Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

86 reviews

terrywho's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

“Beautifully written fucked up things” is probably my favorite genre of novels, and this is a great example of one. It’s never overindulging or voyeuristic of the pain the characters go though and the beautiful la gauge transports you in the world of the novel from the very first pages. A grown up fairy tales in the spirit of the original brothers Grim stories where Cinderella’s stepsisters cut off their toes to fit in the slippers, Rapunzel’s prince falls on thorn bushes that blind him? and sleeping beauty isn’t woken up by a kiss but my the pain of childbirth. 

(Please note: if you have some string and/or common triggers you really need to check the trigger warnings before reading this novel)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism

merc22's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

this book was simply weird af. some TW (sa, body horror, child abuse) some really intense themes through this book but written in such an interesting way. this was a cool story i could not have predicted and at times was shocked by - want to read more from this author for sure 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Rape, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

thehobbitbarbie's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Blood, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Rape, Gaslighting, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Gore

khushir_11's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

1.0

If I see the word breasts one more time I’m going to lose it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Sexual content, Body horror, Murder, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Addiction, Classism, Vomit, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, and Emotional abuse

jaqylantern's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.0

This was incredibly disappointing. I kept hearing praise so I grabbed it. This would have been a good novella but for 300+ pages it was too much. The family was just horrible without any other characteristic. We were in first perspective but no deeper thoughts of anger/sorrow/spite or anything. 
Donating ASAP. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism

mald626's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Cannibalism, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Gore

Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Vomit, Alcoholism, Violence, and Pedophilia

thesecretbookclub's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Having read all of Ava Reid’s books, this is definitely her darkest one. It explores very interesting themes in a fairy tale like setting, and so some parts of it definitely felt like a fairy tale. I loved the plot twist at the end, and also the overall quite realistic ending

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault

whitney7's review

adventurous challenging dark

5.0

😦

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Murder, Vomit, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Body horror, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Child abuse, and Antisemitism

no_one_important's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoyed the book even though it was quite dark and different from what I would usually read. I loved the fairy tale aspects of it and how Marlinchen used them to understand the world. Even though there wasn't much action, I still found myself unable to stop reading at times, and I kept wanting to read more. This book in my option is well written. At times I  felt like I was in Marlinchen's head. Hearing her thoughts, smelling the food, and feeling what she felt. Other times I felt like an outsider intruding on her story, but too invested to look away.  The only bad things I can say are the I feel there was a bit too much of Marlinchen and Sevas. I wish there was more about her mother and their life while she was still alive. I also would have liked to read a bit more about Undline and Rose because they also suffered their fathers abuse but that wasn't really talked about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Vomit, and Self harm

Moderate: Rape, Pedophilia, Animal death, and Xenophobia

Minor: Incest, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

edamamebean's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

I was completely spellbound by this book from start to finish. When I wasn’t reading it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s definitely not a perfect novel. Ava Reid’s prose teeters towards heavy-handedness (something inevitably gets compared to snakes like every five paragraphs) but somehow it still really did it for me. I figured out the mystery element almost immediately, but I kind of think you’re supposed to know or acknowledge what Marlinchen can’t. She, as a main character, is frustratingly naive but you still root for her. Her mentality around sex and virginity is rooted in purity culture in a way that I didn’t like at first, but as I thought about it more I came to accept that it stemmed from the toxic environment she was raised in and wasn’t an opinion of the author herself. At the end of the day, Marlinchen’s sexual awakening is what frees her, so I’ll forgive it. This book gets a 10/10 for vibes and I really recommend it if you’re looking for a dark fairytale but for the love of god, read the content warnings first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Medical trauma, Animal death, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Blood, Eating disorder, Gore, Xenophobia, Vomit, Murder, Antisemitism, Body horror, Violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Medical content, Body shaming, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail