The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

Robin’s Rave Reviews 2024

THE UNMAKING OF JUNE FARROW by Adrienne Young is a unique novel. I’m being careful to not give you too much about this one because it’s best experienced by the reader. If your reading tastes are similar to mine, you’ll love it!

This time travel novel includes the loyal/loving family theme wrapped with mystery and a touch of romance, but it also has a complexity that will keep you on your toes. Your brain will be engaged while reading this book, and it will keep you thinking long after, all in a good way.

Summary

The Farrow women are well-known for two things: their flower farm in Japer, North Carolina, and a mysterious curse. Years ago, after showing signs of mental instability, Susanna Farrow disappeared. She left behind baby June to be raised by the grandmother.

Now an adult, June is very familiar with the town’s rumors and whispers about her family and her mother’s disappearance. When June hears a voice calling her name and wind chimes that don’t exist and sees a ghost horse and a mysterious red door that appear out of nowhere, she questions if she is headed down that same slippery slope of mental illness. That’s why she feels she must sacrifice finding love and having children. The curse will stop with her.

Early in the story, just before June’s grandmother dies, she mails an old photo to June. June questions how the two people in the picture could be together since they didn’t live in the same time period. June investigates more about her mother and the disappearance. Every bit of information leads to another question. After receiving a yellowed envelope with the message “Trust me,” June decides to test her hallucinations. The next time the red door appears, she opens it and walks through. When she does, June must navigate a scenario where the present and the past intertwine, and answers lead to tough decisions.

My Thoughts

In the beginning of THE UNMAKING OF JUNE FARROW by Adrienne Young, the author tosses the readers tidbits of strange experiences until she hooks you into the story. You suddenly realize you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole, but the Mad Hatter doesn’t seem so mad after all. Here, the impossible becomes reality. As Junes learns about the Farrow women’s ability to time travel, her view of the family curse changes.

Motherhood is a major theme, revealing the family love and loyalty of generations of Farrows. The story explores the choices we make and what we’re willing to sacrifice for those we love. Add a murder mystery and fierce, heartbreaking romance, and you have a winner of a novel.

I’d rate THE UNMAKING OF JUNE FARROW with 4 1/2 stars out of 5. The only reason it isn’t a 5 is that trying to understand the timelines as they relate to the Farrow family makes my head spin. Once I understood the familial relationships between the characters, I was fine. It’s amazing how complex time travel is in this story, but the author handles it smoothly. Readers will let down their walls of believability long enough to accept the impossible is possible, at least in this world.

So I pose a question to you: If a door appeared that wasn’t there a moment before, would you step through it? Leave me a comment below.

If you like…

If this book appeals to you, check out these books I’ve previously reviewed and recommend: Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young (same author), Valley of the Moon by Melanie Gideon, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, and Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber. Happy reading!

Drop me a comment below! What are you reading that you’d recommend? Who are your favorite authors? Ask me a question about books and/or writing. I’d love to hear from you!

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@author.robin.shelley

September 2, 2022

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Robin’s Rave Reviews – 2022

Sarah Addison Allen fans have waited patiently for seven years for a new book since she took time away to deal with personal and family needs. Other Birds, her newest novel, was worth the wait. For readers new to SAA, each book she writes has a unique magical realism element or two.

By page two, I already admired Sarah Addison Allen’s skill for painting beautiful word pictures.

“Zoey nodded, distracted now because the small sea island had just appeared on the horizon and she didn’t want to miss a moment of it. It was rising from the marshy coastal water like a lackadaisical sea creature sunning itself, not a care in the world.”

The Setting

Fictional Mallow Island sits off the coast of Charleston. A popular novel set there, written by longtime resident Roscoe Avanger, as well as the island’s history of making marshmallow and candy, draw tourists to this small community. From the sales of his book, Avanger bought an old building, called it The Dellawisp, and renovated it into five condos. They surround a courtyard full of noisy, thieving, dive-bombing birds of the same name as the complex. The quirky characters who live here begin to bond after the death of one of the tenants.

The Cast

LizBeth is a paper hoarder and the old lady busybody, who spoils everyone’s fun. Her sister Lucy is a recluse. Henna artist Charlotte is running from her past, believing she can never settle or it will catch up with her. Executive chef Mac is grieving the loss of the woman who took him in and raised him, who fed cornbread to the island’s poor children, and who taught him that making and sharing food is love. Frasier is the building manager, often found with a Dellawisp named Otis sitting on his head. And Zoey, the most recent tenant, has just graduated from high school. She inherited the condo and hopes to learn more about her mother there. Zoey is the magnet that attracts the other tenants and bonds them together. Now add a touch of magical realism by adding ghosts (not scary ones), cornmeal sprinkled over Mac every night, doors seeming to unlock themselves, and an invisible pigeon to the mix.

These characters have all been broken and are burdened with secrets, but in time, they create a family. They help each other let go of the past to focus on a better future.

Other Lovely Quotes

“The building revealed itself to be like a geode—rocky on the outside but sparkling with unexpected decadence inside.”

“The mist was moving like someone taking a deep breath and blowing it away.”

“The sudden quiet made Charlotte’s bedroom feel as if it had been plunged underwater. Even the small glass ball ornaments she’d hung by fishing wire from the ceiling gave the impression of air bubbles floating to the water’s surface.”

“Some customers didn’t like when books were marked, like it was a crime against literature. But Zoey thought it was a far greater crime to forget passages like this, so beautiful they made you breathless.”

Other Birds was a charming, light read. If you’re looking for something different and haven’t read Sarah Addison Allen, pick up Other Birds. If you read and enjoyed The Kindred Spirits Supper Club by Amy Reichert (see my review from last fall), you’ll like Other Birds.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book. The review above states my honest opinion.

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@author.robin.shelley

December 18, 2020December 9, 2020

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber is categorized as Southern magical realism. This isn’t a normal genre I would pick to read, but I’m glad I did. The title and cover intrigued me, and I had to find out why so many people were recommending it.

The cafe gets its name from a cluster of blackbirds that consistently appears outside the cafe only at midnight. This unusual behavior brings a large number of bird watchers to the small town. The cafe also attracts the townies who come to get their fix of blackberry pie. They are “characters” in more than one sense of the word. They believe that eating the pie enables them to get messages in their dreams from their dearly departed loved ones. Readers are lead to draw conclusions about the birds and their connection to the pie and Anna Kate. This is where the “magical” in magical realism comes in, but it isn’t overdone.The characters are the main focus of the book, not the magical aspects, and the points made through the story are important ones.

The book is organized by alternating Anna Kate and Natalie’s point of view. Anna Kate has come to Wicklow, Alabama to bury her grandmother, Zee, and settle her estate. If she stays and runs Zee’s cafe for two months, she will inherit it. Anna Kate wants to sell it and go on to med school in the fall, just as she had planned. Natalie has just returned to Wicklow, the town where she grew up. She and her daughter are seeking refuge in her parent’s guest house after the death of her husband. Living so close to her overbearing mother is difficult, but Natalie doesn’t have many options. Although the cafe has been set as off-limits by her mother, Natalie needs a job.

As Anna Kate finds herself embracing the town, she learns more about family secrets that explain why her mother kept her away from Wicklow her whole life. As family secrets are uncovered, it becomes obvious that the two young women are more connected than they could have guessed.

At the beginning I had to tell myself to keep going, that it’s just a different kind of book than I’m used to. Once I let go of expecting traditional conventions, I enjoyed the book. Occasionally reading something different helps to ignite creativity in my personal writing because it gets me to think about stories in a new way. Although it isn’t usually a word that describes literature, I felt the book was folk-artsy in the best possible way.

Fans of Sarah Addison Allen and Fannie Flagg will enjoy this story. Just like some people love apple pie while others love cherry, Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe won’t be everyone’s first choice, but I recommend it. Blackberry may be the flavor of the day!