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ava_jpg'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
4.0
mmmm cannibalism as a metaphor for love always eats (literally)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Murder
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.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
This book is very dark and very tense, there are some in depth descriptions of sexual violence, with references to it throughout the book.powertothenk's review against another edition
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
what a ride. the writing was exceptional, the plot was gripping, and the characters… repulsed me until i related to them lol. this book is a look into the mind of a girl who’s been told she’s nothing so many times that all of the repressed urges and thoughts and emotions well up in mangled, decaying ways. will i read other ava reid books? yes. right now? oh hell no, i need a nap.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Violence
amateurheir's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Self harm, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death of parent
merc22's review against another edition
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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
this book was simply weird af. some TW (sa, body horror, child abuse) some really intense themes through this book but written in such an interesting way. this was a cool story i could not have predicted and at times was shocked by - want to read more from this author for sure
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault
forever_undone_fables's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I read A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid in November and really enjoyed it. Reid is a smart author who dabbles in darkness. I have the rest of her works in my TBR already.
.
Juniper & Thorn is a standalone gothic horror fantasy based off Slavic folklore. It was scary, it was gruesome. Not in a way where big bad things were always happening on page, but the tension. The way the FMCs father eats his dinner set me on edge.
.
Marlenchen is a witch, who lives with her two fairly wretched sisters and nightmare of father who keeps them under lock and key, isolating and harming them after turning their mother into a bird. The story itself had many metaphors for abuse. The way those causing harm can’t truly be satiated, their desperation for escalation, control, and the way survivors adapt, ultimately trying to overcome.
.
Marlens upbringing has made her naive and meek. The story unfolds as she tries to be brave and secretly rebel to experience what a normal 23 year old might, such as infatuation for a man on stage. Neither of which end up being much more than one or two town characters.
.
The actual monsters in this book remind me somewhat of Holly Blacks world building, which I love. The scaley, red eyed creature under the bed was less fearsome than the human men in this story. The ‘beast of man’ seems to be a theme in Reid’s writings.
.
Now up until this point, I would have said this book is around 3 stars for all of the above.. but allow me to continue..
.
My biggest suggestion is to MIND THE TRIGGERS! There is CSA, gore, death, cannibalism, and EDs to name a few. Overall, I could could handle all of that. Despite these ghastly things, what actually teetered this into a truly “weird” zone for me was the overly frequent mentionings and freakish descriptions of nipples..in graphic, violent, and odd ways…
.
Seriously, I would have rated this 1-2 stars MORE if it weren’t for all the weird boobie stuff. This book mentions breast and nipples an insufferable amount of times. It became a joke, I was so frustrated by it that I wanted to rip the book apart then and there, which never happens. I would have DNF usually I don’t hate read something but I had to see it through, and I had to take a week long break before I got past the last 15%.
.
I started counting at one point.. 6 “breasts” in a chapter. The next chapter? 11. . And that’s just breast, doesn’t include nipple, which were alternated between sometimes multiple times per page. For WHAT REASON!?
.
A vague excerpt from one PARAGRAPH:
“My nipples knotted with cold.. ….it circled my breast.. …and latched itself onto my nipple” then you turn the page and it’s literally just more breastnipplebreastnipple. In moments where it literally doesn’t have to be mentioned at all. I can’t stress this enough 😂
.
I think three times does she mention cutting nips.. “I imagine cutting my nipples with garden shears” and then goes on to say something like “and watch the skin unfold like the petals of a flower” or “bloom” or “the skin crawling back and blood covering like a glove” or some WEIRD SHIT LIKE THAT. It was SO MUCH, ALL THE TIME.
.
“Her breast swinging like a pendulum” “I wanted to hide him in my breast” (I feel like that was said twice) “my heavy breasts” please, stop.. I’m actually begging 😩😭
.
Following THAT would be the overusage of “plain faced, and maidenhead”.
.
