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I may be in a reading slump after this one, but it was worth it! The Unmaking of June Farrow is easily my favorite book I read this year. It had everything I wanted and more. I recommend you add this to your TBR ASAP!
Overview:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐5 out of 5 stars
Themes: Family, motherhood, time travel, and murder.
Summary:
The book is told from the POV of June Farrow, a woman living in Jasper, North Carolina, in 2023. With the death of her grandmother, June begins investigating her own mother's disappearance. The women in her family have a strange history of odd disappearances and suicidal tendencies. June's mother was no exception. June has begun having hallucinations and hearing voices, which has her worried that the onset of her mental decline has already started.
Spoiler Free Review:
I may be obsessed with this book. It had the perfect amount of mystery, murder, and romance. The characters came to life off the page, and I was quickly thrown into their world! The plot twists were insane, and I could not put it down.
***Spoilers ahead! Read at your own risk :)***
Plot:
The plot was what initially drew me to this book. It had mystery, murder, romance, and (most importantly) time travel. Time travel is my favorite trope, so I had to read this book. While the time travel is unlike anything I have read, I loved it.
The disappearance of June's mother, Susanna, and the murder of Nathaniel Rutherford are at the center of the book. Learning more about what happened to Susanna and her marriage to Nathaniel was crazy. Nathaniel was toxic, and his connection to the church and inability to cope with his past made him slowly lose his mind. It parallelled well with the Farrow women and their connections to hysteria.
Timeline:
I was beyond confused for about half of this book on the timeline situation, which I think was the point. It all clicked for me right around when it clicked for June, and I really liked that. The mystery made it difficult to understand what was happening fully. I can typically figure out the plot twists in books; however, I was surprised by almost every reveal!
Bouncing from 2023 to the 1950s was less jarring than I thought it would be. The town of Jasper stayed pretty similar in both timelines; the only change was the people with whom June interacted. I still didn't feel like there were a lot of new characters to learn about. We were only introduced to characters that were important to the plot, which was helpful.
Every question I had about the time traveling was certainly not answered, but I liked it that way. It added more stakes, considering that even the characters themselves did not fully know what to do to stop it from happening.
Characters:
The relationships between these characters stole the show! June and Eamon's story was by far my favorite part of this book. I am a sucker for a good time travel romance, and their relationship is what made this a 5-star for me. I loved that it was not the plot's main focus, but it still felt genuine and important. Seeing June slowly regain her memories of Eamon from the first time she crossed added to June's character development.
June's identity is found through the women of her family. She isn't sure what to think when she suddenly finds herself with a daughter and a husband she does not remember. The primary motivation for June to break the family curse was to protect her daughter, Annie. She was willing to leave her husband to protect Annie from the inevitable. Even when June was adamant that she would never have children, the reasoning was to protect her children's future. Seeing June come around to motherhood and her marriage was an immensely satisfying ending.
Ester and Margaret were the perfect examples of strong female characters. They took action to protect June and her family in both timelines. Margaret's relationship with June was complex but essential to her success in breaking the family curse. Margaret was the key to June's entire plan working. When I learned that Margaret and Annie (as Birdie) were guiding June along the path she had set for herself, I was shocked! The fact that Ester is the one who initially brought June back to Susanna's original time shows how loyal the Farrow women are to each other.
Overall:
I genuinely loved this book. It reminded me of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Time Travelers Wife. I have not stopped thinking about it since I finished. If you enjoy mystery, immediately add this book to your TBR!
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