Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

90 reviews

morgangd's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

An intense tale of trauma in dark fairy tale mode, with every trigger warning under the sun and maybe, just maybe, actually too crass. But it did move me at parts.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, Body shaming, Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Rape, Gaslighting, Sexism, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism

zoeblair17's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

Literally ALL the trigger warnings! Not a story for the faint of heart but that warning speaks so highly of the writing! Not usually a horror/dark fairytale gal but the way the author tells this story is immersive and captivating 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexism, Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Sexual assault, Grief, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Animal death, Death, Eating disorder, Racism, Vomit, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism

cepbreed's review

dark emotional 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

4.5

"People want to ruin things that are clean and new. It's no fun stamping through old dirty snow."

“You would rather me eat your heart than look away in disgust?” 
“Of course,” he breathed. “Every time.”

Ava Reid surprised me. Her detailed and atmospheric prose still hit the same sweet spots as in The Wolf and the Woodsman, but somehow Juniper & Thorn is vastly better. I'm trying desperately to pinpoint what exactly made her sophomore publication so much better and I'm not coming up with anything substantial. The characters were more compelling and I found myself falling for Sevas alongside Marlinchen. Parallelly, as she bloomed under his eye I found myself liking her more and more. Reid's worldbuilding was already impressive in The Wolf and the Woodsman, but she worked magic with an even smaller setting. Somehow constraining her descriptions to one estate (+occasional traipsing around the city) allowed her writing style to really shine. Everything flourished on the page and my immersion was heightened tenfold. Her attention to detail never fails to amaze. I'm not a dancer, but I know exactly what happens to professional dancers' feet, so her mentioning this feature of Sevas was wonderful to see. Oh my god, that exact scene was so UGH. Sevas embodies perfection, strength, and beauty. He exposed his shame to Marlinchen and she never once patronized him, only offering her unconditional acceptance no matter how stupid being insecure of your feet is when you're the principal dancer of a famous ballet.

I vanquish all reviews accusing this book of being "gross" or "overly sexualized." Those people just cannot understand how much Marlinchen means to the girls. To love someone/thing so much you need to consume it. To choose to put your head down and labor for the sake of others. To be pushed to your limits by that tolerance. If you've watched Yellowjackets you'll understand. She embodies girlhood. She is a woman forced to toil at the will of her father and thank him when he punishes her. She is looked down upon by those who are supposed to love her the most (her sisters) and still offers them only compliance. She got everything she deserved in the end and I completely stand behind her. Every woman has imagined that turning point, the one where they finally snap. Nothing was more satisfying to me than watching Marlinchen have that moment.

Ava Reid is the queen of Ethel Cain connoted books.

Songs: 

• Strangers - Ethel Cain 
• notre dame - Paris Paloma
• illicit affairs - Taylor Swift 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Eating disorder, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Alcoholism, Vomit, Alcohol, and Body shaming

Minor: Pedophilia

stavoosh's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

how to explain how i felt about this story....

i found the writing to be very compelling especially in the exposition of the book. it explained this world of magic and begins the character arc of each person through fantastical imagery and a folklore touch. i think it discusses serious topics, like abuse, in a fitting way and i didn't find it exaggerated for the point of the story. i even bought my own copy after reading a few chapters.

here's why i returned my copy: i have very particular taste, i guess, and i found the body horror, repeated vomiting, and gore to be written for the purpose of arousal which made me feel sick, to be honest. additionally, i understand marlinchen, the main character, is supposed to have a character arc of becoming brave and facing her fears, but she was so pathetic the whole time that it annoyed me. i also didn't feel like there was a reason for the romance beyond marlinchen being attracted to Sebas. most of these complaints are due to my own taste in novels and fantasy. i wouldn't want to deter anyone from reading it, it just wasn't for me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Gore, Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism

oceanic_rabbit's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.75

I enjoyed this, it was dark and twisted and filled with clever world building and well built characters. 

The plot is brilliant, almost everything falls into place as the book draws to a close.