All of these ridiculous redundancies completely took you out of the story, which would have been rather good otherwise!.. aside from the weird codependency instalove like mutual trauma attachment with the love interest, who is literally stupid (sweet, but dumb) for fucking around with her like I don’t see that appeal other than she ~sees~ him.. idk. That would have been my biggest complaint had it not been for the boob stuff.. oh my god.. so much boooooob stufffff!!! The actual sex scenes were really whatever, generally, I mean one was kind of weird, but I still could have just moved on from it.. however I can’t move on from the nipple-breast infatuation. Like if I punched myself in the face every time she brought up the titty-region for no reason I would be in a padded room, which honestly sounds peaceful after reading this.
.
Reid does have a lyrical way of going about such themes- but it is still a grim tale. But no amount of deep prose or atmosphere could cure me from the irreparable ick of all the above though! It started to read very much like a pretentious college student trying to be dark and poetic over and over without even realizing they were using the same strange metaphor they clung to and made the whole personality of the piece, to be different and tortured/edgy. I respect artsy, but this was so overdone, and rancid to the point of being straight up fetishization of those darker things. Her bulimia was just there, and borderline romanticized. She touched upon xenophobia and cultural shifts/classism.. and as a reader I’m like “thats and interesting thing ti fold into the foundation of the bad guy- these things are bad” but in the story they just float around.
.
And I literally hate to say any of this because I thought A Study in Drowning was beautiful, and as I mentioned, I have her other works in the queue. I do think she’s clever.. I seeeee what she’s trying to do in general with what I have read. I was excited for this read and gearing up for her to be a favorite author. I will still go into them with hopes I don’t run into anything like this again and that this was just… something she was trying out, *maybe* she didn’t have an editor when Juniper and Thorn came out.. because I just don’t see how no one else would be like.. hey, can we talk about this? Like, are you okay? What’s going on here.. let’s reeeeeeel it in a pinch, it’s taking away from your work and the seriousness of this story.
.
At the end of the day, I signed up to read a gothic, fairytellesque, adult horror fantasy.. that’s what I wanted, and there were some aspects of that in there! But I feel like I read some studiously written kink-fic. I feel like other reviews were vague like “it was overly sexual, graphic” no, no no.. it was freakish. I’m here telling you it’s not JUST sexual, one person said the fmc and mmc were “scurrying away to bang all the time” which isn’t true… there’s not that much intercourse.. it’s just a CONCERNING amount of TIT-shit, amongst other extremely dark and odd things that kind of get sexualized/romanticized for nothing.
.
I’m so glad I read ASID first otherwise I would be so reluctant to try her other work but I KNOW she’s good and hope that it just shows how she has evolved since.
.
Juniper & Thorn is a standalone gothic horror fantasy based off Slavic folklore. It was scary, it was gruesome. Not in a way where big bad things were always happening on page, but the tension. The way the FMCs father eats his dinner set me on edge.
.
Marlenchen is a witch, who lives with her two fairly wretched sisters and nightmare of father who keeps them under lock and key, isolating and harming them after turning their mother into a bird. The story itself had many metaphors for abuse. The way those causing harm can’t truly be satiated, their desperation for escalation, control, and the way survivors adapt, ultimately trying to overcome.
.
Marlens upbringing has made her naive and meek. The story unfolds as she tries to be brave and secretly rebel to experience what a normal 23 year old might, such as infatuation for a man on stage. Neither of which end up being much more than one or two town characters.
.
The actual monsters in this book remind me somewhat of Holly Blacks world building, which I love. The scaley, red eyed creature under the bed was less fearsome than the human men in this story. The ‘beast of man’ seems to be a theme in Reid’s writings.
.
Now up until this point, I would have said this book is around 3 stars for all of the above.. but allow me to continue..
.
My biggest suggestion is to MIND THE TRIGGERS! There is CSA, gore, death, cannibalism, and EDs to name a few. Overall, I could could handle all of that. Despite these ghastly things, what actually teetered this into a truly “weird” zone for me was the overly frequent mentionings and freakish descriptions of nipples..in graphic, violent, and odd ways…
.
Seriously, I would have rated this 1-2 stars MORE if it weren’t for all the weird boobie stuff. This book mentions breast and nipples an insufferable amount of times. It became a joke, I was so frustrated by it that I wanted to rip the book apart then and there, which never happens. I would have DNF usually I don’t hate read something but I had to see it through, and I had to take a week long break before I got past the last 15%.
.
