cari♡'s Reviews > The Unmaking of June Farrow

i did not have a good time reading this. 💀

for starters, this book is pitched as magical realism but it's really more like watered down diet sci-fi. the "curse" was extremely convoluted, and utilized a trope that i, personally, don't enjoy; and dear God did this book drag. it dragged like that alien will smith hauled through the desert in Independence Day. it felt so bogged down in mundane details given to us via a very passive narrator who felt about as substantial as a flat stanley doll.

june never felt much like a real participant in the story; to me it always felt like she was just... there. while Young has decent enough prose and does a good job of describing emotions, they still manage to fall flat because the character of june farrow is so "meh" that i didn't really connect the emotions to her. this book was written in first person, so that definitely doomed the rating for this out the gate. another issue i had regarding plot was that ultimately, all the mysteries of the story could have been resolved in about five minutes with a bit of communication from other characters. you cannot build a plot out of "everyone else knows everything that's going on but they just refuse to tell the protagonist because we need the word count." that does not make for an intriguing mystery, it's just dumb and annoying. there is also zero explanation for the origins of the farrow curse, and the resolution to it really felt more like half a resolution, which i found greatly unsatisfying.

the romance was another strike against the story, since june and eamon have no chemistry to speak of. their entire love story is built upon a life thst June remembers but did not technically live (like i said, the story is convoluted) and it just didn't make the romance come alive for me. even her relationship to annie was severely lacking, since the girl only spoke to her about three times. these relationships in june's life all felt like someone put up plywood walls for a house but forgot the sturdy foundation underneath. the weird mention of a semi-love triangle was also wildly unnecessary and i feel entitled to financial compensation for even having to deal with it at all.

the one point i will award in the book's favor is that the settings were well done; i did find the town of jasper to feel immersive and tangible. unfortunately, nice aesthetic does not a solid read make. i was annoyed and bored throughout the story, and am pretty sure that a week from now i won't remember hardly any details of it. I would happily walk through the red door myself if it meant i could get back the time i spent on this book.

thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for giving me a free arc in exchange for an honest review.