book by Adrienne Young, and I loved the haunting and atmospheric feel of this winding mystery. The writing was lush and lyrical, and the magical realism was so well done that it felt like I was experiencing everything that James’s point of view invoked.

While the beginning felt slow and the mystery took a while to develop, the story eventually took off and it became really difficult to put down! I also really enjoyed the slow burn rekindling of James’s and Micah’s romance even though it was more of a subplot, but it had no less of an impact. Adrienne Young balanced all of the elements so well and crafted an incredible story full of intrigue, romance, and emotional depth. I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!

+Thank you to Netgalley, Random House, and Adrienne Young for the ARC of A Sea of Unspoken Things! All thoughts in this review are my own.
____________________________________
Details:
🦄Fantasy
🕵🏻‍♀️Mystery
👀Single, first-person POV
⛈️Darker themes and elements
💫Magical realism
💖Romance
🙌Would re-read

Characters and tropes:
🪢Family ties
📍Forced proximity
🛏️Only one bed
🪃Return to hometown
💞Second-chance romance
🤐Secrets

Spice:
🧨Slow burn
💋Spice: mild
____________________________________
Emoji Ranking System:
🤩Excellent to Fantastic (4.75-5.00)
😍Very Good to Great (4.25-4.50)
😊Good to Really Good (3.50-4.00)
😒Just OK to Decent (2.75-3.25)
😑It's A No (1.00-2.50)
🚫DNF

Rating: 4 Stars

I've read a few of Adrienne Young's books now, so I thought I knew what to expect when going into this one. Not so! The other books I've read by her have been heavy on the magic.. so much that I'd hesitate to call it magical realism, and not stick it right into fantasy.

This book was not that! Once I realized that there was no major magic happening here, I was able to accept this novel for what it is - a mystery. Sure, there's some ghosty-twin things happening throughout the novel, but at the heart of it, it is a mystery. I think I liked it the better for that.

I had some quibbles with the pacing of the book and the delivery of information, but I read this book SO FAST, absolutely devoured it, so really, I'm not complaining at all. It was a good small-town mystery, with a bit of ghosts and a lot of drama, and I enjoyed it all.

I think we can all agree that June Farrow blew us away last year? It was one of my 2023 favorites out of over 300 books I read. And it truly pains me to give this such a mid rating, but I’m not totally surprised since I felt the same about Spells for Forgetting.

No one can deny that Young is a master at creating atmosphere. Plus her writing is so beautiful and subtle. There were a lot of gorgeous lines I highlighted while reading. But the plot? Incredibly dull for a murder mystery. I also found the romantic subplot incredibly underwhelming for someone that gave us June. I figured out the mystery pretty early in, which was a bummer but nothing new for me. Everything does come together in an organic way, though. I mean at a literal glacial pace, but this is at least a short read. If you read Middletide by Sarah Crouch, I found this extremely similar.

Overall, Young is a master wordsmith and I never feel so transported to the pages of a story than when I’m reading her books. But pretty words can only hold my interest for so long.

Young has become one of my must-read authors. All I need is to see her name on the cover and I'm jumping in. These adult mysteries with touches of magic have been so much fun to read and A Sea of Unspoken Things is no different.

This book unfolds slowly, drawing you into the tiny town in the middle of a forest. The setting is amazing and does a lot for getting you into the main character's mindset. I enjoyed seeing the flashbacks of James growing up with Johnny and Micah and how it all led to her leaving for two decades.

The mystery was interesting and I liked the little clues here and there. Smoke was obviously my favorite character, who wouldn't want a dog (wolf?) as a companion?

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the copy.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC of “A Sea of Unspoken Things” by Adrienne Young. Young is known most for her magical love stories, however this novel seemed darker than previous novels. I thoroughly enjoyed that!! This is for anyone who doesn’t mind a romance, but prefers a dark mystery. This was just up my alley! I absolutely loved this novel!

This was unlike her other books. More of a mystery, less magical realism. Slow mystery. Just ok.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced release copy in exchange for and honest review.

I went into this expecting soft, flowy, Spells for Forgetting. What I got was deep, dark forests filled with longing and mystery. I am always and forever touched by Adrienne’s lyrical words. Her characters are strong, flawed and believable. I’m still a bit on the fence about this one and I think it’s because I keep comparing it to June Farrow, which is unfair. On it own, this book is a masterpiece. It’s a brilliant unraveling of a ball of yarn picked apart thread by thread. It’s twisty, it’s full of suspense. What it lacks in supernatural elements, it makes up for in human emotion.

This book was super interesting. I love the way Adrienne narrates a scene, however this book was just a little too dark for me and I was left craving my mindless fluff of romance that I normally read.

Adrienne Young writes prose like no other. Her dark, atmospheric writing gives you a real sense of place in the small town/forest that is the center of this novel/mystery. I had to fight with myself to slow down and savor this book as I also wanted to simultaneously turn the pages as quickly as possible. This book deals with grief, secrets, flashbacks, and a teensy tiny bit of magical realism, and I loved everything about it.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A Sea of Unspoken Things releases on January 7, 2025: do yourself a favor and put it on your TBR list NOW.