Amazon.ca:Customer reviews: A Million Junes

Reviewed in Canada on August 17, 2017

I was absolutely smitten with Emily Henry’s The Love That Split The World before I even read it. Similarly, I knew I had to read A Million Junes as soon as humanly possible, and pre-ordered it as soon as humanly possible. Henry has this amazing atmospheric storytelling vibe that dreamily whisks me away on a magical adventure anytime I open one of her books. I am so in love with her writing, it’s so fragile and beautiful and perfect, I sometimes can’t even put into words how it makes me feel.

A Million Junes was just as hypnotically magical. Henry works off a familiar Romeo + Juliet formula of vengeful and cursed families, mixing in a large does of magical realism that blends easily with the supernatural. This is a tricky combination, but Henry does it beautifully. This could have easily been filled with cliches and predictable moments, but she creates such interesting concepts and magical elements that nothing seems like it’s trying too hard. 

Like her previous work, there was an incredibly strong female friendship here that didn’t once falter at the introduction of a boy in either of their lives, which I will endlessly applaud and love. Henry seems to put such an emphasis on strong female friendships and I really wish we saw more of that in mainstream entertainment.

I also couldn’t get enough of the chemistry between June and Saul. They shared a lot of similar feelings and upbringings and I felt they fit really well together. I felt that June really came into her own during their relationship and he was a vital part of her finding out the truth about her family and their tie to his. June was kind of hot and cold towards him sometimes, which I felt a little annoyed by – I know, I know, a curse, forbidden love, etc etc, but we all knew what was ultimately going to happen, the back and forth of should I, shouldn’t I was a waste of precious reading time.

I was a little confused about the inclusion of June’s writing teacher, though. I imagine she existed because June needed a push in another direction towards college and a life she didn’t really consider before, given her dreams of traveling like her father. But it seemed a little half-formed, we never find out if June actually goes to college, the teacher seemed to create more conflict than motivation or inspiration for her. I thought that if she were going to be a part of things, she’d at least have a larger role in a turning point for June, but other than showing her that she has some writing talent, which doesn’t really go anywhere in the book, I can’t see a good reason for her to exists.

This was really close to a perfect read for me, but I was sadly underwhelmed by the ending. The story built so much up on grief and loss and love and June was absolutely obsessed with walking in her dad’s footsteps and never letting him go. When everything came together in the end and the true realities of the depths of the grief and pain in these families came to full light, I don’t know, I was kind of disappointed with how it was all revealed. It seemed repetitive and a little preachy to me. The messaging was strong, but I almost felt it was too strong and kept drilling into me the need to let go and move on and while it was beautifully written and you felt the strong emotional bond between June and her father in full fruition, I just wasn’t 100% swept away by the whole thing. It’s possible that I’ve been lucky enough not to have experienced a similar kind of grief yet in my life and thus, didn’t fully relate to these deep and very powerful emotions, but like I said, I felt underwhelmed. Minor detail though, as every other single page up until that point had me pouring over them and chasing after June and Saul as they skipped through the memories of their past.

There are a handful of authors who tend to take me to a completely different realm anytime I read their work and Henry is very easily on that list. She truly is an incredible storyteller and I will drop everything to read her beautiful, creative, magical stories.

Originally posted on citygirlscapes.com

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Jessica Duskes

Whimsical and beautiful… love and loss and love

Reviewed in Canada on July 18, 2022

Let me start by saying this isn’t the genre of book I usually read, but I love Emily Henry as an author so I wanted to give it a chance.

This book is whimsical and magical and fantastical.
It somehow simultaneously depicts grief and loss and magic and love…
It was truly a beautiful read. The kind of book where you fall in love with the characters and you don’t want it to end.
For me, it was thought provoking and made my heart feel huge while also breaking it in a million tiny pieces.

