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A Million Junes
For as long as Jack “June” O’Donnell has been alive, her parents have had only one rule: stay away from the Angert family. But when June collides—quite literally—with Saul Angert, sparks fly, and everything June has known is thrown into chaos.
Who exactly is this gruff, sarcastic, but seemingly harmless boy who has returned to their hometown of Five Fingers, Michigan, after three mysterious years away? And why has June—an O’Donnell to her core—never questioned her late father’s deep hatred of the Angert family? After all, the O’Donnells and the Angerts may have mythic legacies, but for all the tall tales they weave, both founding families are tight-lipped about what caused the century-old rift between them.
As Saul and June’s connection grows deeper, they find that the magic, ghosts, and coywolves of Five Fingers seem to be conspiring to reveal the truth about the harrowing curse that has plagued their bloodlines for generations. Now June must question everything she knows about her family and the father she adored, and she must decide whether it’s finally time for her—and all the O’Donnells before her—to let go.
Who exactly is this gruff, sarcastic, but seemingly harmless boy who has returned to their hometown of Five Fingers, Michigan, after three mysterious years away? And why has June—an O’Donnell to her core—never questioned her late father’s deep hatred of the Angert family? After all, the O’Donnells and the Angerts may have mythic legacies, but for all the tall tales they weave, both founding families are tight-lipped about what caused the century-old rift between them.
As Saul and June’s connection grows deeper, they find that the magic, ghosts, and coywolves of Five Fingers seem to be conspiring to reveal the truth about the harrowing curse that has plagued their bloodlines for generations. Now June must question everything she knows about her family and the father she adored, and she must decide whether it’s finally time for her—and all the O’Donnells before her—to let go.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published May 16, 2017
1,813 people are currently reading
77.5k people want to read
About the author
Emily Henry
15 books164k followersEmily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read, as well as the forthcoming Happy Place. She lives and writes in Cincinnati and the part of Kentucky just beneath it.
Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.
Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.
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April 1, 2016This is my fun little book about love, lakes, ghosts, grief, inheritance, magic, Michigan, and the meaning of life and death. it's chill.
March 19, 2025
I LOVE EMILY HENRY.
I love Emily Henry, and I love June (aka Jack O'Donnell IV) and I love Saul and I love Hannah and I love Jack O'Donnell III and I love families and I love magical realism and I love this book.
https://emmareadstoomuch.substack.com...
I love it so, so, so so so so much.
Changing this to a five star because a) obviously and b) you should always five star books that are so pretty they make you tear up a little bit on a Greyhound bus.
----------------------
original review
UGH. YES.
https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...
Those of you who have followed me for a hot second know about my complex relationship with magical realism. Me and magical realism’s Facebook relationship status: it’s complicated. If the feelings between me and magical realism were a math equation, they’d be a super long one.
To sum up my relationship with magical realism: When it’s done right, I LOVE IT. Like, more than any other genre. My perfect book is probably really good magical realism. (Examples of lit magical realism: The Night Circus (!), The World to Come.) But that’s almost never what happens. I don’t know what it is, but I’m rarely content with the sh*t in this genre. And I tend to get way angrier when it’s bad. Like, YOU WERE SO CLOSE! You could have been so good. (Examples of magical realism that made me want to light a trash can on fire: The Darkest Part of the Forest, Miss Peregrine’s, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Every Day, the first two Dorothy Must Die books...I could go on, but this paragraph is hella long.)
I think I’ve boiled down my equation for a good magical realism book to two things: first, it has to make you wonder if maybe there could be magic in our dumb, boring old reality, and second, it has to make you hope that there is, and that it’s the particular breed of magic outlined in the book.
I’m thrilled to inform you that A Million Junes, for the most part, checks those boxes.
So, in this book, we follow June, who lives in a magic house and is the heir apparent to one half of a small town Minnesota war between families. She’s still reeling from the decade-ago death of her dad, who she super loved, when the heir apparent to the OTHER family shows up in town. And is a total flippin’ babe. And then stuff gets very weird, and very magical, AND I CAN’T DO THIS BOOK JUSTICE BUT TRUST ME, IT’S WORTH READING.
I mean...this book wasn’t perfect. When is it ever? But let’s stick with the good stuff for now. In fact, let’s talk characters.
Ah, these characters. Well, specifically June, Saul, and Hannah. June is our protagonist, our narrator, the light of my life and joy of my soul. She’s shockingly funny (when are characters ever truly funny?) and so fun to follow. She makes not like other girls jokes! I was in love with her by the twenty page mark. She’s so not the typical YA narrator, for so many reasons. (And no, that wasn’t a not like other girls joke. Or was it?)
Saul is June’s perfect complement. Their banter is so great. He’s a lil cutie and I like him a lot. That’s all I have to say.
Also, the female friendship in this is AMAZING. June’s BFF Hannah is so wonderful and a tiny angel and I want the absolute best for her. My God. Just...the characters and relationships in this book, man! It gives me I’ll Give You the Sun vibes in terms of how totally fab both of those things are.
The setting is total magic. I don’t even want to talk about it - I want it to take you all blindly and by storm like it did me. It begins just reasonably enough and becomes perfectly wild (for a little while). In other words, the formula for MAKING YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC.
And maybe most importantly, this book is sososo gorgeously written. I feel like in a lot of YA, the quality of writing after a certain point is sorta left by the wayside, but that's so untrue of this book. Emily Henry's style is achingly lovely, and I may have to pick up everything she ever writes forever for that reason.
But...now, unfortunately, we have to delve into the kinda-bad and the straight-up bad. This book starts off confusing, and it does NOT wait for you to get up and get your head on straight. Your shoes on the right feet. Your pants on not-backwards. It just goes. Eventually you catch up, and you have the first half of the book to enjoy before everything gets increasingly f*cked up and confusing until the last quarter, when, if you’re anything like me, you’ll be holding onto your hat and BEGGING FOR AN EXPLANATION. It’s like becoming the math lady, from that one meme. You know. This one:
Anyways. That explanation does not come.
I consider myself amind-boggingly extremely genius-level decently smart person, but I had no clue what was going on at some points. It doesn’t ruin the book or anything, since it’s supposed to be kinda magical and mysterious, but still. It loses the grounding in reality that magical realism has, or should have, and I was left with a metric f*ck ton of questions.
And it feels like the characters lose themselves in the second half, and that just sucks. First 200 pages: June-Saul-Hannah central. Remaining chunk: dismally characterization-free.
What I’m saying is the first half was better. The second half wasn’t terrible, but I just fondly reminisced on the beginning and thought:
The only other negative was that most other characters fell by the wayside, but WHO CARES? I probably would’ve just wanted more JuneSaulHannah if anyone else got characterization time anyway.
Honestly, I feel like this book could have been 100 or 200 pages longer. And I NEVER say that. (But I’m not asking for a sequel. I’ll shout it from the rooftops: NO SEQUEL FOR THIS BOOK!!! Trust me on that.)
Bottom line: Ohmygod, read this. We only get so many good magical realism books.
I love Emily Henry, and I love June (aka Jack O'Donnell IV) and I love Saul and I love Hannah and I love Jack O'Donnell III and I love families and I love magical realism and I love this book.
https://emmareadstoomuch.substack.com...
I love it so, so, so so so so much.
Changing this to a five star because a) obviously and b) you should always five star books that are so pretty they make you tear up a little bit on a Greyhound bus.
----------------------
original review
UGH. YES.
https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...
Those of you who have followed me for a hot second know about my complex relationship with magical realism. Me and magical realism’s Facebook relationship status: it’s complicated. If the feelings between me and magical realism were a math equation, they’d be a super long one.
To sum up my relationship with magical realism: When it’s done right, I LOVE IT. Like, more than any other genre. My perfect book is probably really good magical realism. (Examples of lit magical realism: The Night Circus (!), The World to Come.) But that’s almost never what happens. I don’t know what it is, but I’m rarely content with the sh*t in this genre. And I tend to get way angrier when it’s bad. Like, YOU WERE SO CLOSE! You could have been so good. (Examples of magical realism that made me want to light a trash can on fire: The Darkest Part of the Forest, Miss Peregrine’s, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Every Day, the first two Dorothy Must Die books...I could go on, but this paragraph is hella long.)
I think I’ve boiled down my equation for a good magical realism book to two things: first, it has to make you wonder if maybe there could be magic in our dumb, boring old reality, and second, it has to make you hope that there is, and that it’s the particular breed of magic outlined in the book.
I’m thrilled to inform you that A Million Junes, for the most part, checks those boxes.
So, in this book, we follow June, who lives in a magic house and is the heir apparent to one half of a small town Minnesota war between families. She’s still reeling from the decade-ago death of her dad, who she super loved, when the heir apparent to the OTHER family shows up in town. And is a total flippin’ babe. And then stuff gets very weird, and very magical, AND I CAN’T DO THIS BOOK JUSTICE BUT TRUST ME, IT’S WORTH READING.
I mean...this book wasn’t perfect. When is it ever? But let’s stick with the good stuff for now. In fact, let’s talk characters.
Ah, these characters. Well, specifically June, Saul, and Hannah. June is our protagonist, our narrator, the light of my life and joy of my soul. She’s shockingly funny (when are characters ever truly funny?) and so fun to follow. She makes not like other girls jokes! I was in love with her by the twenty page mark. She’s so not the typical YA narrator, for so many reasons. (And no, that wasn’t a not like other girls joke. Or was it?)
Saul is June’s perfect complement. Their banter is so great. He’s a lil cutie and I like him a lot. That’s all I have to say.
