Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

397 reviews

aliceruthmyles's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Cannibalism, Death, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Body horror, and Death of parent

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

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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

thesecretbookclub's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-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

4.0

Having read all of Ava Reid’s books, this is definitely her darkest one. It explores very interesting themes in a fairy tale like setting, and so some parts of it definitely felt like a fairy tale. I loved the plot twist at the end, and also the overall quite realistic ending

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault

whitney7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark

5.0

😦

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Murder, Vomit, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Body horror, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Child abuse, and Antisemitism

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Eating disorder, Cannibalism, and Gore

conitaa's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Cannibalism

lukewarm_ravens's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

I felt like the book could have used another pass at editing. Up until the 3/4th mark, the pacing felt slow. That being said, I enjoyed it. I felt it's depiction of abuse was realistic and the ending was cathartic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Self harm, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Death, Cannibalism, Body horror, Blood, Xenophobia, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Misogyny

uninvestedreader's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Cannibalism, Self harm, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Murder, Vomit, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol

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

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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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cannibalism, Gore, and Xenophobia