The Unmaking of June Farrow

★ ★ ★ ★
I realllyyyy liked this book. To describe it in three words, I'd say unique, whimsical, and a little bit twisted. The first half did take me like 2 days to get through, but I just read the second half in one sitting and didn't even realize it. I love me some time travel, and I felt like this was an original take / story on it. I feel like this book definitely blends genres—and it does it really well. It's the perfect mixture of mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Like any good multiverse story, it obviously left me with some logistical questions. What happened to the June that went back to 2022? Did she just cease to exist?? Did she just fold into that time's June? Also with the infinite loop of events at the end—this was talked about but I'm still confused?? How does that work?? But the main thing this book left me thinking about was what makes someone unique and/or themselves. The June who had made a life in 1945 was technically the same one who returned, obvious, in 1951. But she also wasn't. Different paths and choices had let them to that moment, and they had different experiences to some extent. So when Eamon and her re-meet and re-fall in love, is he falling in love with his wife, or someone else? Because the woman he married is someone he had shared life and unique experiences with. This new June is not her. But she also is. Because eventually their timelines merge and new June becomes old June. But hypothetically, if old June was to return the day after new June and Eamon rekindled, would that be cheating?? What does Eamon do? What does either June do?? Do they just all choose to ignore this, and pretend like they're the same person? I know at first Eamon feels and treats her as a different person, but the end is just happily ever after. I chose the word twisted because some parts really made me sad for everyone involved. Mainly when June was struggling to make sense of everything, and everyone was keeping her in the dark, but they also were struggling with her return. She felt that love for her daughter, and somewhere else that love for her husband, but she couldn't do anything about it, because she wasn't the woman who had created that life. Also!! I really thought Mason would be a bigger part of this. I think that was a missed opportunity—or perhaps a setup for a second book? Although it felt pretty final. That idea felt half baked, and also really tragic because he just got left behind, and it was barely covered. Everyone else close to her (literally just Birdie I guess) knew what was coming and what happened to her. I feel like there could've been a bigger romance there where she struggled to choose or something idk. And then she was just fine leaving him behind? Anyway. Despite some (what I will call) plot holes (more like underdeveloped points), I found this book refreshing and new and anyone who likes any of the many genres it crosses into would probably enjoy this.