Romeo and Juliet meets One Hundred Years of Solitude, A Million Junes is about the daughter and son of two long-feuding families who fall in love while trying to uncover the truth about the strange magic and harrowing curse that has plagued their bloodlines for generations.
From the bestselling author of The Love that Split the World, some Emily Henry‘s latest contemporary modern fantasy. A beautiful, lyrical, and achingly brilliant story about love, grief, and family. In a fantastical retelling of Romeo and Juliet, this story of two star-crossed lovers will have you on the edge of your seat and falling for the characters.
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A Million Junes
In their hometown of Five Fingers, Michigan, the O’Donnells and the Angerts have mythic legacies. But for all the tall tales they weave, both founding families are tight-lipped about what caused the century-old rift between them, except to say it began with a cherry tree.
Eighteen-year-old Jack “June” O’Donnell doesn’t need a better reason than that. She’s an O’Donnell to her core, just like her late father was, and O’Donnells stay away from Angerts. Period.
But when Saul Angert, the son of June’s father’s mortal enemy, returns to town after three mysterious years away, June can’t seem to avoid him. Soon the unthinkable happens: She finds she doesn’t exactly hate the gruff, sarcastic boy she was born to loathe.
Saul’s arrival sparks a chain reaction, and as the magic, ghosts, and coywolves of Five Fingers conspire to reveal the truth about the dark moment that started the feud, June must question everything she knows about her family and the father she adored. And she must decide whether it’s finally time for her—and all of the O’Donnells before her—to let go.
“Grief is an unfillable hole in your body. It should be weightless, but it’s heavy. Should be cold, but it burns. Should, over time, close up, but instead it deepens.”
Our Overview
We meet June O’Donnell, a teenage girl living in the small town of Five Fingers, Michigan. June comes from a family with a long-standing feud with the neighboring Angert family (getting the Shakespearian vibes yet?). Her father, who has recently passed away, was particularly involved in this feud, and June finds herself unable to escape it even after his death.
June is still grieving and struggling to come to terms with her loss. She is also haunted by strange occurrences, such as seeing ghostly figures and objects that appear and disappear without explanation.
One day, June meets a boy named Saul Angert, the son of her family’s sworn enemies. Saul and June quickly become friends, and June finds herself drawn to him despite the feud between their families. As they spend more time together, they uncover a shared history between their families, one that goes back generations and involves a tragic love story.
As June and Saul delve deeper into their family’s past, they begin to unravel the secrets and mysteries that have kept their families apart for so long. They discover that their families are connected in ways they never imagined and that their love for each other may be the key to breaking the curse that has haunted them for generations.
June is also struggling with her own identity and the legacy of her father. She comes to realize that her father was not the hero she had always thought him to be and that she must forge her own path in life, one that is not defined by her family’s feud.
In the end, June and Saul are able to reconcile their families and bring an end to the feud that has plagued them for so long. They also come to terms with their own feelings for each other and realize that their love is stronger than any curse or family feud.
Our Review
Calling all fans of coming-of-age & magical realism!
It’s not exactly a niche genre, but one which is rarely, in our opinion, done well. We’re very thrilled to announce that Emily Henry has done more than well! We were enthralled from the very first page. Henry’s writing has a degree of lyricism woven in the pages, which only helps deliver the fantastical sense of magic throughout the story.
At its core, this book is a story about love, family, and the power of forgiveness. June’s journey is one that many readers will be able to relate to, as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of her father and the legacy of her family’s feud. Through her relationship with Saul and the discovery of their shared history, she learns that the past does not have to define her and that love can overcome even the deepest of divides.
The Romeo & Juliet inspire love story are typically overdone, but the elements Henry has incorporated and the realistic characters helps breathe a wind of fresh air into the trope.
What we loved most about A Million Junes was the way that it blended magical realism with contemporary themes. The ghostly apparitions and unexplained occurrences gave the story an ethereal quality, but at the same time, the emotions and experiences of the characters felt real and raw.
If we could rate this an 11/10, we would.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is A Million Junes about?
A Million Junes follows June and Saul Angert, the children of two families cleaved by a blood feud that stretches back four generations and is inextricably connected by a curse that plagues both clans.
Is A Million Junes a sequel?
Henry herself says that A Million Junes is not a sequel to The Love that Split the World, despite the common misconception.
Is A Million Junes a romance?
Yes, yes, yes! A Million Junes is romance but there is so much more. We explore family, grief, pain, and grudges. It’s a remarkable coming-of-age book which shows the difficulty of forging your own path in life.