However, the constant breast imagery and a fixation on virginity etc was a little disconcerting and distracting at times. I want to benefit of the doubt though and say it was maybe an element of the dark tale to make you squirm.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Violence, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Bullying

libraryofmoss's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Allll the content warnings! This book is dark and grotesque. The prose is repetitive and I probably would have quit it except for the hope for some positive resolution of lil the awfulness.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Vomit, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, and Injury/Injury detail

hprimo12's review

medium-paced

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

This book was supposed to be a gritty retelling of a fairytale, but the topics that made it "gritty" were not handled well and left me hating the main character. I did not find any part of the story compelling, and it pained me to finish it. I stongly do not recommend.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Cultural appropriation, Death, Domestic abuse, Antisemitism, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Violence, and Xenophobia

The "love" story part of this book was only really based on trauma bonding, as the characters frankly do not really spend much time together before being madly in love. Additionally, the story is seemingly centered on how much the main character is suffering at the hands of her sisters despite the fact that they are also being abused by her father. Granted they suffer a different kind of abuse, but the author and the main character make no mention of this at all. To the point where the main character kills one of her sister and shows no remorse. The last thing that I will say is that I found any LGBT+ representation to be layered in negative stereotypes or villainized. There are many other things that I could point out about the world or the overtly sexualized situations, but I don't want to give this book much more thought.

frog_appreciator's review

4.0

Delightfully disturbing. I cannot emphasize this enough: read the content warnings before you read!! I haven’t read the fairytale this was based on so I lacked context but I want to read it now. Some of the writing was a bit repetitive, but I not enough to ruin the story. Also the writing style in general may not be for everyone. The ending was so warm after the vivid exploration of trauma throughout. I’ve seen reviews complaining about the MC’s naivety but I found a lot of it read as autistic. Which made her emotions upon realizing things so much more vivid. There’s something really beautiful about trauma depicted in such a visceral bloody way. 

CW: 
Violence, Murder, Body Horror, 
Cannibalism, Sexual Abuse, Physical Abuse, Eating Disorder, Animal Death, Vomit, Abuse within family, Racism, Alcoholism  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Body horror, Violence, and Child abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Racism

sofiadanielle'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

3.5

Hm. I don’t really know how I feel about this book, which is why I didn’t rate it higher. It was.. Interesting, and certainly outside of my comfort zone, but… Not one of my favorite reads, for sure?

The pacing was strange, for about 40% of the book, time only lapses for about 24ish hours; the middle was a bit of a blur in terms of time passage, and then at the end, (before the final chapter) the whole action seemed so entirely rushed and out of no where (as… not much quick action happens in the other 85% of the book?). I also felt weirded out on the fixation of breasts and nipples, honestly, felt like I should’ve started a count of how many times both words were brought up (those other reviews about how people were surprised at how the author was a woman with how she fixated on this aspect.. Yeah.)

The plot twist was a bit predictable, though I guess the last chapter ending wasn’t, necessarily. Eh. Whimsy, in a fairytale sense, I suppose, and lived up to the horror genre with depictions of gore. 

**sigh, altered from a 3.75 to a 3.5 because Undine’s rant about Marlinchen’s character reminded me of why I disliked her as a MC so; she was so very naive, I want to empathize with how she was a product of what she had gone through, but at the same time, I wish I could just flat out ask her to smarten up a bit. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit, Alcoholism, and Violence

enyltiak's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Deeply interesting world and exploration into trauma/abuse. Marlinchen and her relationship with Sevas was one of my favorite parts. Kind of wish there was more magic, and the balance of pacing was off (slower, then quite quick toward the end). Definitely lingers in your mind while reading/after finishing. The insistence that this book was so dark and horrifying set me up with expectations that it didn't quite meet, though. The themes and topics explored are difficult and dark, but not terribly worse than you'd expect from a horror novel. More of a dark fantasy than true horror. I'll definitely be thinking about this one for a while!

Note: a lot of the reviews for this book are ridiculous. It's a dark, gothic novel. If you aren't familiar with the gothic, look into it. If you dislike the gothic, you won't like this. And if you claim to love dark stories but then complain about how dark they actually are... I think you should try some new genres.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Body horror, Eating disorder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Classism, Death, Physical abuse, Vomit, Xenophobia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Animal death