Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

90 reviews

thimi_time's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Wow, this is an extremely emotional and also rather graphic book. Ava Reid really has no qualms about the length she goes to textually illustrate the scenes and plot - this is definitely not a bad thing, I found her imagery quite striking and it really is beautiful to read, but it can/will probably be off-putting to some readers. And some scenes…I was shocked and horrified, but I do think it’s important to show another way that people can be affected by

abuse

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Blood, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Gaslighting

bestiality

.

hihicass's review against another edition

dark emotional

• 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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Violence

lizlikes_books's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

Idk what this was but I loved it good for her

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body shaming, Murder, Vomit, Eating disorder, Gore, Violence, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Sexual assault

laurenelisewrites's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Such incredible prose. The descriptions of body horror were simple yet effective. I felt fully immersed in the world, Marlinchen’s head and the fucked nature of her family dynamics. I loved the ending. I’m a sucker for “happy endings”, if one can even call it that. Everything felt resolved in a satisfying, logical and responsible way. I want a movie adaptation of this asap!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Murder, Animal death, Sexism, Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Death, and Cursing

punziereads3's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Eating disorder, and Cannibalism

itsmaryhell's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Vomit, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Misogyny, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Self harm, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abortion

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

Juniper and Thorn reminded me of a beautiful sweater I have.  It's gorgeous, warm, and looks good on me. But it's also itchy and uncomfortable and I'm always aware I'm wearing it. This story was beautifully told, but it was coarse and unpleasant.  I never lost myself in it.  The hypersexualization of every scenario was distracting and distasteful.   It's clear the sex scenes were not meant to be titillating so I question why the author didn't use a more closed-door approach.  The abuse and eating disorder plot points were too rampant and unnecessarily triggering.   The story was as grim as those of old.  The language and descriptions were precise. The characters were well-developed, even if some of their actions and motivations were questionable.  I didn't enjoy it, but others might.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Body horror, Confinement, Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Self harm, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

leneso_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Obsessing, cruel and dark…and also magical and romantic ! I really liked it, I absolutely love the writing style of Ava Reid. This was a challenging read though because it was so dark.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Blood

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This book sits at the exact intersection of dark fairytale and gothic horror. I absolutely loved it and will definitely be reading Ava Reid’s other books! You will love this if you enjoy gothic atmospheres, monstrous women, unreliable narrators and a bit of body horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Gore

Moderate: Alcohol, Antisemitism, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Body horror, Body shaming, Grief, Vomit, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Pedophilia

Minor: Infertility, Gun violence, and Incest

emmablue's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, and Vomit

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Animal death