Adrienne Young is a master of her craft. The imagery of the title and cover is present throughout the novel. From the somewhat magical connection of James and her twin Johnny, who recently passed away, James feels that he is leading her to find out if the cause of death was a hunting accident or something more sinister. Did Johnny himself get involved in something shady given his unpredictable and sometimes volatile personality? There are so many things left unsaid between her, Johnny, their best friend Micah, and other members from their friend group when James fled town for art school twenty years ago. It seems like everyone in the town is keeping secrets. The prose is beautiful, and the pacing kept me fully engaged from beginning to end. Be prepared for some wakes at sea - the water could get a little choppy! Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Adrienne Young for an advance reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the eARC of A Sea of Unspoken Things in exchange for an honest review.

This novel follows James Golden as she navigates the aftermath of her twin brother's sudden death and her own past she's fought to keep buried. James and Johnny have always had an eerie connection into what one another was feeling, so when James felt his death, she was not surprised when she received the call a that Johnny had passed. However, it is her first time since high school she will step foot in her tight knit hometown of Six Rivers, California since she moved to San Francisco and never looked back. When she arrives and begins feeling her brother's presence everywhere, it seems history is repeating itself in more ways than one. Can James face her past, grieve her brother, and decide her future?

I discovered Adrienne Young during a "support local authors" phase of my life and she has quickly become an auto-buy author for me. A Sea of Unspoken Things did not disappoint. It was absolutely beautiful. I loved how complicated James and Johnny's relationship was. They were siblings who would do absolutely anything for each other but did not speak every day, and often felt they did not truly know one another. I think a lot of people can empathize with that. I loved how the mystery surrounding Johnny's death unfolded - I had guesses about where it was going but none of my guesses were solid enough to figure it out.

The beginning definitely starts out a bit slow and it picks up half way through. If you loved Young's Spells For Forgetting - this one is for you. This book also taught me some interesting things - logically I know there are many places and towns and cities with the same name. However this one threw me a few times. The setting for this book is a real place - Six Rivers is a national forest on the California/Oregon border, there is a town in California (not North Carolina) called Fort Bragg, and Eureka is closest to Six Rivers. I know Young typically does this with her books - picks a setting with places inspired by, but reading Fort Bragg and thinking she was putting a "fake" town from NC in Northern California was throwing me while reading. It's not -it's real. Two places, same name.

Anyway, I loved this. You should read it. It's amazing. You'll cry.

At first I struggled to get into this book, but it was worth sticking out. James returns to a small town after her brothers death. She feels a deep connection to her twin brother Johnny, so much she felt the moment he died. She feels theres more to her brother’s death and is there to investigate what happened. She has to face the fact that she may not her brother the way she thought. This book will keep you wondering what will happen? And will James get her answers?

Thank you Netgalley and Random House for the ARC of The Sea of Unspoken Things for a honest review.

Call it twin intuition, if you will. An uncanny sense of high emotion moments in each others lives. James has had this with her twin brother, Johnny. So it is no surprise to her that she feels the moment he is killed in a tragic accident, hours before she gets the call that he’s gone.

James finds herself returning to the small logging town of Six Rivers to wrap up Johnny’s affairs - including the job he was doing documenting and photographing local wildlife for a conservation. At least… that’s the excuse she gives everyone for returning. Returning to Six Rivers means she has to face her past, the friends she left behind, and all that could have been. But everywhere she turns, she feels echoes of her brother in the town, in his belongings, that lead her to believe that her brother’s accident may not have been an accident at all.

I love reading Adrienne Young’s work. She does a great job of balancing magical realism into her plots that feels almost natural. You almost don’t think to question the connection James feels to Johnny - because twin intuition is a thing that we have all heard of, even in passing. For it to evolve into something magical is a very small leap for us readers to make. She manages to express the feel of a small town and all the closeness and scrutiny a small town provides without becoming cliche. I really enjoyed James’s journey into discovering who her brother was and her growth as a character.

Final rating: 3.5 ⭐️

Recommend if you like: small town mystery, magical realism, twin connection

I'm a huge fan of Adrienne's but this one gave me pause at first - my brother is my favorite person in the world and the idea of something happening to him is the worst thing I can think of - but I am glad I gave it a chance! As usual, Adrienne excels at writing a fraught homecoming to a place with atmosphere and secrets for days. The twists here were excellent too; one had my stomach dropping and I was still guessing up to the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This story was so intriguing and just grabs you from the start. This is essentially a murder mystery with a little bit of magical realism, at least I think it is. It's not so magical as The Unmaking of June Farrow, but it had bits and pieces that were more fantastical imo.

