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domigaia's review against another edition
While the prose ease beautiful, and this was so well written, I just didn’t have the stomach for this, the body horror and gore-riness. I tried to skim read some of those parts but I couldn’t hack it.
If you are into dark books then I highly recommend but READ THE TWS. I was sad it was too intense because she wrote and explored trauma in such a creative way, the fear that was installed in the main character got installed in ME, and just the writing itself is SO lush. If I finished it had 5 star read potential.
I look forward to reading some of Ava Reid’s less intense books.
If you are into dark books then I highly recommend but READ THE TWS. I was sad it was too intense because she wrote and explored trauma in such a creative way, the fear that was installed in the main character got installed in ME, and just the writing itself is SO lush. If I finished it had 5 star read potential.
I look forward to reading some of Ava Reid’s less intense books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Gore, Cannibalism, Body horror, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse
amyreadstoomuch10's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Animal death, Body horror, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcohol, and Gore
madimoss'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Cannibalism, Classism, Vomit, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse
mald626's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Cannibalism, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Gore
Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Vomit, Alcoholism, Violence, and Pedophilia
sarahd0825's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
My first Ava Reid read! She has stunning writing and imagery that can be so visceral and cerebral. I thought that for a horror-ish fantasy with brutal themes, this was a very approachable novel. I think the ending suffered from some pacing issues and that our main character kinda suffered from the plot development being furthered through her naivete but ultimately comes into her own.
CW: child abuse & child sexual assault was graphicly described on page
CW: child abuse & child sexual assault was graphicly described on page
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Eating disorder, Cannibalism, and Gore
froon's review against another edition
2.0
a lot of my criticisms of this book have been mentioned by other people who have given it a similar rating as me. i will say, as a primer for my review, that i don’t believe that just because an author sets out to write about sensitive topics means that they should be given exceptions on how people review their story. “that’s what the author intended!” just doesn’t work on me.
my biggest issue with the book is the excessive trauma. marlinchen reads like a YA protagonist (especially with her comments about her looks…), and it seems like the endless, gratuitous explicit content was just to hit the adult rating (probably so sevas and marlinchen could have sex after falling in love after three meetings). it really felt like a teenagers first foray into mature writing.
my other biggest issue was the plotting/pacing of the book. the whole time i was reading it, all i could think was “wow, nothing has happened this whole time.” everything dragged, to the point where i was just frustrated trying to get to the end of the chapter at times. this also impacted the relationships between the characters. as i said before, sevas and marlinchen’s relationship felt so unbelievable because they had only met for a second before they were both in love. i kept thinking that there had to be aspect of deception or magic at play, but no.
also… does everything need to be compared to breasts and nipples. i swear there was a nipple mention every other page in this book. everything was so overwrought with sexual undertones in a way that i don’t think served the author’s purpose or intention at all (or did so poorly).
anyways, i pushed through to the end so that i could mark this off for my library’s yearly reading challenge AND because i had bought it for $27.99 before i was in my no tbr book buying era.
my biggest issue with the book is the excessive trauma. marlinchen reads like a YA protagonist (especially with her comments about her looks…), and it seems like the endless, gratuitous explicit content was just to hit the adult rating (probably so sevas and marlinchen could have sex after falling in love after three meetings). it really felt like a teenagers first foray into mature writing.
my other biggest issue was the plotting/pacing of the book. the whole time i was reading it, all i could think was “wow, nothing has happened this whole time.” everything dragged, to the point where i was just frustrated trying to get to the end of the chapter at times. this also impacted the relationships between the characters. as i said before, sevas and marlinchen’s relationship felt so unbelievable because they had only met for a second before they were both in love. i kept thinking that there had to be aspect of deception or magic at play, but no.
also… does everything need to be compared to breasts and nipples. i swear there was a nipple mention every other page in this book. everything was so overwrought with sexual undertones in a way that i don’t think served the author’s purpose or intention at all (or did so poorly).
anyways, i pushed through to the end so that i could mark this off for my library’s yearly reading challenge AND because i had bought it for $27.99 before i was in my no tbr book buying era.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Gore, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Pedophilia
mothmania'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Pedophilia, Body horror, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Blood, Self harm, Sexual content, Death, Murder, Vomit, and Animal death
arendaes's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.25
Ava Reid's writing is so beautiful and poetic. The prose flowed in such a way that sometimes it felt like I was being told an actual fairytale (I listened to this on audio.) The story flew by for me, and enjoyed every second of it.
Our main character Marlinchen was an incredibly sympathetic main character. I personally really liked her, as well as her love interest Sevas. My heart really went out to them and I was on the edge of my seat just because I wanted to see how things turned out for these characters.
Plot-wise, this is a character-driven story; the plot doesn't really pick up until about 70-75% through the book. The twist was pretty shocking; I didn't guess it, at the very least, but I did find it satisfying and it really fit in well with the themes of the story. I also enjoyed how everything was resolved and was pleased with the ending.
My only big complaint is that I don't think it was a very good adaptation of the fairytale itself. I have read the Juniper Tree before, and admittedly it's been a while, but I don't think it was like this much at all.
I will note that this was a very dark story that explored some really heavy themes. I personally am not a huge fan of gore or cannibalism; while both of those are present in this book, I personally did not find them particularly graphic and was able to handle it for the most part. I cannot say the same for other triggers in this book. Abuse and sexual assault is very graphically described so if those are triggers, please proceed with caution.
Our main character Marlinchen was an incredibly sympathetic main character. I personally really liked her, as well as her love interest Sevas. My heart really went out to them and I was on the edge of my seat just because I wanted to see how things turned out for these characters.
Plot-wise, this is a character-driven story; the plot doesn't really pick up until about 70-75% through the book. The twist was pretty shocking; I didn't guess it, at the very least, but I did find it satisfying and it really fit in well with the themes of the story. I also enjoyed how everything was resolved and was pleased with the ending.
My only big complaint is that I don't think it was a very good adaptation of the fairytale itself. I have read the Juniper Tree before, and admittedly it's been a while, but I don't think it was like this much at all.
I will note that this was a very dark story that explored some really heavy themes. I personally am not a huge fan of gore or cannibalism; while both of those are present in this book, I personally did not find them particularly graphic and was able to handle it for the most part. I cannot say the same for other triggers in this book. Abuse and sexual assault is very graphically described so if those are triggers, please proceed with caution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Self harm, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Cannibalism, Gore, and Xenophobia
haylee_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
Oh goodness, this book was a wild ride. I think Reid wrote such a grotesque gothic horror with such beautiful prose. This is a retelling of The Juniper Tree, which I have not read before. This book is horrifying at times, but I could tell there was clear intention behind every single sentence. The story was harrowing and it had me on the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed the audiobook. I thought the setting was incredibly atmospheric and had so many layers. It’s hard for me to put my thoughts into words right now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Sexual assault, Vomit, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Animal death, Death, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse
madsmccray's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Gore