Book Review: A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Mystery, Fantasy

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Delacorte Press (January 7, 2025)

Length: 288 pages

Author Information: Website

It’s hard to believe that A Sea of Unspoken Things marks my fifth book by Adrienne Young, but over the last few years, I’ve come to realize that I prefer her adult novels with touches of magical realism over her YA. If this is the direction she’s decided to pursue, I’m certainly not complaining—the mature and introspective themes found within tend to be a lot more interesting, and it’s clear the author’s writing has gotten even better and more refined with time.

In A Sea of Unspoken Things, the story combines mystery and familial bonds with a touch of the supernatural. While not without its flaws, the book did stand out to me as an unflinching look at grief and the terrible effect that secrets can have on a small rural town. James Golden is our protagonist who returns to her hometown of Hawthorne, California after the sudden and suspicious death of her twin brother, Johnny. Growing up, the bond between the two siblings had been so strong, at times it even felt supernatural for James. That was how she knew something was seriously wrong the day Johnny died. She knew, because she could have sworn that she felt the pain of the bullet that tore through his body and ended his life, even though at the time, the two of them had been hundreds of miles apart.

Back in Hawthorne, James is finding it hard to face the lingering shadows of her past. Tasked with getting her late twin’s affairs in order, she must also come to terms with the people she left behind and the way she walked out on them. That’s because very few manage to break free of Hawthorne, though James did, thanks to her artistic talents opening the door to art school and a successful career in the city. However, it came at the cost of leaving behind Johnny and their best friend Micah—a decision that still weighs heavily on her to this day. James wonders if her brother would still be alive had she stayed to look out for him. But as she sorts through his things, she begins finding details about Johnny’s life which suggest his demise might not have been an accident. He had been in the forest when it happened, killed by what was thought to be a stray bullet from an oblivious hunter. The police didn’t catch who did it, and might never will, which leaves James determined to uncover the truth herself.

While there’s a lot here to hold one’s attention, Young’s ability to weave in the characters’ complex relationships is what gave me the motivation to keep reading. James’ connection with her twin is beautifully rendered, though her voice often overshadowed my attempts to form my own ideas and opinions about her brother. You can tell James was ultra protective, and I wasn’t always a fan of how her infantilizing of Johnny sold him short. That said, her grief was palpable, and much of the story’s emotional weight came from this. Add in the fraught romantic history between James and Micah, which brought another layer of heartache—especially with the secret he shared with the twins when they were all teenagers, tied to a traumatic incident.

And that brings me to the aspects that didn’t quite land for me. While the mystery surrounding Johnny’s death serves as the book’s main driving force, with clues and revelations that gradually unravel to create an air of suspense, the story often felt weighed down by unnecessary distractions. For instance, the aforementioned incident involving teenage James, Johnny, and Micah did not have much impact on the overall narrative when everything was revealed, nor was it all that significant or surprising to serve well as a twist. And then there was the tease of a supernatural element, leading readers to believe there might have been a psychic connection between James and Johnny. In the end though, that also felt half-formed and ultimately unnecessary, adding little to the plot and feeling kind of pointless.

But once these dramatics were out of the way, allowing the focus to return to the mystery of Johnny’s death, the pacing became much more my speed. The build-up to the truth is indeed compelling, even if most of the action and suspense takes place in the second half of the book. At these moments, the author excels at capturing the mood and setting of Hawthorne, a small town whose residents hold plenty of secrets and bad blood, making every interaction and unresolved conflict a potential clue waiting to blow up.

In the end, A Sea of Unspoken Things is a beautifully written and evocative story about grief which also pulls double duty as a mystery suspense novel. Some threads, particularly tied to the otherworldly aspects of James and Johnny’s close sibling bond, could have been explored more thoroughly, yet the main character’s determination to do right by her dead brother by finding his killer is a big part of the books emotional core and makes up for any shortcomings. Mystery readers and fans of Adrienne Young who appreciate her more nuanced work will be sure to love this one.