A Million Junes
A Book Review
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"I was just a moment, and you gave me a million Junes.
I was just a moment, and you made me forever."
- Jack O'Donnell III
A heart wrenching, soul breaking book that will take your breathes away. Having to grow up without a father and only having fragments of memories will surely hit it off with those who can relate to the same particular situation.
A Million Junes is a follow-up book from the author of The Love That Split The World, published under Penguin Random House in the year 2017.
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In a place called Five Fingers, where magic is alive and a town of tall tales, anything or everything can be possible. Where it felt like heaven on Earth, the silent world before anything had gone wrong, and cherries taste like the sun. For years, a ludicrously long overdue feud is still going on between the O'Donnells and the Angerts. This feud affects both side of families but are tight-lipped about it.
Jack "June" O'Donnell IV is only sure about two things, she must never ever ever interact with an Angert and stay away from them as much as she possibly can and sadly always be his father's girl even though he long passed away when she was 8. But when June quite literally bump into Saul Angert, seemed like all she believed in was a bit shaken.
Five Fingers, the town, felt really alive to me. The places were defined accurately, making me want to live in a paradise like Five Fingers. June's house is one of the things that this book really caught my attention, imagine a forest that hides a tree named O'Dang which you rarely find. Window whites, they are little white puff balls that you can find floating near windows. Rooms on the house that takes you to unbelievable places. Coy wolves who takes shoes and any footwear instead of eating animals. And the forest which is a magical place where borders between our world are thin. Five Fingers is sorta like a dream place for me. I'm guessing a dream place for everybody.
For as long as she was alive, she was taught to stay at least a meter apart from an Angert or bad things might or surely will happen. Somehow destiny is definitely playing a prank and that leaves June getting tangled up with Saul. Will she comply obediently being occasionally entoiled with an Angert or be eaten by guilt as the broken rules reminds June of her deceased father? But that whole situation doesn't really seem to be a hindrance for them to be drawn to each other. Somehow this shows how destiny plays a fool on peoples lives.
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This surely will remind us the Romeo and Juliet phenomenon. It'll indeed get you hooked as you join June and Saul adventures to discover the past, revealing majestic amount of revelations, that I too didn't expect. This will certainly get you up on your feet as you agitates for the next chapters. Together they don't just find comfort in each arms but build courage to bend some rules to protect people they love.
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Certainly, this is a must read for those who are longing for their fathers. Those who are in the dilemma of letting go of the memories that still keeps you going and your only escape to your wretched reality or hanging on to something you know that is long already lost and never getting the chance to have it back. The grief and yearning was written so well, that'll make you want to barge in to your parents room in the middle of the night, cuddle with both and tell them how much they really mean to you.
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This book tells how a parents love can really be everlasting even after death. This really showed me how a parent thrive their best just so their children can grow a billion times better than they are. Sometimes they might mess up or make decisions that will hurt us, but that doesn't mean they're not doing their best, that doesn't also mean they're bad parents. This is just to remind us that they are still human beings who makes mistakes. And this mistakes sometimes make us bloom.
I believe everyone had experienced story telling from their fathers. This book really made me want to be tucked in the bed by my father while making him tell stories about his pasts experience. Although every story said was kinda surreal, you can't help but actually believe it. But the story is not a lie, they just make it a bit bizarre and that brings out the fun.
It is also indeed incredible how a memory can feel like pieces of a big puzzle slowly coming together. I was truly taken aback as how this book made me realize how the past can really affect the future in various ways. They say ignorance is a bliss, but this bliss can sometimes only be a gift to someone in a brief period of time.
Honestly, I really had a hard time trying to finish this book. I had a thing with a guy before and the male protagonist has the same name with him. Moving on, I really can't help but swoon over the undeniable chemistry between them. You can't just have enough of Saul and June's amusing and adorable exchange of conversations. Of course I was thrown over as how Saul was never hostile about the feud, a bit of a spoiler but yes they do like each other, which was kind of jolting and it really did sprung out the whole theme of a forbidden love that Emily Henry stupefyingly justified.
So if you are on a hunt of finding an amazing book, you should probably read this one. It has drama, fantasy, slight pinch of horror, a lil bit of thriller also, and it's hilarious.
This is a magical treat for every reader who enjoys magical realism. Every reader who constantly has a love and hate relationship with reality, then trust me this book is for you. Read on and let the world of fantasy take over.
Image credits: Beckmank via Hidden Staircase
If this review captivated you, then be sure to give it a try! I assure you that you won't be disappointed!
Happy reading!
