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kkenna7's review
Even sub-50 pages I can tell this is gonna be too triggering for me right now. Idk when I’ll learn to read CW before starting something. Maybe I’ll come back at a less fragile time. Yeesh.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse
ciitriin's review
dark
tense
slow-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
3.0
i think some trigger warnings were definitely necessary for some scenes in this book.
i was rather bored for most of the book, it did not feel like horror till the last hundred or so pages. the bodies found in the beginning almost feel like an after thought, like the beginning was a seperate plot and then the author was told they needed to connect better.
i was rather bored for most of the book, it did not feel like horror till the last hundred or so pages. the bodies found in the beginning almost feel like an after thought, like the beginning was a seperate plot and then the author was told they needed to connect better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Abortion
emilygcotter's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Murder, Self harm, and Sexual harassment
theodenreads's review
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Juniper & Thorn is a haunting and folkloric tale that grapples with themes of trauma and abuse while building up a darkly alluring romance.
Content Warnings: abuse, alcoholism, animal cruelty, antisemitism, blood, body horror, cannibalism, eating disorder, emotional abuse, gaslighting, gore, murder, racism, self-harm and self-harm ideation, sexual assault, sexual content, pedophilia, vomit, xenophobia
Feel free to let me know if anything else should be added to the content warnings, as it’s very likely I could have forgotten something!
Generally, I tack content warnings onto the end of my reviews, however given how dark and graphic this story is, I thought it would be best to start with those! Don’t get me wrong, the author approached the topics explored with care, however it was dark enough that even I got squeamish (which is very rare for me). Please be careful going into this story as there are very graphic depictions of blood and gore, cannibalism, disordered eating, emotional abuse, and vomit, and many of the other CWs I listed are also very present throughout the book.
Now that that’s out of the way, onto the rest of my review!
Ava Reid masterfully depicts a slavic inspired fantasy in Juniper & Thorn (and it’s to my knowledge that it takes place within the same universe as The Wolf and the Woodsman, although I have yet to read that). The worldbuilding was lush and the atmosphere pulled me in from the very first chapter. The dark atmosphere of Reid’s writing alone is almost enough to make me pick up The Wolf and the Woodsman!
All of the protagonists introduced had a ton of trauma, and their trauma is a heavy theme throughout the story (see CWs). They all dealt with (or didn’t deal with) it in different ways, and their experiences were all so incredibly complex, but they were also handled with care. One of the main reasons I didn’t give this story a full 4 stars is that, although I felt for them and wanted them to come out on top, I ultimately didn’t find myself being incredibly enamored with any of the leads.
The other reason I didn’t give this a full 4 was because of the sexual content. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love love love exploring themes of sexuality in stories, whether it’s through fantasy or romance or erotica. That being said, the way it was explored in this story just… didn’t hit any of the right notes for me. From the very first chapter, the main character is lusting over the love interest, and normally I don’t have a problem with insta-love/insta-lust, but the way it was written felt very objectifying. People joke about how horribly men write women, but this almost read as the opposite end of the spectrum, and it was very off-putting for me. There were also a few points where something very dark or serious would be happening, only for it to cut to Marlinchen’s thoughts being about the love interest’s body and or sex–and there was also a random sex scene in the middle of an otherwise very tense moment, which just completely threw me out of the story for a moment. There was also quite a bit of sexual descriptions of Marlinchen’s sisters, which was uncomfortable to read, and there were a few points where it felt almost borderline incesty.
Overall, Ava Reid crafted a great horror story, filled with dark characters and an alluring romance (although I could have done without some of those descriptions). For fans of dark fantasy and slavic inspired worldbuilding, I would definitely recommend this. I loved the world building and the tense atmosphere, there were just a few spots that didn’t hit the right notes for me personally.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings: abuse, alcoholism, animal cruelty, antisemitism, blood, body horror, cannibalism, eating disorder, emotional abuse, gaslighting, gore, murder, racism, self-harm and self-harm ideation, sexual assault, sexual content, pedophilia, vomit, xenophobia
Feel free to let me know if anything else should be added to the content warnings, as it’s very likely I could have forgotten something!
Generally, I tack content warnings onto the end of my reviews, however given how dark and graphic this story is, I thought it would be best to start with those! Don’t get me wrong, the author approached the topics explored with care, however it was dark enough that even I got squeamish (which is very rare for me). Please be careful going into this story as there are very graphic depictions of blood and gore, cannibalism, disordered eating, emotional abuse, and vomit, and many of the other CWs I listed are also very present throughout the book.
Now that that’s out of the way, onto the rest of my review!
Ava Reid masterfully depicts a slavic inspired fantasy in Juniper & Thorn (and it’s to my knowledge that it takes place within the same universe as The Wolf and the Woodsman, although I have yet to read that). The worldbuilding was lush and the atmosphere pulled me in from the very first chapter. The dark atmosphere of Reid’s writing alone is almost enough to make me pick up The Wolf and the Woodsman!
All of the protagonists introduced had a ton of trauma, and their trauma is a heavy theme throughout the story (see CWs). They all dealt with (or didn’t deal with) it in different ways, and their experiences were all so incredibly complex, but they were also handled with care. One of the main reasons I didn’t give this story a full 4 stars is that, although I felt for them and wanted them to come out on top, I ultimately didn’t find myself being incredibly enamored with any of the leads.
The other reason I didn’t give this a full 4 was because of the sexual content. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love love love exploring themes of sexuality in stories, whether it’s through fantasy or romance or erotica. That being said, the way it was explored in this story just… didn’t hit any of the right notes for me. From the very first chapter, the main character is lusting over the love interest, and normally I don’t have a problem with insta-love/insta-lust, but the way it was written felt very objectifying. People joke about how horribly men write women, but this almost read as the opposite end of the spectrum, and it was very off-putting for me. There were also a few points where something very dark or serious would be happening, only for it to cut to Marlinchen’s thoughts being about the love interest’s body and or sex–and there was also a random sex scene in the middle of an otherwise very tense moment, which just completely threw me out of the story for a moment. There was also quite a bit of sexual descriptions of Marlinchen’s sisters, which was uncomfortable to read, and there were a few points where it felt almost borderline incesty.
Overall, Ava Reid crafted a great horror story, filled with dark characters and an alluring romance (although I could have done without some of those descriptions). For fans of dark fantasy and slavic inspired worldbuilding, I would definitely recommend this. I loved the world building and the tense atmosphere, there were just a few spots that didn’t hit the right notes for me personally.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Vomit, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Blood, Xenophobia, Gore, Sexual assault, and Body horror
Moderate: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Racism, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, and Suicidal thoughts
gabstersreads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was…..heavy to say the least. Please read the trigger warnings before reading.
[TW: Animal death (for food) , Vomit (bulimia) , Xenophobia, Violence (graphic) , Sexual assault (graphic) , Sexual content, Sexism, Racism, Pedophilia, Murder, Gore, Cannibalism (implied), Classism, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism (moderate), and Death of parent (heavily mentioned)]
That being said, I did really enjoy this book. The writing is beautiful and it was easy to get lost in the pages. I was hooked from the beginning which doesn’t happen every often.
I’ve seen complaints on Marlinchen being too passive. Marlinchen is treated very badly by the people around her, namely her father and her sister. However, Marlinchen "allowing” herself to get pushed around is a result of growing up in a verbally and emotionally abusive environment. Marlinchen learned to do what she could to survive. Her way of surviving was (trying) to keep her father happy. This works until she meets Sevas, a ballet dancer that Marlinchen falls helplessly in love with. Her relationship with Sevas sparks Marlinchen to question her father and uncover his lies.
That’s all I can say for fear of spoiling it. Juniper & Thorn is by no means an easy book to read. The things that Marlinchen has been subjected to will make you angry, sad, disgusted, etc. However, this makes it all the more satisfying to see Marlinchen break away from her abusive father and make her own path in the world.
I would highly recommend IF you’ve read all the trigger warnings and are in a good headspace to read this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Animal death, Cannibalism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Self harm
sammiesshelf's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.5
This book was not at all what I expected. To be fair, I had never read the original Juniper Tree story, but after reading it’s plot online, this book would have still blindsided me.
There is a lot of dark subject matter in this book, including eating disorders, sexual assault, and cannibalism, so be warned and definitely check all content warnings before diving in. For me, I was expecting a low fantasy that was maybe a little dark, so all of this was a bit heavy on me.
However, I did enjoy this book. I loved seeing Marlinchen find her voice and rebel. Almost every character in this book besides Marlinchen, Sevas, and the goblin are absolutely repulsive and I hated reading their parts, but they contributed to the story. Overall, it was a unique and shocking retelling and I can see why people like it.
There is a lot of dark subject matter in this book, including eating disorders, sexual assault, and cannibalism, so be warned and definitely check all content warnings before diving in. For me, I was expecting a low fantasy that was maybe a little dark, so all of this was a bit heavy on me.
However, I did enjoy this book. I loved seeing Marlinchen find her voice and rebel. Almost every character in this book besides Marlinchen, Sevas, and the goblin are absolutely repulsive and I hated reading their parts, but they contributed to the story. Overall, it was a unique and shocking retelling and I can see why people like it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Vomit, Death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Self harm, Blood, Gore, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Alcoholism and Physical abuse
cjm118's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
Before I even start off with a review, I need to stress that this book is very dark and contains many content warnings. I will add warnings directly from the author to the end of this review, as well as an added one of my own*.
Juniper & Thorn is a horror/gothic fairytale re-telling, that only gets darker as the book progresses. The story follows witches Marlinchen and her two sisters as they survive under their father’s heavy hand. He is the last warlock in Oblya, and is resistant to the change and progression that the seeming industrial revolution is bringing upon the city (read: xenophobic). He is also insistent on protecting them and controlling them, and uses magic to keep them home, keep visitors out, and keep them “pure.” The spell that was cast on him never lets him feel satisfied, and his daughters bear the burden of his insatiable need for food, money, and notoriety.
Being Ava Reid’s follow-up to The Wolf and the
Woodsman, I need to start off with some comparisons. First I will say that I preferred TWATW over Juniper & Thorn, although that does not mean I don’t think this story was more well-crafted. Evike’s story was a tad lighter, very much an adventure fantasy, and the romance was a slower, enemies-to-lovers situation. J&T on the other hand largely takes place within Marlinchen’s house, is much more of a dark tale, and the romance with Sevas was a very intense love at first sight trauma bond.
This is very much a story about living and dealing (or not dealing) with trauma, and how it
manifests both consciously and unconsciously. The writing is absolutely gorgeous, and I love the mythology surrounding it. The author seems to use Eastern European inspired folklore. There are many layers to unpack here, and in some ways I think the depth and the prose make this sophomore novel even more well-written than TWATW. It was hard to digest at times, and unbelievably uncomfortable, but I believe that to be the author’s intention.
I don’t want to go into detail and spoil anything, but I will say the twist towards the end came as a huge surprise to me, and I loved how the pieces all came together and certain earlier parts to the story made sense. Overall I would recommend Juniper & Thorn, however definitely be in the right headspace to read this one.
Content warnings:
Gore and body horror
Child sexual abuse; incest
Cannibalism
Antisemitism, xenophobia, and scientific racism
Physical and psychological abuse by family members; gaslighting
Self-harm and suicidal ideation
Bulimia; graphic descriptions of vomiting
Animal death
Alcoholism*
Thank you to Avon Books and Harper Voyager for the ARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, Alcohol, Cannibalism, and Pedophilia
mjwhitlock18's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
Contains vivid description of traumatic themes. Please thoughtfully heed content warnings and take care of yourself if you choose to read.
A dark gothic horror retelling of a Brothers Grimm fairytale, and while it’s technically fantasy, these characters and the issues they face are very real and deeply human. Reid builds a world with rich detail and hauntingly beautiful descriptions, setting the eerie tone for the novel. From the POV of Marlinchen, who is a seemingly naive, sweet, imperfect, insecure witch trapped taking care of her abusive wizard father. On a secret night out with her sisters, she gets a taste of the world through the ballet (and its captivating leading man), and starts to yearn for freedom. Full of many dark themes, includes vivid portrayal of trauma, but also realistically portrays survival, and ultimately working towards healing.
CW: eating disorder (bulimia), physical/emotional/sexual abuse (including that of a minor), on page sexual assault, pedophila, body horror/gore, violence, cannibalism, alcoholism, misogyny, antisemitism, drug use
Thank you to Avon, HarperVoyager, and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this eARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Violence, Cannibalism, and Child abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Misogyny, and Drug use
CW: eating disorder (bulimia), physical/emotional/sexual abuse (including that of a minor), on page sexual assault, pedophila, body horror/gore, violence, cannibalism, alcoholism, misogyny, antisemitism, drug usealeawrites's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Self harm, Sexual assault, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse
booksthatburn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
JUNIPER Þ is a story built on a complicated tangle of self harm and exploration as Marlinchen, now a young woman, finally starts to defy her controlling father’s dictates. Especially early on, she has a variety of maladaptive behaviors including but not limited to self harm, disordered eating, and intrusive thoughts (ranging from negative self-talk to hypersexual fantasies). These are symptoms of and reactions to the ongoing all-pervasive abusive atmosphere which consumed her childhood and is set to rob her of normal adulthood as well. She and her sisters live in fear of their father, but as he’s made himself the only allowable source of affection in their lives they are desperate to retain his favor. As he’s also a wizard he’s threatened their bodies and lives if they disobey him, and can back up his threats with intimations of what happened to their mother before them. He controls their sexuality through threats and intimidation, as well as by using magical means to check whether they’re still “pure”, something which doesn’t stop Marlinchen from masturbating but makes her worried about how she goes about it.
