Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

251 reviews

jordyfrombookclub's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Vomit and Cannibalism

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

courtzab's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Definitely different from anything I'm used to reading. Perhaps going in blind on this one was a mistake; the TW's don't bother me, it just wasn't something I was expecting.

The writing was beautiful! I'm just not certain that gothic horror is for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Cannibalism

multiplyoctopi's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

tayo2000's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I just think Ava Reid as an author isn’t for me. Although I think she’s a good writer, and she tackles the themes she chooses to write about well, I find they never come together in a cohesive and enjoyable story for me. 

This book is no exception. This was…messy. The plot moved incredibly slowly, with nothing really happening until the last 1/4 of the book. It was overall just too much trying to be accomplished in a 300 page book in terms of theme, and the plot suffered due to this. The character development wasn’t great either. It was definitely a let down. Although you can certainly see Ava’s writing shining in some spots while tackling some of these intense themes, I overall just think it was too convoluted in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Cannibalism

zweinst's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

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: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Murder, 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: Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

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

aliciawithoutkeys's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent

kashaannee's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.25

Although it started off really slow, I really enjoyed this. I’m excited to read more of Reid’s work in the future as she has a gift for writing - not once did I find myself being pulled out of the story because of her writing, which is something that I tend to experience frequently. There’s some banging quotes in here from our main character Marlinchen, and her development was very enjoyable to follow for me. 

Also Rosenrot being a lesbian is so based. It’s not explored very much but is mentioned a couple of times and I loved her as a character too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Incest and Abortion

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

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