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L. Unrau

I want to tell you how heart wrenching this is

Reviewed in Canada on February 24, 2018

I’m sorry that I’m not better at writing reviews. I want to be able to tell you how good this book is, how strong the characters are, how magical the world is, how much sadness and happiness and grief it will bring you. I want to tell you how many boxes of Kleenex you might want to have set beside you while you read... how strong the friendships are... how true and honest it feels as a whole... how you’re probably not ready for this story and may never be and yet I believe it’s an important story that you should read now anyway. It’s important for young adults trying to figure out who they are and it’s important for adults who probably are still figuring out who they are and what they want.

Have you seen the movie Big Fish? That’s the closest comparison I think I can make.

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Holly Anne

Magical realism at its finest!

Reviewed in Canada on April 25, 2018

This book deserves all the stars. I never expected to love this one, but A Million Junes resonated with me so much. I love, love, love June and her character development. I love Saul, whose a writer and in some ways is as lost as June. I love the family and the secrets and history that tangle in their lives. I love Emily Henry's writing and how she makes everything so poetic and makes you want to absorb each sentence, word until it's humming inside you and you're thinking this is me, this is me, this is me .

I liked Henry's debut, but A Million Junes exceeds her debut and now I'm hungry for more of Henry's writing. Will definitely be re-reading A Million Junes before the year ends.

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Jessica Woodbridge

A Beautiful, Sparkling Story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 21, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is the 2nd book of Emily Henry's that I've read. This story- A Million June's- was beautiful. It reminded me a little of Martina Boone's The Heirs of Watson Island trilogy. There is magic, a curse, a feud, a forbidden love in both these stories. A Million June's is compact and yet seems to have as much story as Martina Boone's trilogy. I will read them both again at some point. The magic of the Whites, the love story, the curse, the ghosts, all of it- sparkled- for me, this is the perfect word for it. Emily Henry sucked me in to a magical world that was also slap bang in the here and now and also- it seemed to me- made excellent use of the many worlds' theory to boot. I apologise for any bad grammer but please live and let live, thank you :-)

Bookterror

Magical charm and family drama

Reviewed in Germany on July 31, 2019

Verified Purchase

I can tell you that the plot of this story is very minimal, and only very loosely based on Romeo and Juliet. Instead, this is more about family relations, heritage and grief. Intertwined with a magical touch that surrounds June's home, this is a beautiful exploration of two families whose history and future are connected in various ways we find out throughout the book.
The atmosphere is also gorgeous. The subtle magic, the weird things happening, the simple believe of the townspeople in it all. I know want coywolves to steal my shoes as well. It all adds to the warm, fuzzy feelings I had while reading it.
June is a very strong narrator. Her voice is clear and cheeky and full of love for her family, her hometown and the magic that happens in between. June and Hannah's friendship is everything. You can tell they care deeply about each other and the romance does not take away from that.

It's also been a while since I was so charmed with a story. I don't know what exactly it was but I felt I was in Five Fingers with them all.

Smrithi

Something different.

Reviewed in India on May 17, 2019

Verified Purchase

I really liked the story. It's nothing like the books I have read before. A little like Romeo and Juliet kind of forbidden love, but with magical realism.

3 people found this helpful

Rosalie

A novel that reads like a poem

Reviewed in Australia on January 26, 2021

Verified Purchase

I loved this book, I find the contrast between the everyday reality and the magical imagery beautiful, it sees together to create a beautiful, dreamlike world. Bonus points for depicting independent female characters and strong female friendships.

Romie Nguyen

simply breathtaking

Reviewed in France on January 31, 2021

Verified Purchase

this book was special. it felt like reading a tiny part of the universe, drinking warm hot chocolate, being hugged, running under the rain, and sobbing uncontrollably. all of this at once. it was incredible.

Keeper

A Good Read

Reviewed in Australia on April 17, 2018

Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed this book. Wonderfully written and was sentimental in the best of ways. Definitely a good afternoon read.

5 star		54%
4 star		25%
3 star		17%
2 star		3%
1 star		1%

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