Also, the female friendship in this is AMAZING. June’s BFF Hannah is so wonderful and a tiny angel and I want the absolute best for her. My God. Just...the characters and relationships in this book, man! It gives me I’ll Give You the Sun vibes in terms of how totally fab both of those things are.
The setting is total magic. I don’t even want to talk about it - I want it to take you all blindly and by storm like it did me. It begins just reasonably enough and becomes perfectly wild (for a little while). In other words, the formula for MAKING YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC.
And maybe most importantly, this book is sososo gorgeously written. I feel like in a lot of YA, the quality of writing after a certain point is sorta left by the wayside, but that's so untrue of this book. Emily Henry's style is achingly lovely, and I may have to pick up everything she ever writes forever for that reason.
But...now, unfortunately, we have to delve into the kinda-bad and the straight-up bad. This book starts off confusing, and it does NOT wait for you to get up and get your head on straight. Your shoes on the right feet. Your pants on not-backwards. It just goes. Eventually you catch up, and you have the first half of the book to enjoy before everything gets increasingly f*cked up and confusing until the last quarter, when, if you’re anything like me, you’ll be holding onto your hat and BEGGING FOR AN EXPLANATION. It’s like becoming the math lady, from that one meme. You know. This one:
Anyways. That explanation does not come.
I consider myself a
And it feels like the characters lose themselves in the second half, and that just sucks. First 200 pages: June-Saul-Hannah central. Remaining chunk: dismally characterization-free.
What I’m saying is the first half was better. The second half wasn’t terrible, but I just fondly reminisced on the beginning and thought:
The only other negative was that most other characters fell by the wayside, but WHO CARES? I probably would’ve just wanted more JuneSaulHannah if anyone else got characterization time anyway.
Honestly, I feel like this book could have been 100 or 200 pages longer. And I NEVER say that. (But I’m not asking for a sequel. I’ll shout it from the rooftops: NO SEQUEL FOR THIS BOOK!!! Trust me on that.)
Bottom line: Ohmygod, read this. We only get so many good magical realism books.
March 21, 2024
This book is so beautiful and magical and heartbreaking and sweet. Emily Henry does an AMAZING job writing about grief in such a raw and vulnerable way. This book seriously checked every book box for me.
The romance: Their chemistry was so. good. and their banter was even better (Emily Henry is the undisputed queen of banter)
The magical realism: there are ghosts and magical memories that all tie in to June's grief and complicated family dynamics
The plot: I would say this book is 50% a romance and 50% June dealing with the grief of her late father and unraveling the complicated past of her family so she can break the family curse. I didn't know much about the plot going into this book and was so pleasantly surprised and captivated by its depth!
The romance: Their chemistry was so. good. and their banter was even better (Emily Henry is the undisputed queen of banter)
The magical realism: there are ghosts and magical memories that all tie in to June's grief and complicated family dynamics
The plot: I would say this book is 50% a romance and 50% June dealing with the grief of her late father and unraveling the complicated past of her family so she can break the family curse. I didn't know much about the plot going into this book and was so pleasantly surprised and captivated by its depth!
August 7, 2017
4.5*
I adore magical realism, and this was like a Shakespearean tragedy (think Romeo and Juliet) magical realism hybrid, so it was right up my alley. This definitely isn't for everyone as it requires a certain suspension of disbelief, but if you allow yourself to get lost and embrace the oddities of this story, you will most likely love it like I did. The writing had the perfect amount of whimsy and darkness to it and everything just clicked to create this wonderfully strange tale. Now I will say it did drag a tiny bit at times, but that in part is due to the story's many facets. Other than that, I thought it was great.
I adore magical realism, and this was like a Shakespearean tragedy (think Romeo and Juliet) magical realism hybrid, so it was right up my alley. This definitely isn't for everyone as it requires a certain suspension of disbelief, but if you allow yourself to get lost and embrace the oddities of this story, you will most likely love it like I did. The writing had the perfect amount of whimsy and darkness to it and everything just clicked to create this wonderfully strange tale. Now I will say it did drag a tiny bit at times, but that in part is due to the story's many facets. Other than that, I thought it was great.
September 20, 2024
3 stars!
“I was just a moment, and you gave me a million Junes.
I was just a moment, and you made me forever.”
This was Emily Henry's first or second novel and honestly it showed how she has come because she has written five adult books and out of those I have rated 4 of them a 5 and 1 of them a 4 so that should really tell you how much of an amazing author she is and how much she improved. This was not the best book that I have read and it was also not the worst that I have read, it was however, certainly different from what she usually writes and my high expectations were too much I'd say. It would've honestly been lower if it was some other author but the vibe and charm that Emily brings along with her is amazing. This was a fun, enjoyable read but it got a little too long for me and it lost me near its end. The vibe that Emily Henry tries to create is very much present there. It's magical realism and it delivers on that! I feel like my main connection to Emily's books come from her writing and her relatable characters and here the writing was good but not as good as I hoped (it was impressive for an author starting her journey) as I have read better books by her but I liked how vivid and immersive it still was and the MMC for me was not relatable at all.
“Grief is an unfillable hole in your body. It should be weightless, but it's heavy. Should be cold, but it burns. Should, over time, close up, but instead it deepens.”
June O' Donell was out FMC and she was the relatable one here and I loved how Emily tried to showcased the loss of a father and how much it can impact on the persons life and how it becomes a gaping pit of denial and longing and that was one of the topics of this book that I loved reading about and I also enjoyed her feeling this fear of loosing her friends and this thrill of finding more answer, this curiosity and it really suited her role. Saul Angert was not what I expected, Every men that Emily henry writes are so very different from each other but their resemblance to me and the way they can charm they way in is what shines for me, it was missing here when it came to Saul, like sure he was there but he didn't do anything monumental, I did enjoy his scenes but they were okay overall.
“Letting go is not forgetting. It's opening your eyes to the good that grew from the bad, the life that blooms from decay.”
The Romance was very cute, like every few chapters I would get a notification from Roxy saying cute and honestly it was. The romance itself had a tragic Romeo and juliet-esque vibe and that was enjoyable to read. The forbidden aspect of this relationship and the mutual bond that they shared + the banter in between them was also fun to read!! I would not say it's my favorite but it was a very enjoyable story when it came to its romantic part.
“To love a handful of people very well, that's a good life.”
The plot, it's basically about a curse between two families: The Angerts and The O'Donells with a big feud going on between them. I feel like the plot of this story with the flashbacks and the whole concept was very well thought it was a little weak when it came to the execution of it but it was a good experience I'd say and I think this book could have proved to be better with some twists. I liked how satisfying the ending was and how enjoyable it was for me.
Overall, I enjoyed this emotional story and it's whole idea but things could have certainly been better! I do not regret reading it or would say I am disappointed because it made me appreciate Emily Henry so much more now.
__
You'd think I'd be out of Emily Henry books 🤭 I am SO excited to read this. It sounds so magical and romantic and perfect!!
• Buddy reading this with obviously the one and only Roxy
“I was just a moment, and you gave me a million Junes.
I was just a moment, and you made me forever.”
This was Emily Henry's first or second novel and honestly it showed how she has come because she has written five adult books and out of those I have rated 4 of them a 5 and 1 of them a 4 so that should really tell you how much of an amazing author she is and how much she improved. This was not the best book that I have read and it was also not the worst that I have read, it was however, certainly different from what she usually writes and my high expectations were too much I'd say. It would've honestly been lower if it was some other author but the vibe and charm that Emily brings along with her is amazing. This was a fun, enjoyable read but it got a little too long for me and it lost me near its end. The vibe that Emily Henry tries to create is very much present there. It's magical realism and it delivers on that! I feel like my main connection to Emily's books come from her writing and her relatable characters and here the writing was good but not as good as I hoped (it was impressive for an author starting her journey) as I have read better books by her but I liked how vivid and immersive it still was and the MMC for me was not relatable at all.
“Grief is an unfillable hole in your body. It should be weightless, but it's heavy. Should be cold, but it burns. Should, over time, close up, but instead it deepens.”
June O' Donell was out FMC and she was the relatable one here and I loved how Emily tried to showcased the loss of a father and how much it can impact on the persons life and how it becomes a gaping pit of denial and longing and that was one of the topics of this book that I loved reading about and I also enjoyed her feeling this fear of loosing her friends and this thrill of finding more answer, this curiosity and it really suited her role. Saul Angert was not what I expected, Every men that Emily henry writes are so very different from each other but their resemblance to me and the way they can charm they way in is what shines for me, it was missing here when it came to Saul, like sure he was there but he didn't do anything monumental, I did enjoy his scenes but they were okay overall.
“Letting go is not forgetting. It's opening your eyes to the good that grew from the bad, the life that blooms from decay.”
The Romance was very cute, like every few chapters I would get a notification from Roxy saying cute and honestly it was. The romance itself had a tragic Romeo and juliet-esque vibe and that was enjoyable to read. The forbidden aspect of this relationship and the mutual bond that they shared + the banter in between them was also fun to read!! I would not say it's my favorite but it was a very enjoyable story when it came to its romantic part.
“To love a handful of people very well, that's a good life.”
The plot, it's basically about a curse between two families: The Angerts and The O'Donells with a big feud going on between them. I feel like the plot of this story with the flashbacks and the whole concept was very well thought it was a little weak when it came to the execution of it but it was a good experience I'd say and I think this book could have proved to be better with some twists. I liked how satisfying the ending was and how enjoyable it was for me.
Overall, I enjoyed this emotional story and it's whole idea but things could have certainly been better! I do not regret reading it or would say I am disappointed because it made me appreciate Emily Henry so much more now.
__
You'd think I'd be out of Emily Henry books 🤭 I am SO excited to read this. It sounds so magical and romantic and perfect!!
