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janelleg9014's review
- 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
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
- 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
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
- 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 thought it was a soft read. A Romeo and Juliet love affair kind of tale, but Juniper & Thorn is so much more.
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
ameliabee33's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This story was uncomfortable for me, personally to read. It made me uncomfortable to read it- so please read the trigger warnings before delving in (I did not and it is my fault)!!! I'm not saying that Reid is not a good author, they did a great job at writing out these horrific, dark events that made me want to barf and run away from the book- really like the real Grimms fairytales. This story just didn't do it for me, I didn't enjoy reading it, but like I said it wasn't for lack of the author's skill, or writing (which is very good), it is just me.
Graphic: Body shaming, Death of parent, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Confinement, Self harm, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse
meltingpages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This is a very slow-moving book and there really isn’t a lot of plot, mainly just a lot of abuse and the main character feeling unworthy. The writing was also way more stylistic in this than in the first book, to the point where half the time I had no idea if magic was real or just a metaphor. In fact, there was quite a bit of this that was just metaphor.
I also really did not connect with the characters, and that’s something that I need in my books in order to enjoy them. They don’t necessarily need to be likable, but I do like to understand their thoughts, feelings, and motivation.
With this book being set in the same world as The Wolf and the Woodsman, there is no explanation to the social structure within this book so it’s almost a requirement to read her other book in order to fully understand the world this is set in. Throw in the fact that it’s been over a year since I read The Wolf and the Woodsman and I don’t remember much about this world. With this being a standalone set in the same world, there should’ve been more world building present in this book.
There is also a mystery of a monster killing people in the town, but there is nothing really going on with that until the very end and it was just kind of thrown in as a semblance of a plot. If someone were to ask me what exactly this book is about, I don’t even know if I would be able to describe it other than trauma and a little bit of a slapped together mystery. The first line of the synopsis also mentions the curse, and that really was just an excuse for the father to abuse all three of his daughters. I also found myself questioning if the curse was real or if the father just used it specifically to abuse his daughters.
As a warning, all the relationships in this book are toxic, a lot of scenes are pretty graphic. There are graphic sex scenes, killing and dismembering of a creature (animal death), plenty of murder, cannibalism, gore and body horror, child sexual abuse and incest, antisemitism, tons of gaslighting and abuse by family members, self-harm and suicidal thoughts, bulimia with some graphic descriptions, pedophilia, sex trafficking, and also a scene including bestiality. These trigger warnings were not present in the copy that I read, and I believe a few of these were missing from the comments on Goodreads that I think would be helpful.
Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, Body horror, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Rape, Vomit, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gore, Death, Child abuse, Body shaming, and Gaslighting
Minor: Death of parent
jamie_reads_stuff's review
- 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? It's complicated
2.0
READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS BOOK. Honestly it felt very aimless and I wasn’t really sure where the story was even going. I almost DNF it but I read to the end just to see how it ended. All the writing was really well done and descriptive but this book is not for me. Maybe because it’s more slow paced? Or like I don’t get the gothic horror references?? I dont knoww
Graphic: Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Excrement, Gore, Violence, and Vomit
natkimbrough's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Vomit, Self harm, Body horror, and Eating disorder
alsavini's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The one things I did like about this book is the authors descriptions. "Overhead the moon was as pale as a woman's face on a cameo pin, its reflection so bright and solid it seemed a dredge boat could scoop it right up out of the water. The black shoreline bunched and flattened, like the sash of a dress..and as far as I could squint my eyes to see, the electric lamps burned like live embers." However, the story was all over the place. Magic system was not explained well. This author definitely needs a better editor because the writing was good but the content wasnt so it canceled each other out. I almost didnt finish it but did just because I thought surely the ending would bring it all home yet was fully disappointed. Also, there was a lot of talk about food and the making of it?
I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it. Someone else wrote in a a review “I finished reading this not really knowing what was important, what I was supposed to care about, what the point of it all was.” And that sums it up.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Death of parent, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Cannibalism, and Gore
slvt4b00ks's review
- 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 has been my all time favorite book I have read. Period. Reid is a master of weirdly beautiful and unique metaphors and other literary devices. I had no idea people could write and create such beautiful captivating atmospheres that are equally as horrifying and dark.
I couldn’t name all of the trigger warnings that this needs to be filed under. There were parts of this that were very difficult to read. Expect rape, abuse, alcoholism, cannibalism, self mutilation, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, so on and so forth.
That being said I think the author touched on every single one of those sensitive subjects with brutal honesty and also something like grace.
For a majority of the book I found the story very character driven. Toward the end it picked up but it was so worth it. Highly recommend!
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Death, Torture, Violence, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Vomit
wonderfulwaytooweird's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, Alcohol, Animal death, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Cannibalism, Sexism, Chronic illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Self harm, Vomit, and Drug use