A Sea of Unspoken Things: A Novel

Written by Adrienne Young

Narrated by Christine Lakin

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this captivating atmospheric novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unmaking of June Farrow, a woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death while confronting the ghosts of her own haunted past.

James and Johnny Golden were once inseparable. For as long as she can remember, James shared an almost supernatural connection with her twin brother, Johnny, that went beyond intuition—she could feel what he was feeling. So, when Johnny is killed in a tragic accident, James knows before her phone even rings that her brother is gone and that she’s alone—truly alone—for the first time in her life.

When James arrives in the secluded town of Six Rivers, California, to settle her brother’s affairs, she’s forced to revisit the ominous events of their shared past and finally face Micah, the only other person who knows their secrets—and the only man she has ever loved.

But as James delves deeper into Johnny’s world, she realizes that their unique connection hasn’t completely vanished. The more she immerses herself in his life, the more questions she has about the brother she thought she knew. Johnny was hiding something, and he’s not the only one. The deeper she digs, the more she is compelled to unravel the truth behind the days leading up to Johnny’s death. Ultimately, James must decide which truths should come to light, and which are better left buried forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 7, 2025
• ISBN: 9780593787373

Adrienne Young

Adrienne Young is a foodie with a deep love of history and travel and a shameless addiction to coffee. When she’s not writing, you can find her on her yoga mat, sipping wine over long dinners or disappearing into her favorite art museums. She lives with her documentary filmmaker husband and their four little wildlings in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling Sky in the Deep duology and the Fable duology.

Reviews for A Sea of Unspoken Things

[Renee Smith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was my favorite of hers, I love all her books though ❤️

[flourgirl49 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First of all, who gives a female character the name James? Weird. James had a twin brother Johnny who was killed in a supposed hunting accident, so she travels home to a town reached by a dirt road in the middle of a forest (which kind of stretches credibility, but OK) to try and figure out what happened. James has an eerie connection with her twin brother and is constantly "seeing" him and feeling him even though he's dead. Johnny actually sounds like he was a jerk, and James and his best friend Micah (former lover of James) always covered for him. To her credit, James starts to realize that she didn't really know Johnny as well as she thought she did, and by the time all of the mysterious things going on in this town are resolved, she appears to have untangled her complicated past as well and is ready to move on.

[theyodamom · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I only got to 16% in this short book and it was torture. I couldn't get through one page without nodding off. It felt like I'd read hundreds of pages of a story that goes nowhere and that was just the start. UGGGG ! She said she felt her brother, felt his presence so many times I was ready to scream. I will not read work from this author again, she writes in a style that does not work for me in any way. I'd rather do my taxes.

[kalliegrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A tender and emotional mystery, a return to a hometown long forgotten and a reckoning with the past held there. I never know quite what story I'm getting from Young but I always enjoy it

[carol420 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story has a lot going on to easily hold the reader's attention. The characters all have a very complex relationships that gives you the motivation to keep reading. James’ connection with her twin Johnny, is sometimes a bit "disturbing". James was, in my opinion, too overly protective, and I really didn't like how she babied Johnny. That said, her grief was certainly "real", and a great deal of the story’s emotion was the result of this. If you add in the romantic history between James and Micah...that brought another layer of heartache...especially when we learn the secret Micah shared with the twins when they were teenagers, that was tied to a traumatic incident. that could have been a story by itself. While the mystery of Johnny’s death is the story's main theme, complete with clues and revelations that gradually unravel creating an air of suspense, the story was often weighed down by unnecessary distractions...the incident involving James, Johnny, and Micah as teenagers...that was interesting but really didn't have much impact on the overall storyline...nor was it all that significant or surprising. Now about the "tease" that there was a supernatural element that I suppose was to lead readers to believe there might have been a psychic connection between James and Johnny. Didn't happen...It was never there. Nothing resembling anything "supernatural" took place..."strange" maybe...unusual...but never actually supernatural. In the end it felt like a half-formed and unnecessary marketing effort, adding little or nothing to the plot. The story as it was carried itself well...thus the 4-star rating...but let's not tack on something that never appears in the story.

[dianekeenoy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

James returns home after her twin brother is found dead of a bullet wound in the woods where he has been working on an owl project. His death has been ruled an accidental hunting accident but, James doesn't believe that. There's a lot going on in this book but, it doesn't rush the reader. I have another one of the author's books and am looking forward to reading it as well.

[amym3317 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Twenty years ago James Golden left Six Rivers and never looked back. Leaving her entire life up to that point behind - including her twin brother Johnny and her boyfriend Micah - James needed to start over and with an opportunity to go to school in San Francisco and pursue her art, she couldn't turn it down.

Three months ago Johnny was killed in what was supposedly a hunting accident. Now, James is headed home to Six Rivers to sort out his stuff.

While there, James sees and feels the ghost of her brother everywhere. In his home, in the halls of the high school they both used to attend, out in the woods where he used to capture his photography, even sitting in a booth at the local diner. James cannot get away from her past, and also cannot help but wonder if Johnny is trying to tell her something. As she begins to unravel the life Johnny was living since she went away to school, James is left wondering if she ever really knew her twin at all.

Adrienne Young is like the queen of the slow-burn. I have read all of her books and they all have this meticulous way of unravelling the story. Sea of Unspoken Things is no different. For me, the pacing didn't even really start picking up until well past the halfway mark, but never once did I feel like it slogged along.

It's because Adrienne Young has this way of really getting to the heart of the characters she writes to the point where every crumb of information learned is like another light illuminating the entire piece. And let's be honest, this book deals with a lot of heavy topics. Whereas this might make me second-guess reading a book by another author, Adrienne Young always seems to be able to imbue this sense of hope and lightness which takes away a lot of that heaviness.

This is a really interesting story about going home again and how secrets always have a way of coming out. Whether that is literally or if it's more of the effect taken on your life in keeping them.

Johnny's death brings up similarities between another tragedy that occurred in Six Rivers. A tragedy that was a contributing factor in prompting James's departure. By coming home again she has to recon with everything and she knows that if she doesn't it'll continue to haunt her for the rest of her life.

The only other person who at least partially understands is Micah - James's ex and Johnny's best friend. The three of them were seemingly inseparable when they were younger. Until James left, then it was just Micah looking out for Johnny. I'm a real sucker for a second-chance. Something about rehashing the history between two people who, for all intents and purposes, loved each other just hooks me in every time. Adrienne Young is a master of this type of dynamic, but it's the way she also balances the unfolding mystery of Johnny that makes for such a compelling read.

Adrienne Young has come to be one of my favorite authors both in her Adult and Young Adult books. I love that she inserts some magic within the pages of everything she writes kind of like finding the magic within the everyday of life.