• Buddy reading this with obviously the one and only Roxy
April 14, 2019
for me, a books writing is the most important part. for some, its the characters. for others, it may be the story development. but i think the writing is what makes the difference between a good book and an unforgettable one.
for example, magical realism is still a genre i am working on liking. im either a fantasy person or a contemporary person, so it makes me a bit uncomfortable when the two combine. however, the writing in this made me love this book so much. the genre may be outside my comfort zone, but the writing in this is beyond comforting. its so light and magical and effortless.
emily henrys writing is what makes this cute story become a book of true beauty. <3
↠ 4.5 stars
for example, magical realism is still a genre i am working on liking. im either a fantasy person or a contemporary person, so it makes me a bit uncomfortable when the two combine. however, the writing in this made me love this book so much. the genre may be outside my comfort zone, but the writing in this is beyond comforting. its so light and magical and effortless.
emily henrys writing is what makes this cute story become a book of true beauty. <3
↠ 4.5 stars
January 13, 2025
‘I was just a moment, and you made me forever.’
Everyone is sleeping on Emily Henry's pre-romcom YA era because A Million Junes is simply delightful. A paranormal romance slash bilungdroman that has so much heart and an ending destined to bring the tears, the Henry examines ideas of family legacy, memory and grief as teenage Jack IV (June) O’Donnell and Saul Angert discover the complex and intertwined history of their two families while falling cutely into love. This book is charming and quite funny, mixing romance and ghosts while never taking itself too seriously, even admitting ‘this is rapidly becoming a bad teenage retelling of a Shakespearean comedy,’ which is totally is and I love it for that as Henry manages to deftly juggle a lot of elements to cultivate a very textured and smart YA novel that will appeal to a wide age range.
This book has some serious Michigan Gothic vibes, which, as someone trapped in West Michigan myself, I definitely enjoyed. The book is set in a town June describes as ‘a thin place’ where the borders between this world and the world of the dead are blurred and ghosts wander the yard. June is still reeling from the death of her father 10 years previous and Saul is still sore from the death of his sister when they run into each other at a local fair. A rule June’s father has always impressed upon her was to stay away from the Angerts, however, their natural attraction and chemistry brings them together. Eventually, the supernatural takes hold and allows them to experience the memories of their deceased family members, giving them a unique vantage point to understand the feud that has plagued their families for generations. The tidy, idealized version of her father is soon replaced with harsh truths and the adorable couple must come to terms with a troubled family legacy and discover why there seems to be a curse upon their families.
‘There are always at least two versions of everything, June. I've forgotten my own because I love your daddy's so much.’
There is a lot of mystery to this novel which really teases you forward as June discovers her family history is not like she had always imagined. There are painful moments of discovering people are not who she thought and this book really chronicles her growth and coming of age in maturity as she is forced to process difficult truths while old traumas still sting.
‘This is how grief works. It watches; it waits; it hollows you out, again and again.’
Grief is central to the novel, with both June and Saul having their share of it. It is the sort of loss that change a person and we see how tragedy has reshaped their lives: ‘The feeling of being ripped into two people: the you of before and the one you’ll always be once you know what it is to lose something.’ Henry does well to examine grief as an absence felt inside you, a hole in the shape of a long-dead father perhaps, and how difficult it is to try and fill that hole.
Opposite the grief, however, are the many relationships that make life bearable. Beyond June and Saul, which is effectively adorable and believable, is the heartwarming friendship between June and Hannah. Henry excels at dialogue, and the conversations and banter really drive this novel forward, ensuring the length never makes the plot sag much.
While this is a fun book filled with ghosts, mystery, friendship and family, at its heart it is a cute love story. And in a cute love story you get some adorably lofty statements on love:
Thankfully, Emily Henry can nail these and it never feels overly twee. In fact it is a testament to Henry that this is an early book for her because the prose feels very polished and poetic, its simply a joy to read.
This is a beautiful little book and I’m glad I read it. I read it because emma said to start here and she is never wrong. So definitely follow her if you don’t already. I’ve never been a huge romance book fan, but this one does the trick and has so many other interesting elements going on beyond the love story. This is a sophisticated YA novel that has a big heart and a lot to say, and will definitely get you to cry a lot of tears. I get it now, Emily Henry is cool.
⅘
‘I think life is about learning to dance even when you’re sitting still. You learn to dance when you cook and clean, when you bite into cherries, and when you lie in clean sheets. It’s easy to believe that if you could do it all over, you’d do everything different.’
Everyone is sleeping on Emily Henry's pre-romcom YA era because A Million Junes is simply delightful. A paranormal romance slash bilungdroman that has so much heart and an ending destined to bring the tears, the Henry examines ideas of family legacy, memory and grief as teenage Jack IV (June) O’Donnell and Saul Angert discover the complex and intertwined history of their two families while falling cutely into love. This book is charming and quite funny, mixing romance and ghosts while never taking itself too seriously, even admitting ‘this is rapidly becoming a bad teenage retelling of a Shakespearean comedy,’ which is totally is and I love it for that as Henry manages to deftly juggle a lot of elements to cultivate a very textured and smart YA novel that will appeal to a wide age range.
This book has some serious Michigan Gothic vibes, which, as someone trapped in West Michigan myself, I definitely enjoyed. The book is set in a town June describes as ‘a thin place’ where the borders between this world and the world of the dead are blurred and ghosts wander the yard. June is still reeling from the death of her father 10 years previous and Saul is still sore from the death of his sister when they run into each other at a local fair. A rule June’s father has always impressed upon her was to stay away from the Angerts, however, their natural attraction and chemistry brings them together. Eventually, the supernatural takes hold and allows them to experience the memories of their deceased family members, giving them a unique vantage point to understand the feud that has plagued their families for generations. The tidy, idealized version of her father is soon replaced with harsh truths and the adorable couple must come to terms with a troubled family legacy and discover why there seems to be a curse upon their families.
‘There are always at least two versions of everything, June. I've forgotten my own because I love your daddy's so much.’
There is a lot of mystery to this novel which really teases you forward as June discovers her family history is not like she had always imagined. There are painful moments of discovering people are not who she thought and this book really chronicles her growth and coming of age in maturity as she is forced to process difficult truths while old traumas still sting.
‘This is how grief works. It watches; it waits; it hollows you out, again and again.’
Grief is central to the novel, with both June and Saul having their share of it. It is the sort of loss that change a person and we see how tragedy has reshaped their lives: ‘The feeling of being ripped into two people: the you of before and the one you’ll always be once you know what it is to lose something.’ Henry does well to examine grief as an absence felt inside you, a hole in the shape of a long-dead father perhaps, and how difficult it is to try and fill that hole.
‘Grief is an unfillable hole in your body. It should be weightless, but it's heavy. Should be cold, but it burns. Should, over time, close up, but instead it deepens.’
Opposite the grief, however, are the many relationships that make life bearable. Beyond June and Saul, which is effectively adorable and believable, is the heartwarming friendship between June and Hannah. Henry excels at dialogue, and the conversations and banter really drive this novel forward, ensuring the length never makes the plot sag much.
While this is a fun book filled with ghosts, mystery, friendship and family, at its heart it is a cute love story. And in a cute love story you get some adorably lofty statements on love:
‘I promise you. I promise you the stars. I promise you the lake and falls, coywolves and robins. I promise earth and heaven: I will love you long after the last human has taken his last breath. When the stars burn out and the oceans freeze over and the whole world is ash and dust and ice, our names will still be carved into this tree of life, side by side, and I'll still be loving you.’
Thankfully, Emily Henry can nail these and it never feels overly twee. In fact it is a testament to Henry that this is an early book for her because the prose feels very polished and poetic, its simply a joy to read.
This is a beautiful little book and I’m glad I read it. I read it because emma said to start here and she is never wrong. So definitely follow her if you don’t already. I’ve never been a huge romance book fan, but this one does the trick and has so many other interesting elements going on beyond the love story. This is a sophisticated YA novel that has a big heart and a lot to say, and will definitely get you to cry a lot of tears. I get it now, Emily Henry is cool.
⅘
‘I think life is about learning to dance even when you’re sitting still. You learn to dance when you cook and clean, when you bite into cherries, and when you lie in clean sheets. It’s easy to believe that if you could do it all over, you’d do everything different.’
February 27, 2025
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝑯𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒚'𝒔 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆. 𝑨 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄, 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍, 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇. ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚ “𝐿𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑔𝑜 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑒𝓎𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓌 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒹, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒷𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓂𝓈 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒹𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓎.”
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚ “𝒢𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒻 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃 𝓊𝓃𝒻𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓁𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝓎. 𝐼𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝑒𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓋𝓎. 𝒮𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝒹, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝒷𝓊𝓇𝓃𝓈. 𝒮𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹, 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒, 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓊𝓅, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒹𝑒𝑒𝓅𝑒𝓃𝓈.”
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚ “𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝑒𝓁𝓉 𝑔𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒻, 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑒'𝓈.”
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
╰┈➤˗ˏˋ June O’Donell and her family live on a “thin place” of the world, where ghosts visit regularly, cherry trees sprout overnight and wild animals steal shoes instead of chickens. June knows there’s bad blood between her family and the Angerts, but her dad died a decade ago, and she has no one to ask the particulars of the feud when strange things start happening. There’s also the minor problem that she’s got a serious crush on Saul Angert, and he seems to like her too.
There is a Romeo and Juliet vibe underlining the story in the fact that the O'Donell family and the Angert family have a long ongoing feud and bad blood of sorts but at the heart of the novel is an emotional heartfelt story about a girl and her father, their relationship, love and the pain of losing him; a story of coping with grief.
╰┈➤˗ˏˋ For whatever reason I've had a hard time connecting with the adult contemporary novels by Emily Henry; sometimes I'm unwilling to completely throw in the towel on an author and I'm glad that was the case here because I adored this book.
₊˚‧◟ ͜ ◞ ୨୧ ◟ ͜ ◞ ୨୧ ◟ ͜ ◞ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ◟ ͜ ◞ ୨୧ ◟ ͜ ◞ ୨୧ ◟ ͜ ◞‧˚₊
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚ “𝑀𝒶𝓎𝒷𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒, 𝒻𝒶𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝓁𝑜𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝑒𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓈𝓀𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝓇𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓈 𝓇𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽. 𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉. 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝑒, 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒽𝓈, 𝒶𝓈 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝑒𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝓈𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝓃𝑒𝒶𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓂𝑒, 𝓈𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓇𝑜𝑜𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉, 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁, 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝑜𝒻 𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓎𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝓇𝓉: 𝒽𝒾𝒹𝒹𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓍𝓉.”
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚ “𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑔𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝒶 𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒥𝓊𝓃𝑒𝓈. 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇.”
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚ “𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒," 𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹, "𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝒶𝓉 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒.”
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚ “𝐿𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑔𝑜 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑒𝓎𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓌 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒹, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒷𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓂𝓈 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒹𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓎.”
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚ “𝒢𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒻 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃 𝓊𝓃𝒻𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓁𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝓎. 𝐼𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝑒𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓋𝓎. 𝒮𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝒹, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝒷𝓊𝓇𝓃𝓈. 𝒮𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹, 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒, 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓊𝓅, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒹𝑒𝑒𝓅𝑒𝓃𝓈.”
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚ “𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝑒𝓁𝓉 𝑔𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒻, 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑒'𝓈.”
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
╰┈➤˗ˏˋ June O’Donell and her family live on a “thin place” of the world, where ghosts visit regularly, cherry trees sprout overnight and wild animals steal shoes instead of chickens. June knows there’s bad blood between her family and the Angerts, but her dad died a decade ago, and she has no one to ask the particulars of the feud when strange things start happening. There’s also the minor problem that she’s got a serious crush on Saul Angert, and he seems to like her too.
There is a Romeo and Juliet vibe underlining the story in the fact that the O'Donell family and the Angert family have a long ongoing feud and bad blood of sorts but at the heart of the novel is an emotional heartfelt story about a girl and her father, their relationship, love and the pain of losing him; a story of coping with grief.
╰┈➤˗ˏˋ For whatever reason I've had a hard time connecting with the adult contemporary novels by Emily Henry; sometimes I'm unwilling to completely throw in the towel on an author and I'm glad that was the case here because I adored this book.
₊˚‧◟ ͜ ◞ ୨୧ ◟ ͜ ◞ ୨୧ ◟ ͜ ◞ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ◟ ͜ ◞ ୨୧ ◟ ͜ ◞ ୨୧ ◟ ͜ ◞‧˚₊
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚ “𝑀𝒶𝓎𝒷𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒, 𝒻𝒶𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝓁𝑜𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝑒𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓈𝓀𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝓇𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓈 𝓇𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽. 𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉. 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝑒, 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒽𝓈, 𝒶𝓈 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝑒𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝓈𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝓃𝑒𝒶𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓂𝑒, 𝓈𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓇𝑜𝑜𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉, 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁, 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝑜𝒻 𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓎𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝓇𝓉: 𝒽𝒾𝒹𝒹𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓍𝓉.”
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚ “𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑔𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝒶 𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒥𝓊𝓃𝑒𝓈. 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇.”
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚ “𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒," 𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹, "𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝒶𝓉 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒.”
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
January 19, 2025
─── ౨ৎ ... pre read.
01/19/25. 4.5 stars. i love this book. guys i'm going to be honest, i finished this on the 7th, but i cba to update it x! anyways i'm feeling productive so rtc (#nevergonnahappen)
ⓘ 01/06/25. we are so back 🤗
01/19/25. 4.5 stars. i love this book. guys i'm going to be honest, i finished this on the 7th, but i cba to update it x! anyways i'm feeling productive so rtc (#nevergonnahappen)
ⓘ 01/06/25. we are so back 🤗
April 8, 2017
Swoon. Emily Henry's writing style is just everything.
October 26, 2018
i've pretty much come to terms with the fact that magic realism and i, do not get along
ever since i read maggie stiefvater's raven cycle series (back in 2016) i thought it was going to be the genre that spOKE TO MY SOUL
no, it just turns out that maggie's thing
anyways this year it kinda came to my attention (after reading 2 anne-marie mclemore books and being in the constant state of emotion of: ¿??¿?¿¿?¿?¿¿?¿?¿¿) that perhaps magic realism,,,,,,isn't my thing
SO WHEN I HEARD THIS BOOK WAS PART OF THE GENRE I WAS SCARED I WOULD HATE IT
turns out, this book was pretty darn great
- to start off, its a retelling of romeo and julliet
- come on guys, forbidden romance with generations of family hatred
- the angst is real and i am here for it
- ft. a magic house that grows cherries that taste like sunshine
- a mc, june, who is hilarious (“What can I say? I’m not like other girls. I’ve literally never eaten a salad in my life.” QUEEN) and soft and still grieving over the 10 year old death of her father and trying to write down his story to keep his memory
- honestly the memories and stories she has from her father is so touching and sweet, even if some of them are ridiculous
- 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
- the love interest dude is a Cute
- he's slightly older (20, to her 18) and HIS CHARACTER COMPLIMENTS HERS SO WELL
- like their sense of humour and wholesome relationship that literally stems from their families hating each other,,,,,,QUALITY CONTENT
- MIKE WHO ISN'T TRYING TO HARD
- june's little brothers are terrors (and adorbs) but arent all little brothers??
- i actually LOVE the relationship between june and her step father, there's no bad blood and hate between them, and i just love to see wholesome family relationships
- now onto the magic realism aspect
- it takes some time to grasp bc the author just throws you in right from the start
- essentially, june (this only applies to people of the direct Jack bloodline) can see ??magical things?? in her house and they can show her things and its really strange
- but they aren't scary,,,,most of them at least
- and its not a weird thing, like the rest of her town are totally chill about it
- HANNAH, JUNE'S BEST FRIEND IS A GIFT TO THE WORLD
- also, the writing is absolutely gorgeous
- i was so impressed and captivated
- the audio narrators were also fantastic, so if you're thinking about that, definite yes
- my only complaints come from the fact that, while yes i enjoyed it and the ending was satisfying it felt very flowerly at times and lacked //substance//
- things were kind of ambiguous and just left for the reader to piece together
- its a book i'd remember fondly but probably wouldnt revisit, just a really nice read
4 stars
ever since i read maggie stiefvater's raven cycle series (back in 2016) i thought it was going to be the genre that spOKE TO MY SOUL
anyways this year it kinda came to my attention (after reading 2 anne-marie mclemore books and being in the constant state of emotion of: ¿??¿?¿¿?¿?¿¿?¿?¿¿) that perhaps magic realism,,,,,,isn't my thing
SO WHEN I HEARD THIS BOOK WAS PART OF THE GENRE I WAS SCARED I WOULD HATE IT
turns out, this book was pretty darn great
- to start off, its a retelling of romeo and julliet
- come on guys, forbidden romance with generations of family hatred
- the angst is real and i am here for it
- ft. a magic house that grows cherries that taste like sunshine
- a mc, june, who is hilarious (“What can I say? I’m not like other girls. I’ve literally never eaten a salad in my life.” QUEEN) and soft and still grieving over the 10 year old death of her father and trying to write down his story to keep his memory
- honestly the memories and stories she has from her father is so touching and sweet, even if some of them are ridiculous
- 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
- the love interest dude is a Cute
- he's slightly older (20, to her 18) and HIS CHARACTER COMPLIMENTS HERS SO WELL
- like their sense of humour and wholesome relationship that literally stems from their families hating each other,,,,,,QUALITY CONTENT
- MIKE WHO ISN'T TRYING TO HARD
- june's little brothers are terrors (and adorbs) but arent all little brothers??
- i actually LOVE the relationship between june and her step father, there's no bad blood and hate between them, and i just love to see wholesome family relationships
- now onto the magic realism aspect
- it takes some time to grasp bc the author just throws you in right from the start
- essentially, june (this only applies to people of the direct Jack bloodline) can see ??magical things?? in her house and they can show her things and its really strange
- but they aren't scary,,,,most of them at least
- and its not a weird thing, like the rest of her town are totally chill about it
- HANNAH, JUNE'S BEST FRIEND IS A GIFT TO THE WORLD
- also, the writing is absolutely gorgeous
- i was so impressed and captivated
- the audio narrators were also fantastic, so if you're thinking about that, definite yes
- my only complaints come from the fact that, while yes i enjoyed it and the ending was satisfying it felt very flowerly at times and lacked //substance//
- things were kind of ambiguous and just left for the reader to piece together
- its a book i'd remember fondly but probably wouldnt revisit, just a really nice read
4 stars
September 17, 2024
-ˏˋ ´ˎ˗2.75 stars˗ˏˋ ´ˎ-
Jumping right in, I wanna say that I love and adore Emily Henry and her romance novels but this was definitely not it. I was feeling that this book was a 2.5 stars but rounded it up because of emily. It was fun to read v cute.
My favorite parts of the book were June and Saul interacting, their banter and their chemistry, I liked the vibe too it was cute. The writing was cute too I liked how it showed Henry's progress over the years.
what did not meet my standards was how boring it got, like till chp 20 I was having fun but then it got boring and I wanted to skim, shocking because that never happens with this author. Didn't feel that close to the characters either. The romance could have been more we barley got more of them during their relationship and I was so lost during majority of the time that by the end I was just done.
Plot could have been more fun. I liked the little touched of magical realism but EH can do wayyyyyy better.
“Letting go is not forgetting. It's opening your eyes to the good that grew from the bad, the life that blooms from decay.”
