Reviews with content warning for Incest - Juniper & Thorn

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Having loved Ava Reid’s debut last year, I was fully ready to commit to anything she would write next. And the fact that Juniper & Thorn was marketed as Gothic horror didn’t scare me off one bit. And the promise of a retelling of The Juniper Tree, one of the lesser-known, super-fucked up Grimm Brothers stories that debunks the whole “fairy tales are for children” thing all on its own? Yes, please! And upon reading, I also found some allusions to Donkeyskin, another super-fucked up tale, the most popular version being by Perrault. That said, this book isn’t playing around. I strongly suggest readers take care of their own mental health and consult the content warnings…while also repeating Ava Reid’s statement in her promotional GR post that they should not use these warnings to cast judgment and stigmatize those who’ve dealt with these traumas and how they reckon with them, Reid included.
With that out of the way…this book really lived up to my expectations. It’s set in the same world as The Wolf & The Woodsman, so while they’re atmospherically and tonally different, there’s a common thread in the Russian-inspired culture depicted. The two can stand on their own, but it‘s cool to have read both and get the little cultural references.
As for that atmosphere and tone…wow, it’s amazing. While it really hits you hard, it’s simultaneously impossible to put down. Reid has an addictive quality to her writing, and even when describing the most gruesome, heinous things, I found it hard to look away.
Marlinchen is a deeply compelling heroine, and it’s hard not to root for her as she navigates her situation with her horribly abusive father. Her trauma is poignantly drawn, as is her lingering sense of defiance as she endures and works to undermine him.
The romance she forms with Sevas provides a wonderful sweetness to contrast the intense depravity, one I welcomed dearly. He’s such a kind and compassionate love interest, allowing Marlinchen not just an escape, but a path to healing.
This book is absolutely stunning, and while I acknowledge it may not be for everyone, for reasons previously stated, I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone looking for a dark fantasy or Gothic horror novel with fairy tale aesthetics.

Content Warnings

litty_lydi's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"That's not right, and that's not magic. Magic is the first sip of good wine that makes the edges of your vision blur. Magic is the cool breeze of the boardwalk at night and organ music in the air. Magic is landing a grand jeté and nearly going deaf with hate crowd's applause. Magic is the low flicker of tavern lights and the girl your courting leaning close so you can kiss."

If Ava Reid has a million fans, then I'm one of them.
If Ava Reid has one fan, then I'm that one.
If Ava Reid has no fans, that means I'm dead.

The Wolf and the Woodsman is one of my all time favourite books, naturally as Ava's debut I was excited for whatever she published next, while also being a little nervous (how can it get better?!). Yet, somehow they managed to raise the bar again with their sophomore novel, Juniper & Thorn.

In broad strokes, this is a gothic-horror fantasy (with a dash of romance) story inspired by the Grimm Brothers fairytale, The Juniper Tree. Considered one of their more gruesome fairytales, Reid does not shy away from that. As no surprise, Ava Reids prose continue to be truly spell-binding, within the first few lines you are immersed into this world engulfed by the haunting atmosphere that quickly sticks its claws in you and is unwilling to let you go. The pacing of this novel is impeccable; you are immediately thrust into the story and the tension and adventure remains high from start to end.

At its core, Juniper & Thorn is about Marlinchen’s journey of finding her voice after spending her entire life under the rule of her abusive father and surviving the only way she knew how; keeping all of her emotions to herself, and doing anything and everything, without complaints, in hopes of pleasing her father. J&T deals with many difficult topics, and it will not be for everyone. There are sections that are hard and uncomfortable to read; but that’s the point. Despite this being set in a fantasy world, the experiences of the characters are very real, and very horrific (all content warnings will be below). Ava Reids ability to use these hauntingly beautiful prose to epitomize how the trauma Marlinchen experienced has shaped the woman she is (and becomes) was a cathartic experience for me. It's dark, emotional, confusing, and yet very, very real. Many will not relate to Marlinchen's character (quite honestly, that's a good thing) but I hope that those who do are able to find some solace in knowing that they are not alone in how their traumas have impacted their lives.

My eldest sister was right; I would smile blithely if someone tried to saw off my leg. But no one ever told me I was allowed to scream."

If fairytale retellings set in a gruesome gothic-horror world are your jam (with an added bonus of himbo love-interest head-over-heels for the mc), I highly recommend that you check out Juniper & Thorn.

I am diving back in to annotate this arc (& I might have three copies of this preordered; the uk cover has me in a chokehold alright?! [also word of special editions, ugh rip me]). I will also be rereading TWATW as my watch for A Study in Drowning begins.

