A review by magpienicky
The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I don’t get the hype and I’m apparently in the vast minority.

It started as a really interesting premise, but then fell flat. It’s like the author watched the show Dark and decided to make a less interesting, watered down version of it. 

I don’t usually write bad reviews, however *cracks knuckles* these are the glaring plot holes that I take issue with:

• June becomes a passive character once she goes through the door and there’s really no character growth or development for anyone in the book. Like, girl, why aren’t you pitching more of a fit to find out what these people are keeping from you? Why aren’t you asking more questions about this family curse?


• The curse is never explained, we get no mythology or creation story as to why or how it came to happen to the Fallow Women. The locket’s origin and why it works is never explained. How does it work? How can it cancel out paradoxes? Who told the family the rules?


• Speaking of curses, how come there is no mention of the *struggle* one would have to suddenly be thrust into a world without modern conveniences and technology? Why isn’t June looking for her smart phone 157 times a day before realizing it’s 1951? This alone made my suspension of disbelief find its own red door and travel to a better story.


• If Margaret grew up seeing what happened to Susanna and her own mother, and knew what June did to stop the splitting, why would she ever go through the door herself? Why wouldn’t they warn Susanna?


• The Birdie connection was super obvious and I guessed it halfway through, then spent the rest of the novel waiting for That Moment™️ to come that would blow me away. Spoiler alert - it never comes.


• For a small town that talks, why does no one ever seem to say, what a minute, there was a woman named Susanna in 1920 that looks *exactly* like this Susanna? Or same with June?


• Also, I guess June died in her 60s, because she wouldn’t be able to exist the same time she was born. Also, did Susanna know that June was her daughter? What was their relationship like?


• I still don’t understand what June saw in Eamon. There’s nothing charming or endearing about him. The two have only remembered romance, but in the past-present, there’s no chemistry, tenderness, or flirtation. The whole relationship felt flat. I’m team Mason forever.


• Poor Mason. His story with June is never fully realized, and they definitely have chemistry. Also, how does June know he ends up happy and in love in the future?


• The three passes rule and the loophole can’t be reconciled and when you go down that rabbit hole of logic (and trust me dear reader, I have and then deleted it, because this review has to end somewhere) it just never makes sense. So much doesn’t make sense.


I could go on, but you could just read it yourself and drive yourself silly asking questions more along these lines. Or don’t read it and instead read better time travel books such as This Time Tomorrow or Sea of Tranquility. I’d even recommend Oona Out of Order over this. 

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