_____________________________________________________________
buddy read w clace <33
Jumping right in, I wanna say that I love and adore Emily Henry and her romance novels but this was definitely not it. I was feeling that this book was a 2.5 stars but rounded it up because of emily. It was fun to read v cute.
My favorite parts of the book were June and Saul interacting, their banter and their chemistry, I liked the vibe too it was cute. The writing was cute too I liked how it showed Henry's progress over the years.
what did not meet my standards was how boring it got, like till chp 20 I was having fun but then it got boring and I wanted to skim, shocking because that never happens with this author. Didn't feel that close to the characters either. The romance could have been more we barley got more of them during their relationship and I was so lost during majority of the time that by the end I was just done.
Plot could have been more fun. I liked the little touched of magical realism but EH can do wayyyyyy better.
“Letting go is not forgetting. It's opening your eyes to the good that grew from the bad, the life that blooms from decay.”
_____________________________________________________________
buddy read w clace <33
April 18, 2024
꒰ 🍒 ⊹˚ 3.5 ★
buddy read with emma!! i loved buddy reading with you ♥
✦ let me start off my saying that this book is sooo underrated. it’s not the best book in the world, but it definitely deserves more recognition! i was really invested in the family dynamics of the o’donnells and the angerts, and saul and june…CHEF’S KISS!!
✦ this is first emily henry book and my biggest observation is that her writing is so relatable and easy to read. it drew me in immediately and she painted a fairytale that was magical yet dark — it felt like one of those old fables you would read in the cloth-bound books you got as a kid 🤷♀️ idk
✦ the magical realism elements were a little bit confusing, but i began to understand as the story went on! i love jack o’donnell iii. i was choking up at the end, his love for june is so beautiful and strong. ALSO SUPER RANDOM but i loved june’s stepbrother, shadow. he was really shy and smart, and seemed like such a bright kid.
✦ the only real critique i had was that i needed more time with saul and june. their relationship felt rushed? it just seemed liked they dived right in, but it wasn’t insta-love. i’m terrible at explaining this 😭 but the magic involved in both of their families brought them together, which i thought was really cool and symbolic.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ this isn’t a super memorable read, however it was enjoyable and i looked forward to picking it up every time, aaand i finished it fairly quickly! 🚂 (i’m now on the emily henry train)
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
𝓹𝓻𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀
this book was filled with imagination and handled grief so well. it was like stepping into its own little universe and reliving a dark fairy tale! 3.5?? 3.75??
rtc.
𝓹𝓻𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭
buddy read with emma!! so excited, you’re literally the sweetest person ever 🤭
buddy read with emma!! i loved buddy reading with you ♥
✦ let me start off my saying that this book is sooo underrated. it’s not the best book in the world, but it definitely deserves more recognition! i was really invested in the family dynamics of the o’donnells and the angerts, and saul and june…CHEF’S KISS!!
✦ this is first emily henry book and my biggest observation is that her writing is so relatable and easy to read. it drew me in immediately and she painted a fairytale that was magical yet dark — it felt like one of those old fables you would read in the cloth-bound books you got as a kid 🤷♀️ idk
✦ the magical realism elements were a little bit confusing, but i began to understand as the story went on! i love jack o’donnell iii. i was choking up at the end, his love for june is so beautiful and strong. ALSO SUPER RANDOM but i loved june’s stepbrother, shadow. he was really shy and smart, and seemed like such a bright kid.
✦ the only real critique i had was that i needed more time with saul and june. their relationship felt rushed? it just seemed liked they dived right in, but it wasn’t insta-love. i’m terrible at explaining this 😭 but the magic involved in both of their families brought them together, which i thought was really cool and symbolic.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ this isn’t a super memorable read, however it was enjoyable and i looked forward to picking it up every time, aaand i finished it fairly quickly! 🚂 (i’m now on the emily henry train)
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
𝓹𝓻𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀
this book was filled with imagination and handled grief so well. it was like stepping into its own little universe and reliving a dark fairy tale! 3.5?? 3.75??
rtc.
𝓹𝓻𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭
buddy read with emma!! so excited, you’re literally the sweetest person ever 🤭
September 3, 2020
this review was originally posted on twirling pages
i’ve read many many amazing books these past few months, but never one that made me want to start reviewing again. but A Million Junes makes me want to share something; it makes me want to feel something deeper and actually talk about it. simply put, A Million Junes is so incredibly special.
in all honesty, i don't think this is everyone's cup of tea. the concept is a little strange because it's not quite contemporary but also not quite anything else (which is really similar to Emily Henry’s debut novel, The Love That Split the World). if you keep an open mind and overcome that… weirdness, you’ll come to appreciate everything else this book has to offer – and even love the so-called weirdness along the way.
one of my favorite aspects of this novel is the writing. this writing(!!!) made me want to cry because it's too beautiful – in a way that combines poetry with casualness, and metaphors with everyday thoughts. Emily Henry took big ideas (like grief, love, and the ~future~) and made them small, but also kept them big (or important). (am i even making SENSE?) also, the writing itself can bring me to tears. there were SO many times i had to stop and underline/highlight a passage because it really made me think or feel something larger than myself.
another thing i loved was the characters and relationships. there were some people (or ghosts) i felt existed solely to guide the main character. (and one DID only exist to guide the MC – literally and figuratively) it reminded me that it's okay to ask for help, and it's okay to allow others to guide you. also, i just want to mention that the friendship is seriously #GOALS and it makes me feel :’’’).
the plot was wonderfully balanced between the BIG BAD conflict our characters are facing and something lighthearted. although there's a “forbidden romance” and that screams CLICHÉ, A Million Junes was nothing typical. i felt like the pacing towards the end got slow but it picked up really well and don't have much to complain about.
anyway, i just wanted to say i’m feeling a lot of emotions and contemplating a lot of ideas and I LOVE THIS BOOK. it holds a real and dear place in my heart with all its metaphors, ideas, and emotions bursting at the seams.
BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAY~~~
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Enter for a chance to win one (1) of five (5) copies of A Million Junes by Emily Henry (ARV: $16.99 each).
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on May 15, 2017 and 12:00 AM on June 2, 2017. Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about June 7, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.
i’ve read many many amazing books these past few months, but never one that made me want to start reviewing again. but A Million Junes makes me want to share something; it makes me want to feel something deeper and actually talk about it. simply put, A Million Junes is so incredibly special.
in all honesty, i don't think this is everyone's cup of tea. the concept is a little strange because it's not quite contemporary but also not quite anything else (which is really similar to Emily Henry’s debut novel, The Love That Split the World). if you keep an open mind and overcome that… weirdness, you’ll come to appreciate everything else this book has to offer – and even love the so-called weirdness along the way.
one of my favorite aspects of this novel is the writing. this writing(!!!) made me want to cry because it's too beautiful – in a way that combines poetry with casualness, and metaphors with everyday thoughts. Emily Henry took big ideas (like grief, love, and the ~future~) and made them small, but also kept them big (or important). (am i even making SENSE?) also, the writing itself can bring me to tears. there were SO many times i had to stop and underline/highlight a passage because it really made me think or feel something larger than myself.
another thing i loved was the characters and relationships. there were some people (or ghosts) i felt existed solely to guide the main character. (and one DID only exist to guide the MC – literally and figuratively) it reminded me that it's okay to ask for help, and it's okay to allow others to guide you. also, i just want to mention that the friendship is seriously #GOALS and it makes me feel :’’’).
the plot was wonderfully balanced between the BIG BAD conflict our characters are facing and something lighthearted. although there's a “forbidden romance” and that screams CLICHÉ, A Million Junes was nothing typical. i felt like the pacing towards the end got slow but it picked up really well and don't have much to complain about.
anyway, i just wanted to say i’m feeling a lot of emotions and contemplating a lot of ideas and I LOVE THIS BOOK. it holds a real and dear place in my heart with all its metaphors, ideas, and emotions bursting at the seams.
BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAY~~~
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Enter for a chance to win one (1) of five (5) copies of A Million Junes by Emily Henry (ARV: $16.99 each).
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on May 15, 2017 and 12:00 AM on June 2, 2017. Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about June 7, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.
May 16, 2017
This book is utterly spellbinding in every way. The language, the descriptions, the mythology. Emily Henry is just a brilliant writer. That's all there is to it. This book is impossibly full of magic.
May 9, 2024
★★★☆☆ - 3.5 stars
Maybe for some people, love is an explosion, fireworks against a black sky and tremors rumbling through the earth. One blazing moment. For me, it’s been happening for months, quietly as a seed sprouting. Love sneaked through me, spreading roots around my heart, until in the blink of an eye, the green of it broke the dirt.
buddy read with harper ᰔᩚ thank you for reading this book with me!
this was great! the magical realism elements always make the story much more exciting. i knew i would like this since i’ve already read lots of emily henry’s books.
my favorite part of this was the dialogue. i actually have no clue how emily henry is so good at writing it. it’s so clever and hilarious!!
i loved the mystery elements too. Saul and June worked together to solve the mystery of their past. it was a little confusing at first, but it was really interesting to read about their family. i appreciated all the thought and effort put into this.
June was written very well! grief is a common topic in emily henry’s books, and of course, it was done justice. i cried a few times and really admired the word choice—it’s such a hard feeling to describe! i felt so connected to June. she is a funny, determined, and loving individual.
i absolutely adored her and Hannah’s friendship. i’d kill for a friend like Hannah. they’re both so sweet to each other and Hannah is such an angel.
i also love the passion that June has for storytelling and how well she was able to express her emotions. she was a great main character!
