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kmdowling90's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer and Dementia
elischen's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
cschaepe84's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Two families, one curse, thousands of moments that play out through generations.
Junior O'Donnell and Saul Angert are two people from two different families in a small town of Five Fingers who have a feud. The exact feud isn't quite known, but all that they know of it is to stay away from each other or very bad things happens. People die, people get very sick, tragedy strikes. So, when Saul and Junior literally run into each other one fateful night when Saul returns to Five Fingers, they feel a connection despite the curse. They were taught to hate each other, but couldn't bring themselves to. In addition, on the night June meets Saul, she begins to experience a distant memory in her room, one that played out when she was eight years old and her father was alive. You see, June lives in a haunted house, or at least in a special place where the veil between this world and the one beyond. These episodes of experiencing memories happen in escalating frequency ever since she and Saul reconnect and began falling in love. Ah, but the curse! Saul and June use their heads together to figure out the mysteries of this curse and unravel a tragic tale of loss, vengeance, and generational trauma.
This was such a unique, heart-felt story that left me in tears. The writing was so beautiful. Henry did such an outstanding job creating this atmospheric world that I could see and taste, balancing this with the intense emotions of the grief from losing someone you loved. I myself having lost my father can very easily relate and I found myself feeling so hard for Junior, who idealized and idolized her father, never questioning the way he told his story: perfect, rosy, and heroic. But when the memories continued to unravel, she is confronted with certain truths about her father, and then confronted with the truth about a wrong committed long, long ago, that haunted both families. Through June and Saul we learn about how love and forgiveness can heal all wounds, as well as accepting the past as it is, both the good and the ugly, as well as being grateful for what you have in the present. This book had me pondering all these things in my own life, as there are some things that are painful in my past, but there's also a lot that I miss that I wish I could revisit and see again. However, there is so much to love and be grateful for in the present, but if you do not let go of the past, you will never see that, and you could miss out on a brighter, more fulfilling future.
Man, this is my first book that I've read of Emily Henry's, and I understand this is some of her earlier writing. I know she writes mainly rom-coms now, but it's such a shame she doesn't write stories similar to this. So incredibly beautiful, so haunting, and yet, such a triumph all rolled into one. For anyone who has ever grieved, this book could bring some comfort and hope.
Junior O'Donnell and Saul Angert are two people from two different families in a small town of Five Fingers who have a feud. The exact feud isn't quite known, but all that they know of it is to stay away from each other or very bad things happens. People die, people get very sick, tragedy strikes. So, when Saul and Junior literally run into each other one fateful night when Saul returns to Five Fingers, they feel a connection despite the curse. They were taught to hate each other, but couldn't bring themselves to. In addition, on the night June meets Saul, she begins to experience a distant memory in her room, one that played out when she was eight years old and her father was alive. You see, June lives in a haunted house, or at least in a special place where the veil between this world and the one beyond. These episodes of experiencing memories happen in escalating frequency ever since she and Saul reconnect and began falling in love. Ah, but the curse! Saul and June use their heads together to figure out the mysteries of this curse and unravel a tragic tale of loss, vengeance, and generational trauma.
This was such a unique, heart-felt story that left me in tears. The writing was so beautiful. Henry did such an outstanding job creating this atmospheric world that I could see and taste, balancing this with the intense emotions of the grief from losing someone you loved. I myself having lost my father can very easily relate and I found myself feeling so hard for Junior, who idealized and idolized her father, never questioning the way he told his story: perfect, rosy, and heroic. But when the memories continued to unravel, she is confronted with certain truths about her father, and then confronted with the truth about a wrong committed long, long ago, that haunted both families. Through June and Saul we learn about how love and forgiveness can heal all wounds, as well as accepting the past as it is, both the good and the ugly, as well as being grateful for what you have in the present. This book had me pondering all these things in my own life, as there are some things that are painful in my past, but there's also a lot that I miss that I wish I could revisit and see again. However, there is so much to love and be grateful for in the present, but if you do not let go of the past, you will never see that, and you could miss out on a brighter, more fulfilling future.
Man, this is my first book that I've read of Emily Henry's, and I understand this is some of her earlier writing. I know she writes mainly rom-coms now, but it's such a shame she doesn't write stories similar to this. So incredibly beautiful, so haunting, and yet, such a triumph all rolled into one. For anyone who has ever grieved, this book could bring some comfort and hope.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, and Violence
madflatt's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
siriface's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
megmccreery's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Made me cry but ultimately could have been 100 pages shorter. It just took a little too long to get to the point throughout the whole book, and the excessive details lessened the impact of the plot. This definitely was the start of the Emily Henry we know today. The writing style was very much her's, and Saul and June were very much giving Gus and January.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
jeddicat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent
fairynanook's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I really enjoyed this story. I do not know enough about Emily Henry to know if she has suffered personal loss, but I do know that her writing touches on grief in a way that makes it seem like she understands it on a personal level. This book deals heavily with grief and I found myself challenged at many points while reading lines that so closely mirrored my own experiences with the loss of my father. Beyond grief, this book also deals with healing generational traumas, with a side of romance and the paranormal. I personally thought it was delightful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Dementia, and Murder
faerietears's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A Million Junes is a beautiful book of magical realism and family history.
I don't even have words for this book. It definitely has the Romeo & Juliet theme going on, but not in an in-your-face overt kinda way.
The characters are wonderful. The writing is beautiful. The magic feels so real, and I love the way that the characrers just accepted the magic as part of their lives, because it's all they've known, even if it's only affected just the two fueding families. And the curse, oh my...the curse. Heartbreaking.
This book is part romance, but also part grief. June is grieving the loss of her father, even though it was many years before, that isn't something you just "get over". And Saul has lost both his twins sister and is in the process of losing his own father to dementia. Despite being banned from seeing one another, June and Saul find healing with one another.
Emily Henry can do NO wrong.
I don't even have words for this book. It definitely has the Romeo & Juliet theme going on, but not in an in-your-face overt kinda way.
The characters are wonderful. The writing is beautiful. The magic feels so real, and I love the way that the characrers just accepted the magic as part of their lives, because it's all they've known, even if it's only affected just the two fueding families. And the curse, oh my...the curse. Heartbreaking.
This book is part romance, but also part grief. June is grieving the loss of her father, even though it was many years before, that isn't something you just "get over". And Saul has lost both his twins sister and is in the process of losing his own father to dementia. Despite being banned from seeing one another, June and Saul find healing with one another.
Emily Henry can do NO wrong.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child death, Violence, and Grief