I started counting at one point.. 6 “breasts” in a chapter. The next chapter? 11. . And that’s just breast, doesn’t include nipple, which were alternated between sometimes multiple times per page. For WHAT REASON!?
.
A vague excerpt from one PARAGRAPH:
“My nipples knotted with cold.. ….it circled my breast.. …and latched itself onto my nipple” then you turn the page and it’s literally just more breastnipplebreastnipple. In moments where it literally doesn’t have to be mentioned at all. I can’t stress this enough 😂
.
I think three times does she mention cutting nips.. “I imagine cutting my nipples with garden shears” and then goes on to say something like “and watch the skin unfold like the petals of a flower” or “bloom” or “the skin crawling back and blood covering like a glove” or some WEIRD SHIT LIKE THAT. It was SO MUCH, ALL THE TIME.
.
“Her breast swinging like a pendulum” “I wanted to hide him in my breast” (I feel like that was said twice) “my heavy breasts” please, stop.. I’m actually begging 😩😭
.
Following THAT would be the overusage of “plain faced, and maidenhead”.
.
All of these ridiculous redundancies completely took you out of the story, which would have been rather good otherwise!.. aside from the weird codependency instalove like mutual trauma attachment with the love interest, who is literally stupid (sweet, but dumb) for fucking around with her like I don’t see that appeal other than she ~sees~ him.. idk. That would have been my biggest complaint had it not been for the boob stuff.. oh my god.. so much boooooob stufffff!!! The actual sex scenes were really whatever, generally, I mean one was kind of weird, but I still could have just moved on from it.. however I can’t move on from the nipple-breast infatuation. Like if I punched myself in the face every time she brought up the titty-region for no reason I would be in a padded room, which honestly sounds peaceful after reading this.
.
Reid does have a lyrical way of going about such themes- but it is still a grim tale. But no amount of deep prose or atmosphere could cure me from the irreparable ick of all the above though! It started to read very much like a pretentious college student trying to be dark and poetic over and over without even realizing they were using the same strange metaphor they clung to and made the whole personality of the piece, to be different and tortured/edgy. I respect artsy, but this was so overdone, and rancid to the point of being straight up fetishization of those darker things. Her bulimia was just there, and borderline romanticized. She touched upon xenophobia and cultural shifts/classism.. and as a reader I’m like “thats and interesting thing ti fold into the foundation of the bad guy- these things are bad” but in the story they just float around.
.
And I literally hate to say any of this because I thought A Study in Drowning was beautiful, and as I mentioned, I have her other works in the queue. I do think she’s clever.. I seeeee what she’s trying to do in general with what I have read. I was excited for this read and gearing up for her to be a favorite author. I will still go into them with hopes I don’t run into anything like this again and that this was just… something she was trying out, *maybe* she didn’t have an editor when Juniper and Thorn came out.. because I just don’t see how no one else would be like.. hey, can we talk about this? Like, are you okay? What’s going on here.. let’s reeeeeeel it in a pinch, it’s taking away from your work and the seriousness of this story.
.
At the end of the day, I signed up to read a gothic, fairytellesque, adult horror fantasy.. that’s what I wanted, and there were some aspects of that in there! But I feel like I read some studiously written kink-fic. I feel like other reviews were vague like “it was overly sexual, graphic” no, no no.. it was freakish. I’m here telling you it’s not JUST sexual, one person said the fmc and mmc were “scurrying away to bang all the time” which isn’t true… there’s not that much intercourse.. it’s just a CONCERNING amount of TIT-shit, amongst other extremely dark and odd things that kind of get sexualized/romanticized for nothing.
.
I’m so glad I read ASID first otherwise I would be so reluctant to try her other work but I KNOW she’s good and hope that it just shows how she has evolved since.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Blood, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Blood, Abortion, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism
rilakkumas's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Incest, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Murder, and Alcohol
letheaster'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Absolutely loved this book. It was dark, and the ambience was incredibly well written. I haven't read a lot of gothic horror but this is making me interested in reading more. Especially around the end I couldn't make myself pause the audiobook or else I felt I would have gone insane wondering what was to happen next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Self harm, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, and Gaslighting
Minor: Incest