Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - The Unmaking of June Farrow

This one was so confusing, which was actually fitting because it felt like you were reacting right along with the MC. Made my brain hurt, but in a good way. Part murder mystery, part time travel, very well written with a vivid setting and characters.

Content Warnings

mandi_lea's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

whatbeccareadnext's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Adrienne Young writes the most beautiful prose. I adored this novel. It was a little bit outside of my usual genre, but I was absolutely captivated by the mystery and magic of June's life. I read Adrienne's other adult novel 'Spells for Forgetting' when it came out last year and, although I did enjoy it, it wasn't something I found myself thinking about or wanting to read again. This story, however, had me hooked all the way through. It is relatively short, which helped keep the story moving at a good pace, and it is full of intrigue and mystery and just a dash of romance.

Content Warnings

thesonnetsilence's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. It is a top 5 read of the year for me.

As a loving mother of a 4-year-old daughter and a wife of a dedicated husband, this book struck so many chords with me. I was sobbing by the end of it.

The romance and love in the book felt so genuine and true to life for me. The setting of the book was breathtaking and so vividly written. And the writing in general was so beautiful, I didn’t want to stop reading.

I too was a tad confused with the time travel element, however I loved everything else about this book so much, I doesn’t even matter to me. I’m so happy I was able to experience this story, and look forward to more from this author in the future.

Content Warnings

bbmckibben's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

lex_is_bookish's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

loved loved LOVED Young's second adult title 🥹 this book gave me chest pains and honestly kept me guessing!

the love scene between june and eamon was BEAUTIFUL and sexy and shredded me

Content Warnings

mjscooke's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

If you aren't afraid of any content warnings and are willing to go in fairly blind then I recommend doing so as this book is especially delightful when you experience it without any expectations. If you want to know more - which you probably do if you are reading reviews - then let's step through the red door.

June Farrow comes from a line of women who are cursed. A curse that leads to madness and when her grandmother dies her world begins to unravel just as those of the women before her. Then when she crosses the threshold of the mysterious red door everything begins to fall into place.

Adrienne Young weaves the magical elements throughout the real world North Carolina setting in a way that had me challenging my own skepticism as I related to June. The small town vibes with big emotional stakes are Young's forte and I felt completely swept away in this beautiful story, So much so that despite having the privilege of receiving a digital advanced reading copy I plan to purchase the special edition of this special book as I enjoyed it so much.

Content Warnings

bringmybooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thank you to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, & Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

B̷R̷I̷N̷G̷ ✨ 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪 ✨ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷

FIRST THINGS FIRST, I DO RECOMMEND THIS BOOK EVEN THOUGH MOST OF THIS REVIEW SOUNDS LIKE I DON’T

Second things second, although I really liked reading this, there were things that could have made it stronger.

Similar to other books by Adrienne Young (Fable, Saint, Spells for Forgetting), there are a lot of references to things that have happened in the past that could have had a lot more impact had their been (more) flashbacks, or even dual timelines / diary entries, something. I’m being SHOWN things that are happening in the current story, but I’m being TOLD about things that have a lot of bearing on what’s currently happening and that disconnect keeps me from ever being fully invested in the story, if that makes sense?

Also, in the name of all things Aslan, can we please please please stop using “I can’t tell you the answer to the direct question you’re asking me because it’s too dangerous” when it is, in fact, not too dangerous and makes literally zero sense because you’re now putting the character in more danger because they have literally no idea what’s going on?

(Also also, at a certain point I legitimately just stopped trying to make the fantasy aspects make sense because they didn’t and it made me happier just to pretend I understood and keep reading.)

But all of that being said - I loved the idea of this book and even if it’s not going to be a forever favorite, I still really enjoyed reading it and there were one or two things that were legitimately jaw dropping moments and I LOVE having that in books!

Content Warnings

More...