But I will say that I had some issues with this story being heavy in description and introspection. There was a lot of pages where nothing was really happening, it was just the FMC working through stuff in her head or thinking about to stuff that happened in the past. That made my reading of this book slow down a bit because it didn't flow quite as much as I think it could have.

And I also think that the FMC came across a little flat at times, not a lot of personality to speak of. It got better as the book progressed, and they may have just been a byproduct of what was happening in the book and her kind of shutting down, but I wish she had a little more spark to her.

But those issues aside, I was totally invested in the story and figuring out what happened so still incredibly enjoyable.

I was SO excited to get my hands on this one after reading, and LOVING, The Unmaking of June Farrow! This one was a perfect read for spooky season as someone who is horror intolerant - a small town murder mystery with a touch of paranormal activity and a slow unveiling of family secrets. You’ve got a haunting, ominous setting and a perplexing mystery - spooky, but not scary! The description of the setting is beautifully written and the forest itself takes on a compelling character role throughout the story. The plot of this one is much more of a gradual unfolding of secrets in a small town vs. your typical fast-paced thriller. I do think the slower pace was fitting for the setting, but I felt like it needed to speed up sooner to keep the reader fully invested. I found myself getting a bit bored in the 30-50% range, but it did pick up in the second half and I can honestly say I didn’t find the mystery aspect to be predictable at all. I was very much needing answers and it kept me turning the pages! My main criticism is there wasn’t as much magical realism as I was expecting - there was the presence of a ghost seemingly leading the protagonist toward clues that may solve his death; however, the ghostly presence was pretty minimal IMO. If you like slow burn family dramas, moody murder mysteries, and chilling/dark settings, this one is for you!

A special thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and especially to Adrienne Young for the honor of reading this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest, thoughtful review 🤍

This book was a great quick read. I found parts a little slow and overdone but overall I think the character development was solid, I felt the tension between James and her brother and the history and backstory really helped with the story!

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this! 4.5/5 stars.
I have Adrienne Young's last book but hadn't opened it: this drew me in though. Small town mystery, magical realism, and some side of romance? Right up my alley
Loved the magical realism. The idea that Johnny was slowly 'helping' James through supernatural elements and twincense was just really interesting. I loved how polar opposite and yet so starkly similar Johnny/James were. I love how James had been defined for so long on her need to support her brother and him her. It really highlighted this tragic dependency in a way that was very approachable.
I thought the dual mysteries (Johnny and Autumn) were really well done: there were just enough clues to keep you interested, not too many red herrings, no lying narrator, and an ending that I didn't see coming but worked. The romance between James/Micah really fed into the story quite well and, although really PG-13, the tension between them was really palpable.
But I think what worked best for this was the setting. Setting can in a lot of ways be a character, and Young excelled at this: you were IN that small town. You were in the gorge, in the forest, surrounded by slightly creepy but completely overwhelming nature: it was expressionism in a way I haven't experienced in awhile. It just REALLY worked: I think this story might be half as good if set anywhere else.
Overall, I devoured and loved this.

A Sea of Unspoken Things is the latest novel by Adrienne Young, the author of The Unmaking of June Farrow. This is a dark, atmospheric mystery featuring an artist, James, trying to investigate her twin brother, Johnny’s suspicious death. Initially I was very interested in the intense connection between the twins. However the character development and plot pacing felt slow, and I found it challenging to empathize with James, as she returns to her rural hometown after running away from her past 20 years earlier. My favorite character was James’ former high school boyfriend and current love interest, Micah, who took over watching out for Johnny when James left town. The action picked up in the second half of the novel, but the loose ends were tied up almost too quickly. I had high expectations for this novel, which is why I am left feeling somewhat disappointed.
3.5/5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

James and Johnny Golden are twins with a unique, deep connection. So before the phone even rang, James knew Johnny was gone. Johnny’s death prompts James to return to her small, rural town, Hawthorne, CA, after 2 decades. James is determined to find out what happened to Johnny. Even though his death has been ruled an accident, James feels like Johnny is giving her clues that there may be more to the story. She is determined to find out the truth, but to do that, she must also face her past.

A Sea of Unspoken Things is a captivating small town mystery with lots of twists and turns and a touch of magical realism. The way James could see glimpses of what Johnny saw and feel what he felt gave an interesting perspective to the story. The beginning of the story felt a little slow as the background was being set but then it becomes unputdownable because you’re dying to know what happened! Another great book by Adrienne Young.

Thank to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for the opportunity to read an ARC of A Sea of Unspoken Things in exchange for my honest review.

4 ⭐️ By the author of the Unmaking of June Farrow, this one doesn’t have the same kind of mind bending twists which I loved in June Farrow. I enjoyed this story, though it was sort of predictable.

