Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

95 reviews

joeleneb's review

dark 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

5.0

I loved the twisted fairy tale aspect, both by the modern day and also still retaining some of that "old" world ruthlessness to them. It plays into the characters, how they see themselves, their relationships with each other, and the overarching plot itself. Amazing, I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Murder, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Abortion

whimsicalish's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Incredibly dark fantasy. I would recommend reading the content tags before starting this one.

Not at all where I thought the story was going to end, but I'm glad I picked it up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Eating disorder, Murder, Death of parent, Trafficking, Bullying, and Classism

kendal_reads's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, and Death of parent

Moderate: Vomit

slim's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective relaxing tense fast-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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book and I definitely recommend it if you're interested. 

I felt that the characters were well-developed: each had their own unique characters and the decisions they made were sensible for their context. The world itself was also quite vidid in detail. The central story is satisfying and unique, and an accurate portrayal of the feelings, thoughts and emotions that victims of abuse experience (e.g. shame, guilt, love, remorse, hatred, anger, etc.), and the complex interplay between each.

The kinda novel that grows you as a person. Well worth the time. 

My only gripe was I felt that the author was building towards the main character having found new magical powers, but instead it was all explained that her father was orchestrating her memory loss and her new "powers" were, in fact, all explainable because of this. I guess it's not that kind of book though where there is an escalation in power and a final epic confrontation.

———
4/5 for writing, 4/5 for story and 4/5 for impact. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal death, Cannibalism, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Eating disorder

Minor: Incest

amandaskye's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Antisemitism, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Gore, Death of parent, and Cannibalism

Minor: Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Alcohol

leneso_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Obsessing, cruel and dark…and also magical and romantic ! I really liked it, I absolutely love the writing style of Ava Reid. This was a challenging read though because it was so dark.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Blood

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

coffeepotoo's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

i've never fucking felt so goddamn seen by a characters (very mentally ill) thought process before. also wonderful usage of theming and prose and i read it all in one sitting and it was very excellent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Incest, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexism, Death, Body shaming, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Antisemitism, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, and Torture

glass_carousel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, Violence, Vomit, Antisemitism, Death, Xenophobia, Blood, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Adult/minor relationship

dixiecarroll's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a highly disturbing classic fairytale retelling and you should not read it if you are easily triggered or grossed out. I loved it - it made me incredibly uncomfortable, but I like it when fairytales are a little awful. It lost a star because I felt like it was missing something - I can’t quite tell what that was yet, but it could be the intentional feeling of blackouts that our narrator felt as well - unsure. Anyway this is great!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Vomit