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A review by actuallyjusthanne
The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young
emotional
sad
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
3.5
This was such an interesting concept for a book! I didn't realize it was magical realism until I got into it, and it's been ages since I read a book with any sort of magical element to it, so it took me a while to get used to it. (some spoilers in this book review, I will flag the major ones but there may be some in the review at large because the book blurb gives away so little!)
The book was told in a split timeline: June Farrow from present day, andthen June Farrow from 75 years in the past. I thought the way the story was told made so much sense and really added to the experience of the story.
The writing was so well done: the way June narrated the story and thought and talked was so clear, in a way I haven't seen book narrators be in a while. Because she was the only perspective from this book, it was really easy to get into her mindset and see her point of view and why she made the decisions that she did. I also really loved the scenery and descriptions of all the settings throughout the book. June's narration did get a little exhausting at parts, but then again, whose internal monologue isn't?
The main thing that put my off the story was the magical element: I think I might literally just be too stupid to learn how that magic worked, because I really didn't understand the stakes at all. The time travel loop and how the 3 travel instances thing was so confusing to me and I still don't think I get it. I can tell it was very well done, I was just confused about how it worked.
I thought June's journey to discover her family history and her belonging was so beautifully done, and her romance with Eamon was so achingly beautiful and filled with longing. As someone deeply afraid of change and unknown, I thoughtJune's decision to stay in the present or go into the past was so well done. I am also a sucker for any book that explores the concept of family and the history/legacy of women in a family, which this book has in abundance.
At the core of the book, there is a murder mystery, but it wasn't explored until fairly late into the book, where the stakes were properly understood. It was really intriguing, but I felt like I didn't have enough context for where a lot of the motive came from, and it made the whole thing come out of nowhere.All the various ties of a small town and who knows who from June's "past" was a lot to process, and for June to be related to Caleb, who I thought was a minor character and who loved who and was related to who was very hard to follow. For someone who's already bad at names and characters, the split timeline was a nightmare for me, but that's a personal problem LOL.
All in all, I really liked the story but the magical elements went over my head a little bit. I would recommend it, and I completely see why a lot of people like it, but I probably wouldn't reread it again myself anytime soon. I'm glad I read it though: I feel like it really expanded my taste in books.
The book was told in a split timeline: June Farrow from present day, and
The writing was so well done: the way June narrated the story and thought and talked was so clear, in a way I haven't seen book narrators be in a while. Because she was the only perspective from this book, it was really easy to get into her mindset and see her point of view and why she made the decisions that she did. I also really loved the scenery and descriptions of all the settings throughout the book. June's narration did get a little exhausting at parts, but then again, whose internal monologue isn't?
The main thing that put my off the story was the magical element: I think I might literally just be too stupid to learn how that magic worked, because I really didn't understand the stakes at all. The time travel loop and how the 3 travel instances thing was so confusing to me and I still don't think I get it. I can tell it was very well done, I was just confused about how it worked.
I thought June's journey to discover her family history and her belonging was so beautifully done, and her romance with Eamon was so achingly beautiful and filled with longing. As someone deeply afraid of change and unknown, I thought
At the core of the book, there is a murder mystery, but it wasn't explored until fairly late into the book, where the stakes were properly understood. It was really intriguing, but I felt like I didn't have enough context for where a lot of the motive came from, and it made the whole thing come out of nowhere.
All in all, I really liked the story but the magical elements went over my head a little bit. I would recommend it, and I completely see why a lot of people like it, but I probably wouldn't reread it again myself anytime soon. I'm glad I read it though: I feel like it really expanded my taste in books.