Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

57 reviews

willdarlingg'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

I adored this book. Inspired by Slavic folklore, Juniper & Thorn was a treat to read with it's bloody, dark, and gory themes. Discussing things like cannibalism, xenophobia, intergenerational trauma, and assault, it's not an easy read at all, but it captured me very quickly and kept me reading until 3 am.

Marlinchen was a fantastic main character, I love stories about women who have kept all their anger in check all their lives and are bursting to let it out. Her storyline was incredibly cathartic and heartbreaking. I would die for her. Sevastyen was a delight and I loved him. I know he's based on real-life queer dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, and I enjoyed this version of the story a lot. 

Ava Reid's writing is rich, dense, beautiful, and vivid. Sometimes the metaphors are a touch heavy-handed or pretensious, but personally, that's exactly how I like my prose.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Cannibalism, Xenophobia, Murder, Eating disorder, and Animal death

Moderate: Antisemitism, Violence, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

legs_n_chins's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The funny thing is that, in my heart, this is a 5⭐️ book. Reading it was immersive and compelling and thoroughly enjoyable. The writing style flows easily but retains so much beauty and vividness. The story is complex and the characters interesting and the world very stable and grounded in its magic system. I want to come back to it again already. However, objectively, I also did find a few cracks that made me bump my rating down.

I felt that the two main storylines, that being the romance and the mystery, ended up taking away from each other. Each on their own was compelling and I wanted more of it, but there simply didn’t seem to be quite enough room for either. On one side, I felt like Marlinchen and Sevas could’ve been better developed and there were points where I wasn’t fully convinced of their love for each other, but I wanted to see them grow more into their relationship and make me feel how tangibly they cared about each other. On the other side, I lost the thread of the mystery plot somewhere in the middle and it felt a bit like it lost its teeth, but I really wanted to be able to sink further into that and feel the stakes of the looming threat more fully. Unfortunately, I think neither storyline was able to live up to its full potential, though they still did manage to keep me reading and pull me in.

I also wasn’t sure that the climax was satisfying. As I read it, I was going back and forth as to whether I liked it or not, whether it felt like a strong conclusion to me. It was thrilling and it gave the story closure in both the metaphorical line of the story of Ivan in the codex and the literal line of the narrative itself, tying up loose ends of the mystery and revealing the remaining answers. But at the same time, I was much more interested in the way each of Marlinchen’s relationships reached their individual climaxes, particularly with her sisters, so the monster fight just felt a little pale in comparison. Like I said, though, it made for a very solid conclusion and worked with the story, the world, and the magic system.

I had a few other personal gripes with one or two small things, but not enough to ruin my feelings about the book or my enjoyment when reading it. I felt the tone was very consistent, I loved the different creatures and magical elements woven in, and the imagery and motifs throughout really fit the magic system and the story. Overall, very well written, strong world building, heavy topics handled with care and respect, and a very compelling dark fantasy story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Antisemitism, Self harm, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, and Gore

Moderate: Vomit, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Animal death

lizziereads151's review against another edition

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

4.75

This book gripped me and had me very emotional. Be warned this is not for the faint hearted, it is incredibly dark and a horror. It’s not a romance although there is a love story in there. There are many triggers and it’s biggest theme is trauma survivors dealing with child abuse and CSA. Marlinchen is an unreliable narrator who has spent her life sheltered and repressing memories. Finding the only way to deal with her trauma to compare real life to the fairytales her mother loved. Her father is tyrannical, cruel, emotionally, psychologically and physically abusive and refuses to let his daughters leave the house. Reid explores the themes in this book with a level of care and depth that has me in awe. Her prose is beautiful and an amazing juxtaposition with the dark themes and plot. 
I connected to Marlinchen in a way I have not to a main character for a long time, and as a trauma survivor I am so glad I picked up this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Body horror, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Vomit, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Gore, and Sexual violence

Minor: Antisemitism

jokehelldo's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

Everything was good. And would be good IF IT DIDN'T FUCKIN BRING RUSSIA TO EVERY DAMN SENTENCE.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Rape, Eating disorder, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual content

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

lindseeclark's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Unbelievably depressing and a difficult read for me, just not a book that I enjoyed. The prose itself was lush and beautiful but I could not root for any characters or plot lines.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Medical trauma, Grief, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Animal death, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Murder, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Self harm, Pedophilia, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Physical abuse, Confinement, and Blood

kristakp's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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 horror and Child abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, and Injury/Injury detail

emikaa21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

2.5

This book had dark fairytales vibes. I'm not sure if I liked it or not... It was overall interesting, but I couldn't get to like any of the characters (quite classic in Russian fairytales, to be fair) and I didn't truly believe in the main characters' relationship.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

pagesandtales's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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: Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Incest, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Gore, Cannibalism, Violence, and Gaslighting