"The juniper tree looked as stolid as a grave marker, unruffled. Under the dirt was the compact and inside the compact was the black sand and in every grain of sand was Sevas, my first secret, my first lie, safe as death."

❦❦❦

cw: gore and body horror, cannibalism, antisemitism, xenophobia, and scientific racism, child sexual abuse; incest, physical and psychological abuse by family members; gaslighting, self-harm and suicidal ideation, bulimia; graphic descriptions of vomiting, animal death

As a disclaimer, I did request and receive this physical arc from Harper Voyager. All the quotes are from the arc thus are subject to change.

Content Warnings

booksthatburn's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

JUNIPER &THORN is a story built on a complicated tangle of self harm and exploration as Marlinchen, now a young woman, finally starts to defy her controlling father’s dictates. Especially early on, she has a variety of maladaptive behaviors including but not limited to self harm, disordered eating, and intrusive thoughts (ranging from negative self-talk to hypersexual fantasies). These are symptoms of and reactions to the ongoing all-pervasive abusive atmosphere which consumed her childhood and is set to rob her of normal adulthood as well. She and her sisters live in fear of their father, but as he’s made himself the only allowable source of affection in their lives they are desperate to retain his favor. As he’s also a wizard he’s threatened their bodies and lives if they disobey him, and can back up his threats with intimations of what happened to their mother before them. He controls their sexuality through threats and intimidation, as well as by using magical means to check whether they’re still “pure”, something which doesn’t stop Marlinchen from masturbating but makes her worried about how she goes about it.

Marlinchen is gaslit and abused by her father, and has toxic (often abusive) relationships with her sisters. The way that she’s constantly made to question her own perceptions but is also the narrator sometimes makes it hard to tell what things were supposed to be bad, or what things are stressful while not abusive. This had this overall effect that for the first half of the book I felt increasingly unmoored, hoping to find some part of her life that was actually okay and increasingly coming to the conclusion that this is a horror story and there’s not much that’s meant to be going well.

Marlinchen's relationships with her sisters is contentious. They're all trying to maintain access to the extremely finite resource which is their father's goodwill, but they have different ways of measuring whether they've achieved it. Marlinchen's yardstick seems to be whether his abuse stays verbal instead of escalating, which is a depressingly low baseline. There’s a pivotal scene midway through where the tactics in their father’s abuse have taken a sudden turn, and Marlinchen has a confrontation with Undine where in her exasperation Undine says things that explain her own survival strategy, and the flaw she sees in Marlinchen’s. This prompts Marlinchen to realize that she has options she never considered, and that perhaps her sisters have been employing completely different strategies with very different aims from herself.

Some little linguistic touches place this in the same world as THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN. I'm sure if I go back to re-read the other book I'll notice more things, but I noticed enough to be sure even before looking it up to see that I was correct. Because Marlinchen is only able to visit a few locations, there's a lot of detail about the house but less about other places within the city. This means that most of the information about the city and their place in it is gradually told as it relates to how her father feels about it (generally, how he hates it and why). This makes for a (plot-appropriate) gloomy mood.

The plot is well-constructed and engaging. It created a slowly-building feeling of dread which fit the story and was very stressful. The ending made a bunch of early inconsistencies have an explanation beyond "fairy tale logic", and I'm very satisfied with how things ended.

Content Warnings

theladyofink's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

taylor_houser's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-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

5.0

This book truly feels like being told a story on a cold night huddled next to a wood stove. It is a beautifully written gothic retelling of the fairy tale 'The Juniper Tree', and the prose that I fell in love with while reading Reid's debut, "The Wolf and the Woodsman" returns in their sophomore novel.

'Juniper and Thorn' excellently analyzes the ways moderninity and traditionalism clash and I absolutely adore Marlinchen and Sevas, who are flawed and human in their experiences of hope, love, and trauma. Their character growth is a magic in itself. Despite the dark themes, you can't help but cross your fingers in hopes that they get a happy ending. Additionally, Reid handles the effects of the trauma her characters experience incredibly well.

Thank you to Avon, Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC of 'Juniper and Thorn' and to Ava Reid for creating this gorgeous novel.

CW:
Gore and body horror
Child sexual abuse; incest
Cannibalism
Antisemitism, xenophobia, scientific racism
Physical and psychological abuse by family members; gaslighting
Self harm, suicidal ideation
Disordered eating, bulimia; graphic descriptions of vomiting
Animal death

Content Warnings

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