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ceciliet's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Gore, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Cannibalism
domigaia's review against another edition
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.
Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, and Cannibalism
amyreadstoomuch10's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Eating disorder, Gore, Sexual assault, and Alcohol
madimoss's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Classism
mald626's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
sarahd0825's review against another edition
- 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
CW: child abuse & child sexual assault was graphicly described on page
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Eating disorder, Gore, and Cannibalism
froon's review against another edition
2.0
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.
Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Pedophilia
mothmania's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
arendaes's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Child abuse, Self harm, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Gore, Xenophobia, and Cannibalism
haylee_reads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Vomit, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, and Gaslighting