Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

73 reviews

latte_reads's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Confinement, Cannibalism, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Eating disorder, and Violence

wizardowl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Gaslighting, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Pedophilia, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexism

abception's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual content, Blood, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Vomit, Xenophobia, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Gore, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Body horror, Body shaming, Colonisation, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol and Suicidal thoughts

bloomed's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Sexual content, Blood, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Vomit, Eating disorder, Confinement, and Self harm

Minor: Misogyny and Pedophilia

kllyholt's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

errie's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Animal death, Confinement, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Death, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Blood

aicarr's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

5.0

a gruesome, dark horror read. the mood was well paired with the plot. was quiet hypersexual but it fit in with the story. along with the questionable romance. it all tied so nicely. and i loved the dark folklore aspect. overall had me at a good level of discomfort 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Cannibalism and Confinement

rdmoreland0801's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

I don’t know how I feel about this book…. I don’t typically go for such dark themes, but I think I liked it?  It was written very well overall, although I think some things went right over my head.

Marlinchen is the youngest of three sisters, daughters of the last wizard of Oblya - Zmiy Vaschenko.  Marlinchen believes in all the stories in her father’s codex and her life is beginning to unfold as one.

As she begins to fall in love with Sevas, Marlinchen begins to unravel her father’s secrets and lies.  After 23 years trapped inside the house she was born in, she’s finally managed to escape his grasp.  Together, Marlinchen and Sevas work to rid the world of Zmiy and discover who Marlinchen truly is.

This is a very dark tale with mentions of sexual assault, mutilation, eating disorders, and abuse.  This story is a good representation of women being treated as property.  The father is truly possessive and wants his daughters to remain “unspoiled” so that he may be the only one who could.  No man wants a spoiled woman.  It further promotes the idea that a woman’s value is tied to her “purity”.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Body horror, Gore, Sexual assault, and Confinement

Moderate: Alcohol and Eating disorder

bookleafcrow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

A gothic fantasy revolving around monstrous men, and the monsters they create. 

I went into Juniper and Thorn practically blind, having read Reid’s debut novel “The Wolf and the Woodsman” last year and enjoying it so much that it became one of my top reads of 2022. However, I would not advise picking up this book without knowing exactly what you’re getting yourself into. At its core, “Juniper and Thorn” is a story about abuse and striving for freedom against the odds, as well as being a retelling of the German fairy tale “The Juniper Tree”; alongside other trigger warnings listed within this review, it depicts graphic scenes of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse with little to no reprieve until the last third of the book. The main character, Marlinchen, develops at a frustratingly slow pace, and whilst this is understandable given her situation, her back-and-forth uncertainty becomes irritating towards the end. Despite being only ~300 pages, it feels much, much longer. I found myself struggling to pick it back up after reading sessions. That being said, the prose is beautiful. The world-building is claustrophobic and narrow in a way that matches the scope of the narrator, and Reid’s imagery is a vibrant gut-punch for better or worse; Juniper and Thorn’s uncomfortable atmosphere is carefully curated until it blossoms into a closing act with incredible payoff. 

Overall, “Juniper and Thorn” is as charming and alluring as it is repulsing. The characters are slightly weaker than those in Reid’s previous novel, lacking their rate of development, and the romance feels a little superficial until it very suddenly doesn’t, but the conclusion is so much stronger. It has a very satisfying ending that ties up all loose ends brilliantly. I would recommend this book to fans of Reid’s first book, fans of folklore/fairytale retellings, and gothic fantasy enjoyers; whilst I personally wouldn’t describe this book as horror for the most part, it definitely incorporates horrific elements. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Body horror, Sexual assault, Medical content, Death, Blood, Animal death, Body shaming, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Murder, Gaslighting, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Confinement, and Gore

anxiousnachos's review against another edition

dark

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Cannibalism, Body horror, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Vomit, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault