Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

333 reviews

ktame001's review against another edition

dark sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Grief, Violence, Vomit, Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Addiction, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, and Alcoholism

startjpw23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

This is a dark fantasy romance. It is told in the first person by Marlinchen. The location and time aren't given. But the story appears to be set in an alternate Russia. There are electric lights. But local transportation is by horse drawn carriages. There are wizards and witches, but their place in the world appears to be declining. Marlinchen is the youngest of 3 sisters, all of whom are witches. Their mother died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Their father is a powerful wizard. A curse was put on him. He basically keeps the 3 sisters captive so they can use their powers to earn money from clients. Business is declining. I found the book very engrossing. The author creates a great atmosphere. The world is well fleshed out. The characters have depth. It is unrelentingly grim story. And graphically violent in parts. I recommend the book to someone who wants to read a very dark fantasy romance. You may want to look at content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Vomit, Death, Gore, Confinement, Child abuse, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

maebae's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Vomit, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Eating disorder, Animal death, and Death of parent

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

2.75

This book was entertaining for the most part but certain aspects of it left me kinda grossed out and confused. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Self harm, Death, Dysphoria, Gore, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Vomit, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Xenophobia

there is cannibalism in this book as well as a scenes where the characters are turned on by gore.

princegene95's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Gore, Cannibalism, Body shaming, Vomit, and Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Death, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Animal death, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Medical content, and Medical trauma

kng_writes's review against another edition

2.5

Ehhhh, not for me. Just goes to show that pretty prose and a cool concept does not automatically mean a good writer. I truly did not give a singular fuck about any character in this book, not even Marlinchen. They were all so bland and unseasoned. Certain images were repetitive to the point of redundancy (Rose’s violet eyes, plum pits, plum juice). READ TRIGGERS FOR THIS—I dove in and was shocked at what was in here. And this is coming from someone who loved Andrew Joseph White’s body horror books!! At times, this book truly felt like trauma porn. Bad things happening to everybody, but what was the point other than to make everyone suffer?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Gore, Vomit, Animal death, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Antisemitism and Fatphobia

Minor: Xenophobia

deadnberried's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I might have liked it more if I was more familiar with OG folklore, not  fairytale versions of them that have had the blood and real danger scrubbed out. There is a lovely gothic sensibility to Reid’s writing, and an attempt at a spooky lyrical quality that manifests as a disconcerting simile being dragged on for too long. A lovely quick spooky piece of modern folklore.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, Animal death, and Sexual assault

kschuster's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Cannibalism, Rape, Death of parent, Child abuse, Classism, Blood, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Murder, Death, and Vomit

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Xenophobia, Addiction, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Misogyny, Child abuse, Death, Animal death, Violence, Alcohol, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Gore, Classism, Medical content, Sexual assault, Blood, Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Torture, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Self harm, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Bullying, and Hate crime

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Incest, Racial slurs, Infertility, and Infidelity

Beastiality.

readingbymollie's review against another edition

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Vomit, Body horror, Self harm, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Murder and Sexual content