James Golden returns to her hometown after the accidental death of her twin brother Johnny. She begins to wrap up the loose ends of her brother’s research work and reconnects after 20 years with her old love, Micah. She seems to be haunted by the strong twin connection she shared with her brother, even seeing his ghost. Several mysteries about Johnny’s death and a missing person take a few turns, but the ending gets wrapped up nicely.

I enjoyed the writing, the characters and the woodsy setting in Hawthorne, CA. It’s a decent mystery.

Thank you NetGalley and Quercus publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have been a fan of Adrienne Young’s writing since her first published book and this book has me keeping her as a one click author. Each new book Young releases is so beautifully written and the world building so wonderful that you become immersed in her stories. The characters are so personable and real that you have no doubt that you could run into them on the street.

A Sea of Unspoken Things is the newest release by Young and filled with such haunting beauty and emotions that I couldn’t put it down. James Golden has just returned to her home town of Six Rivers, California in the wake of her twin brother’s untimely death. Johnny’s death was deemed an accident by local authorities but there is more to Johnny’s death and James is there to get answers under the guise of collecting the research and photos for the nature project her brother was working on. While settling her brother’s affairs James is thrown back to all the emotions and feelings of her high school self when she is brought face to face with her brother’s best friend, and her former boyfriend, Micah. Each time the two of them are thrown together the emotions only grow stronger and the memories come more steadily but the mysteries of just who her brother actually was seem to be growing too.

A Sea of Unspoken Things deals with some heavy things but Adrienne Young gives these feelings and emotions such beauty.

A Sea Of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for the ARC Copy of A Sea of Unspoken Things. We fell in love with The Unmaking of June Farrow (our favorite book club read of the year) and knew we had to try for Young’s latest!

Our favorite part of Young’s writing style is her descriptive imagery. We were completely immersed in the woodsy, brisk California logging town which is the backdrop for this small town mystery. Like June Farrow, there are supernatural elements to the thrill of finding out the truth behind Johnny’s death.

James is our FMC who unexpectedly lost her twin brother Johnny to a gunshot wound in the forest. While the investigator believes this to be an accidental hunting-related shooting, James has an intuition that this is not the case. James fled her small town for art school and is now forced to confront her past as she searches to uncover clues about Johnny’s mysterious death.

A Sea Of Unspoken Things is a comforting mystery read that we could not put down. We also could NOT guess the ending!! This always elevates our experience reading a mystery! We’ve only read two of her books, but Young is an excellent author and we will likely give any of her books a chance based on her writing style alone! Look for its release January 7th on publishing day!

A moody, small-town mystery centering on family mysteries and the things that we leave behind. I adore Young's writing so much. She is a master at setting a scene and bringing a world to life. I loved exploring Hawthorne and learning about these characters. A perfect autumn read!

Loved it. This was everything I wanted in a book that has such an important setting to me. Everything about it was phenomenal. The plot kept me guessing the entire book and tension was there the entire book. Everything in the setting was spot as dar as the vibes and environment. The feelings and sensations in those forests are close to home. It is everything I expect from You g's adult novels making her an autobuy author.

Only 2 tiny typos I noticed.

4.5 Stars || How far would you go to protect your family? Adrienne Young delivered yet another twist-filled mystery that had me on the edge of my seat.
A Sea of Unspoken things focuses on the FMC trying to figure out what happened to her brother and how he died. Along the way she uncovers things that her brother did, as well as brings up a past she would rather forget.
This book captured my attention from the very beginning with Young’s incredible atmospheric writing style. The only reason it’s not getting 5 stars from me is because I figured out half the ending 60% of the way through the book. Overall I loved this and would highly recommend.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really loved this story and how it gripped me from the beginning. The pacing was great and when it picked up, it was hard to put down. Anything Adrienne writes allows you to dive into the story and atmosphere. Moody mystery small town vibes. Perfect for autumn reads.

Adrienne Young has done it AGAIN

This captivating small town mystery will have you completely enthralled and planted in your favorite reading spot until you hit the end!

Okay, I read that in almost one sitting! I was so drawn in with the murder mystery, the mysterious and claustrophobic forest town, and all the secrets the characters kept. Adrienne Young’s writing never fails to captivate me, even when the plot is a bit slower. She really focuses on the atmosphere and the tension of secrets in this book, so don’t expect a lot of action or dialogue or focus on the romance. But nevertheless, it took me on a JOURNEY, and I couldn’t look away. Another win from Adrienne Young!

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 5
Plot/Movement: 4
Character Development: 5
Overall: 5

Thank you, Ballantine, for the arc!

Trigger/Content Warnings: fade to black, swearing, murder