Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

90 reviews

elizajaquays's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

I’d won an ARC of this through a goodreads giveaway and when I’d requested it I didn’t realize how gory it was going to be, that’s on me.

Overall the storyline was interesting, but I felt like the big reveal at the end about the monster was incredibly predictable.

If you like body horror and graphic descriptions, this might be for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Body horror, Alcoholism, Vomit, Blood, Eating disorder, Gore, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Misogyny, and Sexual violence

orizenda's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I don’t really know what to say.. I didn’t really like this even though I wanted to. not a fan of the romance and all of the sexual violence. ik those are fairy tale things ig but like…… also the sex scenes just were ew to me every time

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death of parent, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, and Vomit

beastiality

muchadoaboutbooks's review

adventurous dark sad tense medium-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

4.75

The subtitle could be "Juniper & Thorn: A Trauma Bonding Love Story." I really liked this book! I liked it more than I thought I was going to, even after it seemed a bit different than what I expected. Despite the oddity and cruelty of the characters, I really found myself thinking about them and the plot when I wasn't reading it. 

This book took me a while to finish because of all the graphic content. There are fairly long passages about childhood abuse, sexual abuse, self-harm, and emotional/domestic abuse. Although written well it can be difficult to wade through. Personally, I found myself being pulled out of it every time there was a description of graphic/morbid physical violence next to the main characters thoughts of sexual desire/lust. That was a bit too much for me and became repetitive in nature with its descriptions. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the idea of metamorphosis and personal growth through coming to terms with your own trauma or what you've done to survive in your environment. I look forward to read other Ava Reid books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Body horror, Child abuse, Cannibalism, and Sexual content

extinctpanda's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

1.75

The writing itself is pretty good but imo the plot of this was a mess.
It was very uncomfortable to read, which is fine! A lot of it is about trauma. But it all fell flat in the end. I thought there were a few things that weren’t full explored or just left hanging. The pacing of the murder mystery aspect was very poor. The twist was pretty obvious but the implications of it aren’t really given enough weight.
There were also just quite a few dumb plot conveniences that just didn’t make sense that really annoyed me.

I DNFed the authors other book fairly quickly as I didn’t love the characters so I suspect her work is not for me which is a shame because I love Eastern European folklore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism

nickibuzzbuzz's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Rape, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Gore, Body horror, Death of parent, and Murder

bzliz's review

challenging dark 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

Dark from every angle in the best possible way. Although I suspected the twist fairly early, it didn’t feel like a cheap or unsatisfying reveal. I highly suggest reviewing the content warnings before reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Gore, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Body horror, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Gaslighting

Minor: Death of parent

janelleg9014's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

I enjoyed reading this, but there are extensive content warnings for this story. It kept me interested, though, but it made me feel grimy, greasy, and dirty, based on the descriptions used. This is what my mother-in-law would call a "dirty book," and not for spicy content.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Sexual content, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Animal death, Gaslighting, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Rape, Body horror, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual violence

ehmannky's review

dark emotional sad 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

3.75

It's an interesting use of magic to represent a horribly abusive home life and the ways abuse drives people apart and damages people in different ways. But it was so bleak and so hard to read at times that not even Reid's wonderful prose could get me to get really invested in it at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Vomit, Body horror, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Misogyny, Blood, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Violence, Body shaming, Death of parent, Death, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

imcourtneymarie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

5.0

I loved this story! I think it’s beautifully written, the love story quickly developed, yes, but romantic, and the characters both horrible and fascinating in one. There are some heavy themes that the main character Marlinchen is subject to/witness to, so be wary if you have triggers. That said, they did not feel out of place within the context of the story and the characters.

I thought it was a soft read. A Romeo and Juliet love affair kind of tale, but Juniper & Thorn is so much more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Animal death, Child abuse, Sexual content, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Self harm, Body shaming, and Death of parent

Minor: Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Murder

stashalysyk's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Animal cruelty

Minor: Alcohol and Alcoholism