Book Review: The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

November 21, 2025

I adored this book. It’s been on my list for a long time, and really my only complaint is that I feel like I should have read it in the summer. The atmosphere is very summer focused and painted so beautifully that listening to it on a cold and gloomy day made it slightly less enjoyable than it could have been. That being said, I deeply enjoyed the magic, the mystery, and the atmosphere of this whole book. I will say, there were moments that felt like they were stretched out for dramatic effect, and I didn’t feel like they really needed to be. For example, things were kept from June about herself that didn’t really feel like they should have been. While it may have added to the story, it was almost a little annoying as the reader, knowing that things were being kept from her unnecessarily.

We follow the story of a woman named June who is part of a family of women who have been labeled as insane. Before she has any memories, her mother left her in the care of her grandmother, and left her there. It was said that she threw herself off the falls. There were multiple times that she showed up and disappeared out of nowhere, and people had stories of her losing her mind. June assumed the same fate was headed her way, especially when she started experiencing hallucinations, both auditory and visual, about a year before we meet her. She has her grandmother, and her grandmothers dearest friend, Birdie, there to help her through it, but she feels like she can handle it and doesn’t want to worry her grandmother as her health is failing her. But there is much to worry about. June has been seeing a man lurking in shadows, she has been waking up from dreams that feel a little too vivid, and she’s been seeing a red door. After her grandmother passes, she is given the locket that has been passed down for generations, along with a letter and a picture of her mother from decades before she should have been born. As her heart aches from the loss, her mind is unraveling, as is her grip on reality.

The sci-fi elements of this story feels rich and believable, the romance feels dynamic and emotional, the familial ties feel deep and intimate. I loved the characters and the story. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a romantic story where the characters find themselves and there are twists and turns.