Saul could’ve used some development. i didn’t feel as connected to him as i did with June. whether it’s the age difference or simply the fact that he didn’t talk much about himself—i don’t know. i find it irritating that he wished to know everything about June and wouldn’t say anything about himself. i wouldn’t be so critical of his character if he wasn’t meant to be so significant in the book. i didn’t feel as much chemistry between him and June as i’d hoped to.
the magic was what made the romance a little better. who knew magical realism and romance was such a good combination??
the ending was a little weird in my opinion. i think it was kinda confusing and i was lost for part of it. it still ended nicely. the epilogue made me cry!
anyway,
i’d recommend this! emily henry fan or not, this is a lovely book—especially for those wanting to check out some magical realism.
Maybe for some people, love is an explosion, fireworks against a black sky and tremors rumbling through the earth. One blazing moment. For me, it’s been happening for months, quietly as a seed sprouting. Love sneaked through me, spreading roots around my heart, until in the blink of an eye, the green of it broke the dirt.
buddy read with harper ᰔᩚ thank you for reading this book with me!
this was great! the magical realism elements always make the story much more exciting. i knew i would like this since i’ve already read lots of emily henry’s books.
my favorite part of this was the dialogue. i actually have no clue how emily henry is so good at writing it. it’s so clever and hilarious!!
i loved the mystery elements too. Saul and June worked together to solve the mystery of their past. it was a little confusing at first, but it was really interesting to read about their family. i appreciated all the thought and effort put into this.
June was written very well! grief is a common topic in emily henry’s books, and of course, it was done justice. i cried a few times and really admired the word choice—it’s such a hard feeling to describe! i felt so connected to June. she is a funny, determined, and loving individual.
i absolutely adored her and Hannah’s friendship. i’d kill for a friend like Hannah. they’re both so sweet to each other and Hannah is such an angel.
i also love the passion that June has for storytelling and how well she was able to express her emotions. she was a great main character!
Saul could’ve used some development. i didn’t feel as connected to him as i did with June. whether it’s the age difference or simply the fact that he didn’t talk much about himself—i don’t know. i find it irritating that he wished to know everything about June and wouldn’t say anything about himself. i wouldn’t be so critical of his character if he wasn’t meant to be so significant in the book. i didn’t feel as much chemistry between him and June as i’d hoped to.
the magic was what made the romance a little better. who knew magical realism and romance was such a good combination??
the ending was a little weird in my opinion. i think it was kinda confusing and i was lost for part of it. it still ended nicely. the epilogue made me cry!
anyway,
i’d recommend this! emily henry fan or not, this is a lovely book—especially for those wanting to check out some magical realism.
April 13, 2017
DNF at page 235
I am sorry, but this book is utterly and irrevocably not my cup of tea. I struggled with it for more than a week and I don't see a point of doing it any longer. I am just not interested in the story or characters at all. It's sad, though, that I have to call it my first ARC DNF, but, well, it is my first ARC DNF.
A Million Junes was my first Emily Henry book and I've heard quite a lot of good about her debut The Love That Split the World, so I when I saw the ARC of June, I thought why not? Well, my first and foremost mistake was to assume I'd like a Romeo and Juliet retelling when I am not a fan of the original, in the first place. You should've known, Nastassja, that there would be insta-love in the book just like in the original, and insta-love - the way it was presented here - is not our thing. Secondary, magic realism. It's when things get tricky, because I love magic, I love elements of fantasy in contemporary genre, but I absolutely cannot get into magic realism and I tried more than once. It just feels so weird. But, of course, two main reasons for me to not enjoy this book are strictly subjective. I can't say this story was bad, on the contrary, if you are into Romeo and Juliet + magic realism, I believe you might thoroughly enjoy this book.
Plus, there's a matter of age. I am not sure this one is 100% valid, but I feel like I've outgrown young-adult contemporary genre, filled with young people's angst and mentality. It feels just childish to me. I get that I am an adult who loves to read young adult fantasy, but, you know, it's fantasy, it's ageless, or at least I think so, as for the contemporary... it's complicated... or I think it is... for me... or I am just heartless and don't get this story. Well, at least I can definitely say that I like the cover and the language is pretty great albeit a weird due to the magic realism stuff.
Bottom line: Not my cup of tea, but I would definitely recommend this book if you read and enjoyed author's previous work or love Romeo and Juliet or magic realism.
*ARC of this book was kindly provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
August 20, 2022
—4.25 stars
no thoughts just sobbing. emily henry laced the pages of this book with crack fr.
no thoughts just sobbing. emily henry laced the pages of this book with crack fr.
March 21, 2024
i’m in love, love with june o’donnell and i don’t care who knows it!
how long do you think it takes to recover after reading a good book? i hear people saying that they’ll never recover after reading one, but i’ve rarely experienced the feeling. however, this book? i’m so proud to use that phrase now, because while i will constantly pile heaps of books onto my nightstand, this will be one that i will always ponder upon, hence the usage of the phrase i will never recover.
“a million junes” is ya magical realism, one of my absolute favorite genres and the one that is most often done wrong. everyone always says it is the hardest to create a world from the ground up, but i think it’s even more difficult to incorporate magical elements into the world we live in and maintaining a sense of reality. but this book makes me believe that if i look outside my window, i’ll see a feathered ghost tapping on my neighbor’s door, or a portal might open up to take me to my childhood memories any day now.
so. i could rave about the world-building, how emily henry constructed believable magical insanity, or even how wonderful a world we live in where emily henry wrote/writes poignant fantasy, but instead i’ll ramble on about grief.
which no one asked for.
it is rare that a person never experiences grief. it can take place in the loss of a favorite friend or family member, old forgotten place with a host of memories, and be brought on by a whiff of a scent or a brief glimpse at a vaguely familiar person on the street. so many (including me) automatically assume that a ‘popular’ human experience will be written in a way that touches the hearts of many.
and that’s not an unfair assumption! there are genres solely dedicated to the feeling of love and physical attraction, both defining the experience of what it means to be human.
so, a universal sense must be always written amazingly, right? no. not always.
i honestly don’t think i’ve ever connected to descriptions of grief more than with this book. june struggling with the idea of ‘getting over’ her longing for her father is something that many readers will cry over like i have, and really, i know emily henry writes romance, but the thought-provoking quotes in her novels now are even more evident in her exploration of ya fantasy. she needs to write more of this, and i hope fans of her popular books might open this one and fall in love with the wacky ideas inside.
june (jack). i simultaneously adore and don’t know how to feel about her and her personality. she’s so utterly relatable, and the loss of her dad is even more heartbreaking when emily henry introduces the idea of rebirth!
(she wanted me to die and sob and scream so she wrote this book)
emily henry: fuck you
adira: i?— what do you mean—
emily henry: [shoves this book into my face]
adira: ohhhhhh, now i get it.
but the rivalry between her and saul felt more like an i-want-you-but-fuck-off kind of situation. i didn’t really like that. the hatred built up over centuries of bitter memories could have manifested into a beautiful transition from utter distaste to growing friendship and love! and it kind of did? but henry delved so deep into the plot that the romance aspect felt underdeveloped. this was a large part of june’s story, so as a result, she felt underdeveloped too.
saul. saul saul saul. saul saul saul saul? saul saul. his name is the only interesting thing about him. i keep trying to say it in hopes that i’ll like him better, but nothing works. i mean, a guy with a name like that should have more depth to him than most: he should carry around a mysterious briefcase full of stolen art or at least parade around hitting on a teenager (oh wait! he did). i loved how he strived to protect june and cared for her. you could say that he was his best self around her, mostly because she was his only personality trait.
just saying, she was 18 and saul was 21! for the dark romance people who read disturbing stuff and proceed to write wonderful reviews about tropes that would/could make me throw up, this might not be an issue for your lovely selves. but for me?
18! she’s old enough to drive around in a toyota and he can smash beer like there’s no tomorrow. i think some people don’t realize how big of a maturity gap there is in those 3 years of development. maybe i’m reading too much into it, but there’s a lot to learn when you’re finally legal. and…saul mysteriously came back to town and started talking to a high school senior when he’s almost done with college? that’s legitimately creepy.
anyways, the plot was one of the best parts of this book. it was reminiscent of the magic and innocence of “a bridge to terabithia” but had so much freshness (and many doses of original quirkiness— the good kind)
it’s so refreshing to read a truly unique story that took time and effort: not just a pinterest board and a few shitty one liners like “i’d sell my soul for your love” that just aren’t enough to make a book meaningful imo. i loved the storyline of this book so, so much that i was willing to give five quirky lil’ stars out from my cold heart.
but the resolution to this jam-packed fantasy was rushed and..confusing. yes, there’s a curse. thank you for letting me know. but details please! at least an epilogue with more of an explanation. and do saul and june go through some sort of portal to reach their ancestors, or is he right in their backyard?
i won’t say too much, because there were some not not fully thought-out parts. but books genuinely aren’t perfect, and i’m so happy i read this one. the bottom line is, a star is taken off of my rating because the why was covered but not the how (of constructing magic). does that make sense?
four stars. if you love cherries and feathers and ghosts and whimsy, please read this book! you won’t regret it. emily henry does no wrong because she doesn’t and we love her. but we also do not talk about “happy place here”, okay? we nod our heads and move on.
—————————————————
pre-review: “a million junes” was like a self-help book mixed with fantasy and a touch of “is this really legal?”
and i loved every second of it.
emily henry — take my money all of it every wad of cash but only if you’ll write more magical realism. thank you.
review to come!
- - - - -
occasionally, a book comes along like this one which makes you question why you wandered away from the fantasies on your school library's shelves. a book that reminds you of the simple beauty of fantasy, and why you love the genre in the first place.
also emily henry writing magical realism is essentially the only thing i need in life.
how long do you think it takes to recover after reading a good book? i hear people saying that they’ll never recover after reading one, but i’ve rarely experienced the feeling. however, this book? i’m so proud to use that phrase now, because while i will constantly pile heaps of books onto my nightstand, this will be one that i will always ponder upon, hence the usage of the phrase i will never recover.
“a million junes” is ya magical realism, one of my absolute favorite genres and the one that is most often done wrong. everyone always says it is the hardest to create a world from the ground up, but i think it’s even more difficult to incorporate magical elements into the world we live in and maintaining a sense of reality. but this book makes me believe that if i look outside my window, i’ll see a feathered ghost tapping on my neighbor’s door, or a portal might open up to take me to my childhood memories any day now.
so. i could rave about the world-building, how emily henry constructed believable magical insanity, or even how wonderful a world we live in where emily henry wrote/writes poignant fantasy, but instead i’ll ramble on about grief.
which no one asked for.
it is rare that a person never experiences grief. it can take place in the loss of a favorite friend or family member, old forgotten place with a host of memories, and be brought on by a whiff of a scent or a brief glimpse at a vaguely familiar person on the street. so many (including me) automatically assume that a ‘popular’ human experience will be written in a way that touches the hearts of many.
and that’s not an unfair assumption! there are genres solely dedicated to the feeling of love and physical attraction, both defining the experience of what it means to be human.
so, a universal sense must be always written amazingly, right? no. not always.
i honestly don’t think i’ve ever connected to descriptions of grief more than with this book. june struggling with the idea of ‘getting over’ her longing for her father is something that many readers will cry over like i have, and really, i know emily henry writes romance, but the thought-provoking quotes in her novels now are even more evident in her exploration of ya fantasy. she needs to write more of this, and i hope fans of her popular books might open this one and fall in love with the wacky ideas inside.
june (jack). i simultaneously adore and don’t know how to feel about her and her personality. she’s so utterly relatable, and the loss of her dad is even more heartbreaking when emily henry introduces the idea of rebirth!
(she wanted me to die and sob and scream so she wrote this book)
emily henry: fuck you
adira: i?— what do you mean—
emily henry: [shoves this book into my face]
adira: ohhhhhh, now i get it.
but the rivalry between her and saul felt more like an i-want-you-but-fuck-off kind of situation. i didn’t really like that. the hatred built up over centuries of bitter memories could have manifested into a beautiful transition from utter distaste to growing friendship and love! and it kind of did? but henry delved so deep into the plot that the romance aspect felt underdeveloped. this was a large part of june’s story, so as a result, she felt underdeveloped too.
saul. saul saul saul. saul saul saul saul? saul saul. his name is the only interesting thing about him. i keep trying to say it in hopes that i’ll like him better, but nothing works. i mean, a guy with a name like that should have more depth to him than most: he should carry around a mysterious briefcase full of stolen art or at least parade around hitting on a teenager (oh wait! he did). i loved how he strived to protect june and cared for her. you could say that he was his best self around her, mostly because she was his only personality trait.
just saying, she was 18 and saul was 21! for the dark romance people who read disturbing stuff and proceed to write wonderful reviews about tropes that would/could make me throw up, this might not be an issue for your lovely selves. but for me?
18! she’s old enough to drive around in a toyota and he can smash beer like there’s no tomorrow. i think some people don’t realize how big of a maturity gap there is in those 3 years of development. maybe i’m reading too much into it, but there’s a lot to learn when you’re finally legal. and…saul mysteriously came back to town and started talking to a high school senior when he’s almost done with college? that’s legitimately creepy.
anyways, the plot was one of the best parts of this book. it was reminiscent of the magic and innocence of “a bridge to terabithia” but had so much freshness (and many doses of original quirkiness— the good kind)
it’s so refreshing to read a truly unique story that took time and effort: not just a pinterest board and a few shitty one liners like “i’d sell my soul for your love” that just aren’t enough to make a book meaningful imo. i loved the storyline of this book so, so much that i was willing to give five quirky lil’ stars out from my cold heart.
but the resolution to this jam-packed fantasy was rushed and..confusing. yes, there’s a curse. thank you for letting me know. but details please! at least an epilogue with more of an explanation. and do saul and june go through some sort of portal to reach their ancestors, or is he right in their backyard?
i won’t say too much, because there were some not not fully thought-out parts. but books genuinely aren’t perfect, and i’m so happy i read this one. the bottom line is, a star is taken off of my rating because the why was covered but not the how (of constructing magic). does that make sense?
four stars. if you love cherries and feathers and ghosts and whimsy, please read this book! you won’t regret it. emily henry does no wrong because she doesn’t and we love her. but we also do not talk about “happy place here”, okay? we nod our heads and move on.
—————————————————
pre-review: “a million junes” was like a self-help book mixed with fantasy and a touch of “is this really legal?”
and i loved every second of it.
emily henry — take my money all of it every wad of cash but only if you’ll write more magical realism. thank you.
review to come!
- - - - -
occasionally, a book comes along like this one which makes you question why you wandered away from the fantasies on your school library's shelves. a book that reminds you of the simple beauty of fantasy, and why you love the genre in the first place.
also emily henry writing magical realism is essentially the only thing i need in life.
July 11, 2017
Wow. This was like a mix of I'll Give You the Sun and Holes. Such a beautifully strange story. I already want to re-read this. I loved it SO much. *sobs forever*
October 17, 2017
4.5 stars
I wish so much this were a true 5-star book for me. It was five stars in my heart and five stars through perhaps the first 50-60%. The ending wasn't bad, by any means, but it lost a bit of its own magic with too many explanations (ones that didn't always fit to me) and a literal walk-and-talk of exposition at the end to tie everything together. For a story that flitted so magically at the beginning, the laying out of all the pieces really halted the magic for a moment.
Other than that one thing, I loved this so much, it squeezed my heart. Perhaps I was exactly the right audience: I love fabulism and I'm a sucker for stories about grief. This is both and it did both things incredibly well. I love the way Henry describes the sting of grief-- the way it goes away and then in the middle of you day, your hours, it comes back, reminding you of the thing that you lost. I loved how she used the magical elements to weave real emotions into her story. A house "haunted" by memories, cherries that taste of home, grief glittering like a ghost always in the field of your vision.
I loved the characters so much. June is fantastic and the friendship between June and Hannah is well featured and lovely. They love each other and they are right at the cusp of growing up and leaving each other. There is grief and heartbreak in that as well. Saul was wonderful. I nearly cheered when on a couple of occasions, June asked him to stop something or just leave and he said, "okay" and did just that. IMAGINE.
There's a lot more I could say and it would all be gushing. I read it all in two sittings. One of my favorite reads of 2017 for sure.
January 9, 2018
“Grief is an unfillable hole in your body. It should be weightless, but it's heavy. Should be cold, but it burns. Should, over time, close up, but instead it deepens.”
This was going to be a 3 star book for me until that ending.. oh my god my heart. This is a story about this girl named Jack who goes by June, she's named after her Dad and their family thinks they've been cursed. This is a gorgeous story about the love between a Father and a daughter, and the grief someone can experience when they lose a parent. June's Dad died years ago, but now she thinks she's found a way to communicate with him. I read Emily Henry's first book The Love That Split the World, and I thought it was okay, I think A Million Junes is a lot better.
“It’s almost funny, in a tragic way, that the fiery thing at the center of my universe did die and that I, a girl whose name is synonymous with summer, am expected to live without it.”
The reason why this book was going to be a 3 star rating, is because while I loved the story of this cursed family and the touch of magical realism and fantasy this book has; I never really felt connected to the characters on an emotional level - at least not until the very end. I also wasn't a huge fan of the romance between June and Saul, it was cute don't get me wrong, but it wasn't my favorite aspect of this story. One of my favorite aspects in this story is June's friendship with Hannah - they were just the cutest friends and I adored Hannah so much.
This book had some powerful quotes about grief and family and love, and what it means to be alive. That ending hit me in the heart so hard and almost made me cry and for that alone I felt like I needed to bump up my rating! I listened to the audiobook for this which was fantastic, I highly recommend the audiobook!
June 14, 2022
“we need to chase our dreams, and i don’t know about you, but in my best and brightest dreams, you’re always there.” ☁️💫
a million junes was enchanting and strange and beautiful and haunting and imaginative and lovely. with lush and atmospheric writing, emily henry created a place with a magic farmhouse, a cherry tree, ghosts, and a mysterious forest where the sun can shine in the middle of the night. this is a story of love and mystery, of family and grief, and of one of the sweetest friendships i’ve ever read (hannah is a gem ✨).
this story will stay with me forever.
a million junes was enchanting and strange and beautiful and haunting and imaginative and lovely. with lush and atmospheric writing, emily henry created a place with a magic farmhouse, a cherry tree, ghosts, and a mysterious forest where the sun can shine in the middle of the night. this is a story of love and mystery, of family and grief, and of one of the sweetest friendships i’ve ever read (hannah is a gem ✨).
this story will stay with me forever.
November 16, 2022
"Most of the time, when you regret something, you haven't seen what the thing you regret can lead you to, if you let it."
°•*⁀➷
I loved this. One of the best portrayals of grief for teenagers to see and understand I have ever read. If you've got a teen in your life experiencing grief for the first time, give them this. How healing it was.
It definitely took a bit longer to get into than I would have liked, but once I did it was hard to put down.
The description of grief and how people expect it to stop, but it never does, and it hurts more as you age because you start to forget moments you want to last forever. I loved that. It's like there's a hold inside of you, and it never gets smaller, you just grow into it. I love the way memories and dreams and life without a loved one was talked about. I loved how June experienced it. I love how Saul never made her feel pitted for it.
