Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

101 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.

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Content Warnings

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

carolined314's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Dark fairy tale retelling with tons of trauma

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

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 

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Pedophilia

loumurrey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Cannibalism

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.

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Content Warnings

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

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Content Warnings

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

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.

kiandrareadsbooks's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

gimmiiie's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

tashasbooks's review

challenging dark 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

This book has been described as a horror and gothic twist on the fairytale, the Juniper Tree. Going into this, I wasn't familiar with the story, so it mostly was a gothic fantasy to me.

It was very gory and gruesome, with deeply unsettling writing. There is a lot of sexualization in this book, so please check the trigger warnings for this and the violence. The prose however, is beautiful and I found it very engrossing to where I read this book in one sitting. It's interesting how the author can describe settings in a whimsical manner, whereas the subject matter of the book is very dark.

We follow Marlinchen, the youngest sister of a trio of witches who live with their father, the only wizard in Oblya left. Oblya is a city rapidly growing and the setting insinuates that it is going through its own Industrial Revolution, with many businesses and commercial industries moving into the city. According to Marlinchen, she is not the prettiest or smartest out of her sisters, and we learn as the story goes on that she is deeply insecure. All of the sisters live with their father, who is tyrannical and is under a horrible curse, which in turn leads him to treat them horribly and lock them within the house.

"You should know, of course, there are only two kinds of mothers in stories, and if you are a mother, you are either wicked or dead."

Marlinchen's sisters are not kind, and because of this she faces her own insecurities when comparing herself to them. She meets and becomes enamored with Sevas, the Principal ballet dancer when sneaking away into the city at night. It is a bit lust at first sight, but I do believe their interactions allowed Marlinchen to gain confidence in her own body and her decisions. 

I really enjoyed all of the characters and learning how Marlinchen sees them, as I do feel like there is a bit of an unreliable narrator aspect to this. One character I felt that wasn't fleshed out was Undine, but we don't spend as much time with her as her other sister Rose. There is a big plot twist towards the end, which if paying attention throughout the book, there were signs that made it all make sense at the end. I did enjoy the final ending and I do feel like this book just explores Marlinchen's development and growth so well. 

It is an uncomfortable read, especially with all of the hard topics it covers, with a main point being the abuse Marlinchen suffers, but the writing is beautiful and I very much enjoyed the plot and the ending. Definitely recommend, but make sure this book is the one for you and the headspace you are in.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Vomit

ninjatrombonist's review

dark sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Self harm, Xenophobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts