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mushytoads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
jennicajackson's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
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
4.5
kenziesocks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
singhmachine's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
lara_bk's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
katherineguild35's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
lyssaczernek's review against another edition
3.5
3.5 stars - Juniper and Thorn is an extremely dark and grotesque retelling; it did a great job emphasizing the horrors of abuse and the lengths abusers will go to in order to feel control. I felt like the middle section if the novel was a little bit slow, I could have used more drama. Especially because of how much drama is an innate part of this storytelling! I loved the ending and almost wish it had been drawn out a little bit longer, there could have been more to explore! Finally, I saw a review saying they thought Marlinchen was more of a removed narrator and therefore the story fell flat for them. I agree with this, I wish we had gotten a deeper look into her head. This is the perfect book if you’re looking for something macabre!
Thank you to Edelweiss for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Edelweiss for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
spacesheppard's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
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
3.0
There are aspects of this book that I enjoyed. But at the end I was tired of it. Everyone is horrible to each other and the word "breasts" has no business to pop up as much as it does. Main character has no personality for the most of the book. There is insta love and I can't tell one thing that they like about each other, except that they find each other attractive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, and Body horror
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Vomit, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence
Minor: Sexual assault
ameliethemoomin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
nataliestorozhenko's review against another edition
2.0
It was not a bad read, but it was not the best. The writing and the gothic horror aesthetics are horrifyingly beautiful. Would I want to revisit this story? Definitely no.
There is a charm to this story as I certainly enjoy gothic romances. But I guess I am more of a classic gothic stories lover, more subtle in their horrors and with a healthy dose of disturbing topics. This book has it all and too much - sexual abuse, cannibalism, rape, pedophilia, self-harm, emotional and physical abuse by family members, bulimia, gruesome deaths, and so much more. As you can see, the author wanted to put it all in. So at some point, I noticed that it was not so much for the sake of the plot but to impress a reader with disturbing images as much as possible. And for me, it doesn't speak of a great craft. It is much more compelling to read something so ghastly only if it's important to the plot and character development. But there is no real meaning. We meet broken characters, and they're constantly traumatized just for the sake of being traumatized.
The romance in this book is very mid. I find it difficult to see such devotion from a ballet dancer who constantly talked about other women and how fast he fell in love with Marlinchen just because she offered him help when he was vomiting and being drunk as a skunk. It was not bad, and maybe someone finds their relationship charming, especially in the epilogue when they knew how to comfort each other. But I didn't have enough time with them within the pages to believe it.
The chaotic and indescribable magic system hooked me in this book. It reminded me of some of my favorite Ghibli movies. You can not grasp logic of it, and you're just curious how it will work out.
Although based on Grimm's tale "The Juniper Tree," there's no doubt that the whole premise and all the names of the streets, food, and so on are borrowed from one famous imperialistic sadistic country - russia. I can see how the story of Bogatyr Ivan has inspired the story and all the logic behind the street names and stuff. But what disturbed me as Ukrainian - is that some of the names like "mlyntsi", "titka" and so on are borrowed from the Ukrainian language. It may not be a big deal, but it was irritating. I imagine that the foreign reader would deem all of these references russian. But in fact, please know that "mlyntsi" is a Ukrainian dish, well, "varenyky" too. But that's a whole another topic on cultural appropriation and thievery. And if the author wanted to put a russian-inspired twist to the story, a simple check using Google Translate could have omitted these faults.
Overall, it is just fair to answer this simple question - did I enjoy the book? I don't think so. I guess this approach of violence for the sake of violence is not my cup of tea. Would I recommend it to anyone who loves horror? Also no. Because there's horror, and there's just pure abuse.
There is a charm to this story as I certainly enjoy gothic romances. But I guess I am more of a classic gothic stories lover, more subtle in their horrors and with a healthy dose of disturbing topics. This book has it all and too much - sexual abuse, cannibalism, rape, pedophilia, self-harm, emotional and physical abuse by family members, bulimia, gruesome deaths, and so much more. As you can see, the author wanted to put it all in. So at some point, I noticed that it was not so much for the sake of the plot but to impress a reader with disturbing images as much as possible. And for me, it doesn't speak of a great craft. It is much more compelling to read something so ghastly only if it's important to the plot and character development. But there is no real meaning. We meet broken characters, and they're constantly traumatized just for the sake of being traumatized.
The romance in this book is very mid. I find it difficult to see such devotion from a ballet dancer who constantly talked about other women and how fast he fell in love with Marlinchen just because she offered him help when he was vomiting and being drunk as a skunk. It was not bad, and maybe someone finds their relationship charming, especially in the epilogue when they knew how to comfort each other. But I didn't have enough time with them within the pages to believe it.
The chaotic and indescribable magic system hooked me in this book. It reminded me of some of my favorite Ghibli movies. You can not grasp logic of it, and you're just curious how it will work out.
Although based on Grimm's tale "The Juniper Tree," there's no doubt that the whole premise and all the names of the streets, food, and so on are borrowed from one famous imperialistic sadistic country - russia. I can see how the story of Bogatyr Ivan has inspired the story and all the logic behind the street names and stuff. But what disturbed me as Ukrainian - is that some of the names like "mlyntsi", "titka" and so on are borrowed from the Ukrainian language. It may not be a big deal, but it was irritating. I imagine that the foreign reader would deem all of these references russian. But in fact, please know that "mlyntsi" is a Ukrainian dish, well, "varenyky" too. But that's a whole another topic on cultural appropriation and thievery. And if the author wanted to put a russian-inspired twist to the story, a simple check using Google Translate could have omitted these faults.
Overall, it is just fair to answer this simple question - did I enjoy the book? I don't think so. I guess this approach of violence for the sake of violence is not my cup of tea. Would I recommend it to anyone who loves horror? Also no. Because there's horror, and there's just pure abuse.