I love that they kept saying, "I'm useless, but I'm here." I hope next time I have to go through grief, I have someone in my corner letting me know they're there, and that they know they can't really do anything to help. That might be the most comforting sentence in the world.
June and Saul never felt like they were bad together, and they had a Romeo and Juliet situation going on for a while there. I loved that. Forbidden love and its best. Forbidden love where the person who understands you the best is the one you aren't allowed to be with.
I loved June and Hannah's friendship, their honest and respect for each other made falling into these pages so easy even when it was slow in the stat.
There's nothing quite like reading a book that understands you, no matter how many I manage to find.
- Paige
°•*⁀➷
I loved this. One of the best portrayals of grief for teenagers to see and understand I have ever read. If you've got a teen in your life experiencing grief for the first time, give them this. How healing it was.
It definitely took a bit longer to get into than I would have liked, but once I did it was hard to put down.
The description of grief and how people expect it to stop, but it never does, and it hurts more as you age because you start to forget moments you want to last forever. I loved that. It's like there's a hold inside of you, and it never gets smaller, you just grow into it. I love the way memories and dreams and life without a loved one was talked about. I loved how June experienced it. I love how Saul never made her feel pitted for it.
I love that they kept saying, "I'm useless, but I'm here." I hope next time I have to go through grief, I have someone in my corner letting me know they're there, and that they know they can't really do anything to help. That might be the most comforting sentence in the world.
June and Saul never felt like they were bad together, and they had a Romeo and Juliet situation going on for a while there. I loved that. Forbidden love and its best. Forbidden love where the person who understands you the best is the one you aren't allowed to be with.
I loved June and Hannah's friendship, their honest and respect for each other made falling into these pages so easy even when it was slow in the stat.
There's nothing quite like reading a book that understands you, no matter how many I manage to find.
- Paige
May 8, 2024
i want love as beautiful as saul and june's wtf
July 24, 2024
The money I would pay to see Emily write magical realism again!! I just know it would be everything. I LOVED THIS!! Grabbing and so unputdownable, hooked from the very beginning! You have June who’s taught her entire life to stay away from the Angert Family and yet she can’t help but feel drawn to Saul Angert , insert forbidden romance here that had me squealing and white knuckling my book because I was on edge the entire time! Also the grief in here, Em Hen never hesitates to get a reader so weepy with heavier topics.
Highly highly recommend to my em hen girls!!
Highly highly recommend to my em hen girls!!
May 2, 2017
This review could also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
There was so much to love about this book. It was almost a magical experience reading this book. The story just kind of sprang to life for me and I was really swept away by the story. I couldn't get this story out of my head and if I had a moment free I was reading this book. This was a book that I quickly learned to expect the unexpected and just let the beauty of the storytelling take over. Simply put, this was an amazing book.
Jack goes by many names. She answers to Jack, Junior, and June but her real identity is wrapped up in the fact that she is an O'Donnell. Her family has a long standing feud with the neighboring family named Angert. Jack doesn't have a whole lot of rules that she has always been told to follow but staying away from the Angerts is one of them.
Saul Angert is back in town and it doesn't take him very long to cross paths with Jack. His family has also told him to stay away from the O'Donnells for his entire life. The problem is that they don't want to stay apart and are in fact drawn to each other. They start spending more and more time with each other and strange things begin to happen.
The magical realism in this book was wonderfully crafted. There are ghosts and pieces of light that let you see the memories of those that came before. If you leave your shoes unattended, the coywolves will most likely steal them. Jack and Saul both get swept up in the memories of their ancestors and start to unravel the true reason for the long standing feud.
I cannot say enough good things about the writing. This is a story that was beautifully told. I loved how easily the author was able to blend the magical elements into our contemporary world. The relationships in the book felt very authentic and I ended up loving all of the characters. I had no idea where this book would end up and to be honest I didn't care since I was having such a good time on the journey.
I would highly recommend this book to others. I enjoyed Emily Henry's debut novel, The Love That Split the World, but loved this one even more. I can't wait to read Emily Henry's future works.
I received an advance reader edition of this book from Penguin Group - Razorbill via First to Read.
Initial Thoughts
I really enjoyed this book. The writing was brilliant and the story was one I couldn't quit thinking about.
There was so much to love about this book. It was almost a magical experience reading this book. The story just kind of sprang to life for me and I was really swept away by the story. I couldn't get this story out of my head and if I had a moment free I was reading this book. This was a book that I quickly learned to expect the unexpected and just let the beauty of the storytelling take over. Simply put, this was an amazing book.
Jack goes by many names. She answers to Jack, Junior, and June but her real identity is wrapped up in the fact that she is an O'Donnell. Her family has a long standing feud with the neighboring family named Angert. Jack doesn't have a whole lot of rules that she has always been told to follow but staying away from the Angerts is one of them.
Saul Angert is back in town and it doesn't take him very long to cross paths with Jack. His family has also told him to stay away from the O'Donnells for his entire life. The problem is that they don't want to stay apart and are in fact drawn to each other. They start spending more and more time with each other and strange things begin to happen.
The magical realism in this book was wonderfully crafted. There are ghosts and pieces of light that let you see the memories of those that came before. If you leave your shoes unattended, the coywolves will most likely steal them. Jack and Saul both get swept up in the memories of their ancestors and start to unravel the true reason for the long standing feud.
I cannot say enough good things about the writing. This is a story that was beautifully told. I loved how easily the author was able to blend the magical elements into our contemporary world. The relationships in the book felt very authentic and I ended up loving all of the characters. I had no idea where this book would end up and to be honest I didn't care since I was having such a good time on the journey.
I would highly recommend this book to others. I enjoyed Emily Henry's debut novel, The Love That Split the World, but loved this one even more. I can't wait to read Emily Henry's future works.
I received an advance reader edition of this book from Penguin Group - Razorbill via First to Read.
Initial Thoughts
I really enjoyed this book. The writing was brilliant and the story was one I couldn't quit thinking about.
May 1, 2024
A Million Junes surprised me. At first, I thought this was a fairly standard, enjoyable YA love story with strong Romeo and Juliet influences. By the end, it built into an exploration of what can lead two households in fair Verona to get completely bashed in their heads about each other. I quite enjoyed it.
Emily Henry is an absolute phenom in the world of adult romance. I have only read one other book by her, Book Lovers, and found that it followed a story formula too obviously for my taste. And during the first half of A Million Junes, I wondered if Book Lovers was Henry's fan fiction of her own YA work, retold for an adult audience. There were a good number of parallels between the two stories.* And the longing between the two leads... Let's just say Emily Henry was clearly made to write for the adult market.
But the second half of A Million Junes shifts from a high school romance to a magical realism exploration of intergenerational gestalt. And that’s where it gets really good.
Don't get me wrong - I've got *nothing* against a high school romance. Has any other genre ever persuaded me to dedicate any portion of my closet to fandom merch? Still, as Divine Rivals recently demonstrated, the simple presence of first love isn't enough for me to grant a book five stars.
A Million Junes takes a truly interesting turn towards the end. I lost the feeling that I was reading a formula for a captivating story. Instead, I felt like I was diving into someone's mind.
--
*Parallels between A Million Junes and Book Lovers:
4.5/5.
Emily Henry is an absolute phenom in the world of adult romance. I have only read one other book by her, Book Lovers, and found that it followed a story formula too obviously for my taste. And during the first half of A Million Junes, I wondered if Book Lovers was Henry's fan fiction of her own YA work, retold for an adult audience. There were a good number of parallels between the two stories.* And the longing between the two leads... Let's just say Emily Henry was clearly made to write for the adult market.
But the second half of A Million Junes shifts from a high school romance to a magical realism exploration of intergenerational gestalt. And that’s where it gets really good.
Don't get me wrong - I've got *nothing* against a high school romance. Has any other genre ever persuaded me to dedicate any portion of my closet to fandom merch? Still, as Divine Rivals recently demonstrated, the simple presence of first love isn't enough for me to grant a book five stars.
A Million Junes takes a truly interesting turn towards the end. I lost the feeling that I was reading a formula for a captivating story. Instead, I felt like I was diving into someone's mind.
--
*Parallels between A Million Junes and Book Lovers:
4.5/5.
April 27, 2017
I am a sucker for anything that compares itself to R+J, but couple that with Emily Henry's name and I didn't need to know anything else.
I love love loved June and Saul. They're both grieving and trying to work through it and I loved every scene with them together. They have an immediate and hilarious banter. I could have easily read a million more pages of the two of them. The entire cast of characters is delightful. {I would like more Hannah please!} It did get a bit confusing with all of the past family members, but eventually I just gave up trying to keep them straight.
There's not much I can say about the plot without spoilers. Plus I'm not sure I could even explain it. It unfolds in the way it needs to and it's a glorious and deliciously slow burn. I would have liked just a bit more from the ending, but it was perfect how it was and I'm just really really greedy.
**Huge thanks to Razorbill Books and Edelweiss for providing the arc free of charge**
I love love loved June and Saul. They're both grieving and trying to work through it and I loved every scene with them together. They have an immediate and hilarious banter. I could have easily read a million more pages of the two of them. The entire cast of characters is delightful. {I would like more Hannah please!} It did get a bit confusing with all of the past family members, but eventually I just gave up trying to keep them straight.
There's not much I can say about the plot without spoilers. Plus I'm not sure I could even explain it. It unfolds in the way it needs to and it's a glorious and deliciously slow burn. I would have liked just a bit more from the ending, but it was perfect how it was and I'm just really really greedy.
**Huge thanks to Razorbill Books and Edelweiss for providing the arc free of charge**
May 20, 2024
This book was magically ghostly 🤩 With some flirty angst mixed in. 👍
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