Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

98 reviews

coffeepotoo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

i've never fucking felt so goddamn seen by a characters (very mentally ill) thought process before. also wonderful usage of theming and prose and i read it all in one sitting and it was very excellent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Antisemitism, and Classism

tifftastic87's review against another edition

I read the main content warnings and thought I could handle this one. However, I never saw mention of all of intrusive thoughts regarding Marlinchen's body image as well as her eating disorder. Some of her thoughts are really too similar to mine about myself such as

thoughts of cutting off parts of her body that she hates

 
If you plan on reading it, look at the whole list of content warnings not just the top three. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Self harm, Grief, and Death of parent

Graphic depictions of binging and purging, graphic descriptions of intrusive thoughts of extreme self harm

snleck'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

year23's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

I'm confused by the praise I saw for this book. I think that created expectations impacting my experience. There is little plot - and I think I'd be okay with that if the character development was stronger but it was so difficult to place the main character, their wants, needs, flaws, etc. - it was all over the place (and the lack of plot and random events didn't help much in that regard). The writing - strong at times, albeit quite repetative (eg, the MC blushes every other page). Clearly an imaginative and creative writer - there were vibes galore. Bleak, gross, horny, but that is not enough for this many pages. I wanted more gothic horror - suspense, trepidation, fear, but the lack of plot and character development made it hard to feel much of anything apart from confusion or disinterest. The narrative's worldbuilding is so bleak, anything bad happening to someone is like just another day ending in y. Stakes aren't a thing with that level of bleakness, especially if the MC is ambivalent about most of it. 

There's also an amorality here that I couldn't quite grasp. It's a fairy tale - so even if it's a bleak takeaway, there's still that "ah ha" moment that didn't happen here for me. Maybe that's going too far though in my critique - and more of a reflection of what I want from a book (which has nothing to do with what the author wants to write and share!). This one walks a very fine line that I think could have been really powerful in exploring trauma and its impact given the MC's toxic (massive understatement) family and environment and instead, due to lack of plot and characterization, falls flat/rings hollow. 

A note - by amorality, I am NOT referring to the growing sexuality of the MC and how that shows up in the text. This was rather tame compared to other romance books I've read, even some YA books. Yes - words like nipples and boobs are said way more than even in your typical romance (more a writing thing than a too-scintillating thing) but to me, it felt like a key part of the MC's character's connection to their sexuality and a site of pain & awakening so that tracked. Did it read like YA? Yes - and that would be more my issue with it - it didn't feel like an adult fantasy at all apart from the horror elements, but even how those were written felt YA. Again - that's not a bad thing - but I'm not sure that's what the author was attempting. 

I would recommend this to very specific people who I know are into these vibes, as the vibes are strong but there is no plot here, the most one dimensional of characters across the board, and I think failed in telling a story about living in a traumatic family situation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

thechaoshour's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

2.0

 I’m not really sure what to think of this book. I loved that it was a dark fairy tale but the plot was messy and confusing so I never really knew where things were going. Nothing really made as much sense as it should have. I might have been able to ignore that but this book was weirdly sexual for a fairy tale. I don’t think I’ve ever read about a women’s breasts this much from a female author. It was a little weird and very off putting. I could have used some trigger warnings at the begging to prepare myself for all of it, including pedophilia. It was beautifully written but that didn’t hide the serious flaws. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

bohboh's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.0

Reid handles the delicate topics of abuse and anorexia with careful respect and grace when telling this chilling gothic horror. She capitalizes well on romance and fantasy themes to draw interesting and distinct characters. I could not put this down once I started.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Vomit, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

morgangd's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

An intense tale of trauma in dark fairy tale mode, with every trigger warning under the sun and maybe, just maybe, actually too crass. But it did move me at parts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

carolined314's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

3.0

Dark fairy tale retelling with tons of trauma

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

cepbreed's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

"People want to ruin things that are clean and new. It's no fun stamping through old dirty snow."

“You would rather me eat your heart than look away in disgust?” 
“Of course,” he breathed. “Every time.”

Ava Reid surprised me. Her detailed and atmospheric prose still hit the same sweet spots as in The Wolf and the Woodsman, but somehow Juniper & Thorn is vastly better. I'm trying desperately to pinpoint what exactly made her sophomore publication so much better and I'm not coming up with anything substantial. The characters were more compelling and I found myself falling for Sevas alongside Marlinchen. Parallelly, as she bloomed under his eye I found myself liking her more and more. Reid's worldbuilding was already impressive in The Wolf and the Woodsman, but she worked magic with an even smaller setting. Somehow constraining her descriptions to one estate (+occasional traipsing around the city) allowed her writing style to really shine. Everything flourished on the page and my immersion was heightened tenfold. Her attention to detail never fails to amaze. I'm not a dancer, but I know exactly what happens to professional dancers' feet, so her mentioning this feature of Sevas was wonderful to see. Oh my god, that exact scene was so UGH. Sevas embodies perfection, strength, and beauty. He exposed his shame to Marlinchen and she never once patronized him, only offering her unconditional acceptance no matter how stupid being insecure of your feet is when you're the principal dancer of a famous ballet.

I vanquish all reviews accusing this book of being "gross" or "overly sexualized." Those people just cannot understand how much Marlinchen means to the girls. To love someone/thing so much you need to consume it. To choose to put your head down and labor for the sake of others. To be pushed to your limits by that tolerance. If you've watched Yellowjackets you'll understand. She embodies girlhood. She is a woman forced to toil at the will of her father and thank him when he punishes her. She is looked down upon by those who are supposed to love her the most (her sisters) and still offers them only compliance. She got everything she deserved in the end and I completely stand behind her. Every woman has imagined that turning point, the one where they finally snap. Nothing was more satisfying to me than watching Marlinchen have that moment.

Ava Reid is the queen of Ethel Cain connoted books.

Songs: 

• Strangers - Ethel Cain 
• notre dame - Paris Paloma
• illicit affairs - Taylor Swift 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

Minor: Pedophilia

loumurrey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Cannibalism