Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

55 reviews

thimi_time's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Wow, this is an extremely emotional and also rather graphic book. Ava Reid really has no qualms about the length she goes to textually illustrate the scenes and plot - this is definitely not a bad thing, I found her imagery quite striking and it really is beautiful to read, but it can/will probably be off-putting to some readers. And some scenes…I was shocked and horrified, but I do think it’s important to show another way that people can be affected by

abuse

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Blood, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Gaslighting

bestiality

.

bea_reads_books's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.25

I really loved this book. I will say though, it’s very dark and heavy. I’ve included as many comprehensive warnings as I can, but I’ll say it here too:

Sexual violence, coercive control, and mental illness are really big themes in this book. The main character and her love interest both experienced sexual assault from adults as minors, and the main character describes in detail exactly what her doctor did to her around 50% of the way through the book. There is no penetrative rape, but it is still hard to read. If sexual violence/harassment is a trigger for you, I would advise you to be extremely cautious about this book, and to take care of yourself if you do decide to read it.

Additionally, the main character is mentally ill. She has violent intrusive thoughts about self harm. She has an eating disorder and forces herself to vomit up everything she eats. She also experiences intense anxiety. As someone who also has anxiety and intrusive thoughts, this was hard for me to read, but also nice in a way. It’s good to know I’m not the only person in the world this happens to. 

Aside from the hard parts, this was a well written book in my opinion. The pacing was good, the romance was okay, and the prose and worldbuilding were very compelling. I also liked how the author showed the many ways in which abuse can manifest in someone. The main character, Marlinchen, is one of three sisters. One of them became cruel, taking out her hurt and anger on her sisters because she couldn’t take it out on her father. The other became cunning and level-headed, always making herself seem like the sensible one while working behind her sisters’ backs to gain her father’s favor. And Marlinchen is constantly fielding insults about how she is nothing but a doormat, doing everything her father says without complaint to avoid angering him. 

I think this story is a wonderful commentary on the ways in which an abuser can fully and completely f*ck up the lives of everyone around them, and how hard it is for their victims to heal afterward, all wrapped up in the guise of a fairytale retelling.

I also really liked that two of the three abusers died (painfully) and the third went to prison.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Body horror, Death, Animal death, Blood, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Fatphobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

rahbrennichi's review

dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse and Cannibalism

gweenbean_'s review

dark emotional 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

prose was so so pretty i could not eat while reading certain parts of this story tbh 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Violence, Animal death, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Gore

itsheyfay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Confinement, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Murder, Self harm, Body horror, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Death, Gore, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Cursing, Gaslighting, Animal death, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Incest

xpelvicstabilityx's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

1.0

Truly wish there were more trigger warnings with this book. The folk tale form is compelling but so many of the details are gruesome and disturbing in a way that made my skin crawl and still does when I’m reminded of it.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Sexism, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Murder, Confinement, and Medical trauma

insomniacsun's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Questo è il secondo libro che leggo di Ava Reid, essendo partita a leggere le sue opere dal debutto. A mani basse, questo è sicuramente il migliore dei due: l'ambientazione cupa e la tensione palpabile tipicamente gotica mi hanno immerso nel libro immediatamente.

Marlinchen è stata una protagonista che mi ha intrigato fin dalla prima pagina e il suo crescente rapporto con Sevas mi ha rincuorato: per quanto a volte risulti molto giovanile e ingenuo, riflette perfettamente la loro visuale di mondo che è sempre stato molto ristretto e sorvegliato.  Le loro esperienze non sono trattate con leggerezza e allo stesso tempo il loro peso non soffoca il resto della narrazione. 
Ho apprezzato il tumultuoso del rapporto tra le sorelle, tutte prigioniere dello stesso padre senza essere rappresentate come vittime uguali. Inizialmente, temevo che il loro legame rischiasse di essere banalizzato come tutto rosa e fiori; addentrandomi nel clue della storia è apparente che la prima persona dal punto di vista di Marlinchen mi ha accecato alla realtà dei fatti (sono sempre stata schiva con i libri in prima persona, ma protagonisti inaffidabili rendono l'esperienza molto più accattivante).

Dal punto di vista ritmico, anche stavolta la lettura della prima parte del libro è stata molto più dinamica e coinvolgente, seguita da una seconda parte più misteriosa e lenta, permettendo di unire vari pezzi del puzzle disseminati anche in precedenza. Detto questo, ho notato che alcuni passaggi lenti della seconda parte mi hanno fatto sentire come se l'autrice fosse confusa sul come procedere con la storia. Ho percepito la stessa cosa anche con il romanzo precedente.
Il finale era un po' sbrigativo e lacunoso, 

cosa ha fermato il padre dall'usare la sua magia per fuggire di prigione? All'inizio pensavo che fosse l'effetto della bacca, ma al processo la sua magia si è fatta sentire con l'acquazzone... non me lo spiego.

  ma mi ha fatto piacere vedere un finale semi-lieto dopo la valanga di orrori che i vari personaggi hanno passato. 

Stilisticamente invece, si nota come il linguaggio utilizzato dimostra l'innocenza con cui Marlinchen continua ad atteggiarsi, guidata per tutta la vita dalla sua raccolta di storie e dalle profezie del padre. Inoltre, l'autrice ha uno stile estremamente immersivo e fiabesco, fortificando l'impressione di addentrarsi in un mondo magico. 
Detto questo, take a shot per ogni volta che Ava Reid descrive il seno di Marlinchen (68 volte. Avvelenamento da alcol imminente). 

Tutto sommato è stata una lettura soddisfacente, soprattutto considerando le aspettative iniziali medio-basse dovute a "The wolf and the woodsman". Conoscendo i miei gusti, penso che avrei apprezzato di più la storia se ci fosse stato un focus maggiore sugli omicidi, ma comprendo perchè questo non ci sia stato. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Body horror, and Toxic relationship

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

Juniper and Thorn reminded me of a beautiful sweater I have.  It's gorgeous, warm, and looks good on me. But it's also itchy and uncomfortable and I'm always aware I'm wearing it. This story was beautifully told, but it was coarse and unpleasant.  I never lost myself in it.  The hypersexualization of every scenario was distracting and distasteful.   It's clear the sex scenes were not meant to be titillating so I question why the author didn't use a more closed-door approach.  The abuse and eating disorder plot points were too rampant and unnecessarily triggering.   The story was as grim as those of old.  The language and descriptions were precise. The characters were well-developed, even if some of their actions and motivations were questionable.  I didn't enjoy it, but others might.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Body horror, Confinement, Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Self harm, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

ann99's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Gore, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Antisemitism, and Toxic relationship

meat_muffin's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.75

Listen, this book was… weird. And not my usual style at all! I’m glad I read it, enjoyed the writing style, but it wrapped up leaving me more confused than anything else and not filling in all of the plot holes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Murder, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Vomit

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, and Alcohol