Marlinchen is gaslit and abused by her father, and has toxic (often abusive) relationships with her sisters. The way that she’s constantly made to question her own perceptions but is also the narrator sometimes makes it hard to tell what things were supposed to be bad, or what things are stressful while not abusive. This had this overall effect that for the first half of the book I felt increasingly unmoored, hoping to find some part of her life that was actually okay and increasingly coming to the conclusion that this is a horror story and there’s not much that’s meant to be going well.
Marlinchen's relationships with her sisters is contentious. They're all trying to maintain access to the extremely finite resource which is their father's goodwill, but they have different ways of measuring whether they've achieved it. Marlinchen's yardstick seems to be whether his abuse stays verbal instead of escalating, which is a depressingly low baseline. There’s a pivotal scene midway through where the tactics in their father’s abuse have taken a sudden turn, and Marlinchen has a confrontation with Undine where in her exasperation Undine says things that explain her own survival strategy, and the flaw she sees in Marlinchen’s. This prompts Marlinchen to realize that she has options she never considered, and that perhaps her sisters have been employing completely different strategies with very different aims from herself.
Some little linguistic touches place this in the same world as THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN. I'm sure if I go back to re-read the other book I'll notice more things, but I noticed enough to be sure even before looking it up to see that I was correct. Because Marlinchen is only able to visit a few locations, there's a lot of detail about the house but less about other places within the city. This means that most of the information about the city and their place in it is gradually told as it relates to how her father feels about it (generally, how he hates it and why). This makes for a (plot-appropriate) gloomy mood.
The plot is well-constructed and engaging. It created a slowly-building feeling of dread which fit the story and was very stressful. The ending made a bunch of early inconsistencies have an explanation beyond "fairy tale logic", and I'm very satisfied with how things ended.
Marlinchen is gaslit and abused by her father, and has toxic (often abusive) relationships with her sisters. The way that she’s constantly made to question her own perceptions but is also the narrator sometimes makes it hard to tell what things were supposed to be bad, or what things are stressful while not abusive. This had this overall effect that for the first half of the book I felt increasingly unmoored, hoping to find some part of her life that was actually okay and increasingly coming to the conclusion that this is a horror story and there’s not much that’s meant to be going well.
Marlinchen's relationships with her sisters is contentious. They're all trying to maintain access to the extremely finite resource which is their father's goodwill, but they have different ways of measuring whether they've achieved it. Marlinchen's yardstick seems to be whether his abuse stays verbal instead of escalating, which is a depressingly low baseline. There’s a pivotal scene midway through where the tactics in their father’s abuse have taken a sudden turn, and Marlinchen has a confrontation with Undine where in her exasperation Undine says things that explain her own survival strategy, and the flaw she sees in Marlinchen’s. This prompts Marlinchen to realize that she has options she never considered, and that perhaps her sisters have been employing completely different strategies with very different aims from herself.
Some little linguistic touches place this in the same world as THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN. I'm sure if I go back to re-read the other book I'll notice more things, but I noticed enough to be sure even before looking it up to see that I was correct. Because Marlinchen is only able to visit a few locations, there's a lot of detail about the house but less about other places within the city. This means that most of the information about the city and their place in it is gradually told as it relates to how her father feels about it (generally, how he hates it and why). This makes for a (plot-appropriate) gloomy mood.
The plot is well-constructed and engaging. It created a slowly-building feeling of dread which fit the story and was very stressful. The ending made a bunch of early inconsistencies have an explanation beyond "fairy tale logic", and I'm very satisfied with how things ended.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Medical content, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Animal death, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Incest, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Child death, Death of parent, and Gun violence
Minor: Ableism, Racism, Antisemitism, and Drug use
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