Review: The Unmaking of June Farrow

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

Published By: Quercus Publishing
Publication Date: October 17, 2023
Date Read: August 8, 2025
Genre: Adult – Magical Realism / Mystery
Source: eARC from Netgalley
Format: E-Book
Pages: 336

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One woman risks everything to end her family’s centuries-old curse, solve her mother’s disappearance, and find love in this mesmerizing novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Spells for Forgetting.

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm—and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line for as long as anyone can remember. But June is determined to be the last of her name, and in turn, be first Farrow to never find love. The whole town knows of the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving her daughter, June, to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors. Everyone in Jasper is certain that it’s only a matter of time before she finds the same end, but June hasn’t told a single soul that it’s already begun.

After her grandmother’s death, a series of clues linking her mother’s disappearance to the town’s grim past emerge, leading June to a mysterious door. Behind it may lay the answer to the mysteries that have always lingered like a dark shadow over Jasper and the Farrows, but the further into the unknown she goes, the more her mind seems to unravel. Upon crossing the threshold, June embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but entangle her fate and her heart in a star-crossed love.

With The Unmaking of June Farrow, Adrienne Young delivers a brilliant story with romance, mystery, and a touch of the impossible—a story you will never forget.

“I couldn’t stop thinking that where we stood was the center of something, a place that created the kind of gravity that made galaxies.”

I’ve been a huge fan of Adrienne Young since I read her YA debut, Sky in the Deep, but honestly I put off this book for a long while. I read Adrienne’s adult debut, Spells for Forgetting, when it first released and honestly I was a little bit disappointed in it. So despite adoring all of her YA works, I was worried about going into another of her adult books. I needn’t have worried thought. This book was fantastic.

The Unmaking of June Farrow follows June, a young woman who has always been brought up knowing she was going to lose her mind. The women of her family are cursed to always see things that are not there, and go crazy. But after her grandmother dies, she find a photograph of her missing mother… only it’s from hundreds of years ago. She is suddenly thrown into the mystery of what actually happened with her family… and are they actually crazy.

This book was a super quick read for me. Regardless of the fact that I struggled with one of Adrienne’s previous books, I can never deny the fact that her writing is just absolutely gorgeous. It’s so whimsical and so easy to get lost in and June Farrow was no different. I very quickly found myself absorbed into this magical story of mental health, mystery and time travel. I personally am obsessed with time travel books so it’s no surprise that I loved this one.

My one gripe with this one is I did find some of it a little bit rushed. Once we got into the time travel aspect, I felt like we were speeding towards the conclusion at top speed. For me, this means that certain things felt rushed. The romance in particular. I really enjoyed the romance and the conclusion of it all, but it just didn’t feel like it had the time to naturally progress and so I didn’t feel overly connected to it emotionally. In addition to this, for such a complex storyline with different timelines and time loops and such, everything just seemed to wrap up a little bit too easily. I’m not sure I fully believed all of the outcomes, and I still do have some questions. I was just left feeling like it was a very simplistic wrap up to a very complex plotline and it just felt a little too easy and lack luster for me.

Overall, The Unmaking of June Farrow was a gorgeous story that transcends multiple timelines. I really loved the complexity of it but for me, it needed a little bit more towards the ending. I will forever be a Adrienne Young fangirl and I can’t wait to read more from her. Her writing is just everything! If you’ve been on the fence about this one, I do highly recommend that you pick this one up.

“You may have ruined my life, June. But first, you gave me one.”