Title: The Unmaking of June Farrow
Author: Adrienne Young
Source: DRC via NetGalley (Random House Publishing Group – Ballentine, Delacorte Press) in exchange for an honest review
Publication Date: October 17, 2023
Synopsis: Goodreads
Purchase Link: Amazon

Why did I choose to read this book?

While they tend to be hit or miss with me, I’m always drawn in by the potential of a good time travel story. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Recursion by Blake Crouch are two of my favorites. I want to know how authors perceive the flow of time and how they would navigate around any messes that time travel might cause.

I’m also a sucker for generational bullshit, which this book promised to have in abundance.

What is this book about?

This book is about sacrifice, but also not really sacrifice. It’s about making a choice that will bring you happiness but also protect those you love. This book is about combating a curse and finding balance across generations. I finished the book without an answer to the question “how did this multiverse situation even begin for the Farrow women?” and I think that’s the part that I was the most curious about. At its heart, this story asks a woman to choose what matters, and let go of everything else.

What is notable about this story?

It took me a minute but I eventually understood all the elements of the time travel mechanics. Where Marvel’s universe dealt with time travel as a “your past is now your present, your future is the past but also still the future,” Adrienne Young calls bullshit on that and shows us that the Farrows become psychologically torn apart if they travel through the red door. Their mind exists in two places, two timelines, almost to the point of schizophrenia, because their timelines are frayed and they can’t reconcile that. Time travel should have a cost, it should have consequences. Captain America shouldn’t get to go back in time and live the life he missed and exist alongside an earlier version of himself. I liked that this story made the multiverse seem more personally dangerous through the Farrow women’s stories.

No spoilers, but the character Caleb Rutherford is notable.

Was anything not so great?

Honestly I felt like this book went by too fast! I wish I could have had some side stories about the other Farrow women from their own perspectives. But if I’m being honest what drives the action is that most of the time June doesn’t really understand what is happening to her, and it’s her search for the same answers I wanted that lead her to her eventual destiny. So it’s a small wish rather than a critique: I wanted more time with these characters.

What’s the verdict?

Four stars on Goodreads. Guys, I could not stop reading this book. The mystery of the time travel, the events happening based on June’s actions, the characters – everything was compelling. I was invested in the characters and so I also cared about what was happening to them. This is an important element of a book for me, and it allows me to make a glowing recommendation to you, my reader! Definitely check this one out either through preorders or your local library because once it has you, this story will not let you go. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

Please Support Amanda and Angry Angel Books!

Enjoying the reviews? For only $3 a month you can become a supporter of Angry Angel Books on Patreon or Ko-Fi! Help keep this website ad free and fund book purchases that usually become library donations too! If a one-time show of support is more your style, Ko-Fi supports individual donations! Thank you for your support!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/angryangelbooks
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/angryangel_03