Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

40 reviews

thechaoshour's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

2.0

 I’m not really sure what to think of this book. I loved that it was a dark fairy tale but the plot was messy and confusing so I never really knew where things were going. Nothing really made as much sense as it should have. I might have been able to ignore that but this book was weirdly sexual for a fairy tale. I don’t think I’ve ever read about a women’s breasts this much from a female author. It was a little weird and very off putting. I could have used some trigger warnings at the begging to prepare myself for all of it, including pedophilia. It was beautifully written but that didn’t hide the serious flaws. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Racism, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Death, Child abuse, Alcohol, Confinement, Murder, Body shaming, Alcoholism, and Sexual content

morgangd's review against another edition

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

zoeblair17's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

Literally ALL the trigger warnings! Not a story for the faint of heart but that warning speaks so highly of the writing! Not usually a horror/dark fairytale gal but the way the author tells this story is immersive and captivating 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexism, Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Sexual assault, Grief, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Animal death, Death, Eating disorder, Racism, Vomit, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism

sydapel's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

2.75

I really love Ava Reid's writing voice, it feels so lyrical and darkly alluring that you can't help but be sucked in, no matter how disturbing and dark the story gets. So while I did read this very fast, I don't think the overall plot structure or character development is done all that well. Marlinchen has these frustrating fits and starts of character development throughout the book that fail to carry weight after a while. The love story feels underdeveloped and childish, while other more interesting elements (the sister dynamic of the characters) needed far more time spent with it. Like I said, Ava Reid is one of the most interesting new authors I've read and I'm excited for the rest of her work, but I don't think this one was quite ready. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Sexual assault, Rape, Pedophilia, Self harm, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Racism, Drug use, and Eating disorder

hprimo12's review against another edition

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

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.

frog_appreciator's review against another edition

4.0

Delightfully disturbing. I cannot emphasize this enough: read the content warnings before you read!! I haven’t read the fairytale this was based on so I lacked context but I want to read it now. Some of the writing was a bit repetitive, but I not enough to ruin the story. Also the writing style in general may not be for everyone. The ending was so warm after the vivid exploration of trauma throughout. I’ve seen reviews complaining about the MC’s naivety but I found a lot of it read as autistic. Which made her emotions upon realizing things so much more vivid. There’s something really beautiful about trauma depicted in such a visceral bloody way. 

CW: 
Violence, Murder, Body Horror, 
Cannibalism, Sexual Abuse, Physical Abuse, Eating Disorder, Animal Death, Vomit, Abuse within family, Racism, Alcoholism  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Body horror, Violence, and Child abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Racism

sofia_guks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Vomit, and Violence

Moderate: Racism and Sexual violence

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

a_paper_mess's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Racism, and Vomit

kyradannalee's review

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Mental illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Sexual content, Racism, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Cannibalism, Body horror, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Violence, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Colonisation and Classism

Minor: Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Medical content

x_l1v1ngd34db0y_x's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

This book was enthralling. It was a short read, and progresses quickly. I enjoyed the writing style but found some things quite repetitive. Breasts are mentioned in almost every chapter, and the same few phrases are repeated several times. Other than the pacing and weird obsession with breasts, I found this book engaging with a beautiful writing style and would recommend this to others that love a grim fairy tale. Check trigger warnings before reading as body horror tends to come up a lot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Sexual assault, Body horror, and Sexual content

Moderate: Misogyny, Cannibalism, Racism, Alcoholism, Grief, Body shaming, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, and Classism