A Sea of Unspoken Things

How far would you go to help your sibling?

Synopsis: Growing up, James Golden spent her life covering her twin brother Johnny’s mistakes with the help of his best friend and her high school boyfriend, Micah. After a tragic event that the trio swore to secrecy, she left small logging community Six Rivers for a life in San Francisco, leaving both Johnny and Micah behind. Now, twenty years later, Johnny has been found dead and she’s been pulled back to a place and history she thought was behind her, including hers with Micah.

Is Johnny’s death an accident as she’s being told? James isn’t convinced and the deeper she digs the more things don’t add up. It doesn’t help that not everyone in town seems happy she’s back. As certain suspicious facts start to add up, James is less sure she ever knew her brother at all. When she starts seeing glimpses of him around town and hearing his voice, she wonders if he’s trying to tell her his secrets from beyond the grave.

My feelings: After my first experience with Adrienne Young’s writing in The Unmaking of June Farrow, I was an instant fan of her beautiful prose, immersive setting, and the threads of magical realism and sci-fi/fantasy, which were fully present here as well. It’s just a small touch in this one regarding the heightened sense of each other that some twins seem to share. It was cool to read in the author’s note that Adrienne Young has a twin brother herself!

The story is told from James’ POV, and she’s processing a lot of questions and confusion about Johnny and her past, so you're in her head for the whole book. That's not a bad thing. It was refreshing to see a character struggle to understand their sibling and not just blindly defend them. Those questions added excellent tension to the story, as I dreaded what she might discover!

The romance is there but it’s secondary to the slow-burn mystery of Johnny's death.  It’s also a character drama as James reckons with the town and people she left behind, who were fascinating characters in their own right. She has to honestly confront why she left and what life she wants for her future. I should also mention she has a cool wolf-like dog named Smoke. 🐺

Besides Johnny's death, there are two more compelling mysteries in the story and while I liked them all, I would say the reveals could’ve been just a little more dynamic and not so quick and easy after all that tension and waiting for the reveals. A small complaint overall as the writing was just so good. 

I read this on my Kindle while listening to the audio narrated by Christine Lakin who did an excellent job with all the characters. This was another wonderful story which solidified why Adrienne Young will remain an auto request author for me. She’s such a gifted storyteller!

★★★★

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Delacorte Press, NetGalley and author Adrienne Young for the digital ARC to honestly review and to my library/Libby for the audio. It’s out now.