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A review by erinnh
A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
In A Sea of Unspoken Things, James returns home to Six Rivers, an isolated logging town, in order to settle her twin brother’s affairs after his accidental death in the woods. She hasn’t been home in years, and not only is she having to face long buried emotions and secrets from her own past, she is starting to realize she may not have known her brother, Johnny, as well as she thought she did. Worse, she has a sinking feeling - an intuition - that his death wasn’t accidental. As James investigates Johnny’s death, she connects with faces old and new, as she tries to uncover the truth of what happened, and who Johnny really is.
While this novel is a short and engaging read, it has a slower pace. It has an intricate plot that slowly unravels, and there’s a lot of atmospheric writing and attention paid to the setting. You’ll enjoy this if you like books that take place in the sort of classic archetypal small rural towns. This novel also features some very minor elements of the supernatural, but they don’t feature prominently. Some themes include interconnectedness with one another and nature, familial relationships, returning home, grief and loss, and family secrets.
My personal favorite aspects of the books were the strong sense of place and the plot. I was especially entertained by the plot as the book got rolling, and I was drawn in by trying to solve the mystery of what happened (and the twists and turns that popped up along the way). I will say, there were a few times where I felt like the dialogue, small town elements, and romantic subplot got a bit corny and clichéd. But, the plot overshadows all of that, and I think the romantic subplot isn’t the main attraction anyway.
This is my second Adrienne Young novel. My first was The Unmaking of June Farrow. Both had intricate plots, so I think that is definitely a talent of hers. So far this book is my favorite of hers, and I look forward to trying more in the future. I would recommend to any readers who enjoy slow burning suspense novels with intricate plots, especially with small town settings and/or atmospheric settings.
*Thank you to NetGalley and Random House, Ballantine for providing an eARC to review!*
While this novel is a short and engaging read, it has a slower pace. It has an intricate plot that slowly unravels, and there’s a lot of atmospheric writing and attention paid to the setting. You’ll enjoy this if you like books that take place in the sort of classic archetypal small rural towns. This novel also features some very minor elements of the supernatural, but they don’t feature prominently. Some themes include interconnectedness with one another and nature, familial relationships, returning home, grief and loss, and family secrets.
My personal favorite aspects of the books were the strong sense of place and the plot. I was especially entertained by the plot as the book got rolling, and I was drawn in by trying to solve the mystery of what happened (and the twists and turns that popped up along the way). I will say, there were a few times where I felt like the dialogue, small town elements, and romantic subplot got a bit corny and clichéd. But, the plot overshadows all of that, and I think the romantic subplot isn’t the main attraction anyway.
This is my second Adrienne Young novel. My first was The Unmaking of June Farrow. Both had intricate plots, so I think that is definitely a talent of hers. So far this book is my favorite of hers, and I look forward to trying more in the future. I would recommend to any readers who enjoy slow burning suspense novels with intricate plots, especially with small town settings and/or atmospheric settings.
*Thank you to NetGalley and Random House, Ballantine for providing an eARC to review!*
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, and Murder