Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

39 reviews

comfy_anna's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gore, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Body horror, Murder, Body shaming, Vomit, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Addiction, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Outing, Rape, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Death, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abandonment and Abortion

niregonnagiveyouup's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Xenophobia, Racism, Cannibalism, and Classism

salemander's review

5.0

an absolutely phenomenal and gut wrenching story of a young woman coming to terms with her trauma. this book made me cry so hard not only from sadness but the hopeful ending that really encapsulates how healing is not linear. trauma will always linger with these characters but that doesn’t mean they cannot lead happy and meaningful lives. the folk tales and mythology this book uses are so beautiful and the way ava reid writes is so gorgeously poetic and also kind of horrific. cannot wait to buy all her books for the rest of my life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Body horror, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Racism, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

singingsfun's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Favorite quotes:

“Wanting anything ended only in misery.”

“My eldest sister was right; I would smile blithely if someone tried to saw off my leg. But no one had ever told me that I was allowed to scream.“

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Racism

roanjackal's review

dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is phenomenal, and does an amazing job of talking about abuse in the harsh ugly way it deserves. This book was emotional and enchanting. I cant wait to read more of Ava's work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Racism, Misogyny, Bullying, Body shaming, and Death of parent

bcope84's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Torture, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Blood, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Vomit

vanessa_books26's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Death, Classism, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Blood, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Racism and Racial slurs

ferrot_lectorapromedio's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Murder, Blood, Gore, Medical trauma, Racism, Physical abuse, Self harm, Vomit, Body horror, and Pedophilia

Minor: Alcoholism

readwithria's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Juniper & Thorn is a haunting and deeply disturbing book, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Marlinchen is such a complex character, and I love how she changes throughout the book. Sevas reminds me so much of how dance was both a great love of mine and also how it wrecked my body and my confidence for many years. There was so much truth in this book that really shook me to my core, and I would definitely recommend it.

That said, this book is fantasy horror and has quite a few potential triggers. Ava Reid has a list of content warnings on their Tumblr, and I highly encourage everyone to check them before reading this book. I have included them in the content warning section of this review as well.

Ava Reid has such poetic prose, and I love reading what she writes. I’ll definitely be reading more from them in the future. 4 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Vomit

Moderate: Death, Antisemitism, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Self harm, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, and Animal death

thechaoshour's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

 I’m not really sure what to think of this book. I loved that it was a dark fairy tale but the plot was messy and confusing so I never really knew where things were going. Nothing really made as much sense as it should have. I might have been able to ignore that but this book was weirdly sexual for a fairy tale. I don’t think I’ve ever read about a women’s breasts this much from a female author. It was a little weird and very off putting. I could have used some trigger warnings at the begging to prepare myself for all of it, including pedophilia. It was beautifully written but that didn’t hide the serious flaws. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Racism, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Death, Child abuse, Alcohol, Confinement, Murder, Body shaming, Alcoholism, and Sexual content