Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

90 reviews

2_black_dogs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Vomit, Bullying, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, and Death

pinkpapercrane's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is very dark, very tense, and yet at the end of the day, a fantastic read. This isn’t my usual cup of tea, I’m a cozy fantasy sort of reader but I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to dive headfirst into grim dark fantasy.

(with a happy ending, of course.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Death, Murder, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Torture, Self harm, Eating disorder, Child death, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Grief, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Animal death, Pregnancy, Gore, Confinement, Cannibalism, Body shaming, and Adult/minor relationship

This book is very dark and very tense, there are some in depth descriptions of sexual violence, with references to it throughout the book.

cloud_z's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Animal death, and Body shaming

thehobbitbarbie's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Blood, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Rape, Gaslighting, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Gore

vashaava's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, and Death

ainhoalikesbooksandmangos's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I like the vibes, but I think, that the ending was a bit rush. Like "do you remember this thing that talked about randomly 2 times? It's an important thing for the last 50 pages" but overall I like it and I enjoyed *spoilers ahead* that Marlinchen didn't forgiv Rose, and all (almost all) the abuser in the book died.*end of the spoilers* so yeah the ending is fine but the rest of the book was very enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Murder, Death, Bullying, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, and Gore

Minor: Abortion, Bullying, Classism, Blood, Body shaming, Colonisation, and Gaslighting

roanjackal's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

This book is phenomenal, and does an amazing job of talking about abuse in the harsh ugly way it deserves. This book was emotional and enchanting. I cant wait to read more of Ava's work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Racism, Misogyny, Bullying, Body shaming, and Death of parent

khushir_11's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

If I see the word breasts one more time I’m going to lose it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Sexual content, Body horror, Murder, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Addiction, Classism, Vomit, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, and Emotional abuse

unluckycat13's review against another edition

Just not for me. Too much of a focus on sex and romance, and I'm not a huge fan of parental abuse plots. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexual content, Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexism

edamamebean's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

I was completely spellbound by this book from start to finish. When I wasn’t reading it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s definitely not a perfect novel. Ava Reid’s prose teeters towards heavy-handedness (something inevitably gets compared to snakes like every five paragraphs) but somehow it still really did it for me. I figured out the mystery element almost immediately, but I kind of think you’re supposed to know or acknowledge what Marlinchen can’t. She, as a main character, is frustratingly naive but you still root for her. Her mentality around sex and virginity is rooted in purity culture in a way that I didn’t like at first, but as I thought about it more I came to accept that it stemmed from the toxic environment she was raised in and wasn’t an opinion of the author herself. At the end of the day, Marlinchen’s sexual awakening is what frees her, so I’ll forgive it. This book gets a 10/10 for vibes and I really recommend it if you’re looking for a dark fairytale but for the love of god, read the content warnings first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Medical trauma, Animal death, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Blood, Eating disorder, Gore, Xenophobia, Vomit, Murder, Antisemitism, Body horror, Violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Medical content, Body shaming, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail