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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
As expected, the writing was beautiful.
I adored the characters and the story was so dark and gritty yet it was able to also be soft and romantic at times. It dealt with some heavy topics translated into fantasy which made them easier to process. The ending was a bit confusing which is why I’m not giving this a 5 star but overall amazing story!
I adored the characters and the story was so dark and gritty yet it was able to also be soft and romantic at times. It dealt with some heavy topics translated into fantasy which made them easier to process. The ending was a bit confusing which is why I’m not giving this a 5 star but overall amazing story!
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
hopeful
sad
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
Wow, this book was a lot. Definitely check trigger warnings before reading. Great book, just very heavy.
was this good? not really but i did gulp it down like a man dying of thirst in the desert
A strange retelling of The Juniper Tree, Ava Reid re-imagines the story of Marlinchen, a character in the Brothers Grimm fairy tale.
I went into this story after re-reading The Juniper Tree. I had grown up reading Brothers Grimm fairy tales, I knew their world well. The traditional air and style of folk stories was captured by Ava Reid as well as the cruelty, violence and sexuality that are strongly present in the Grimm fairy tales. Their tales have been censored and re-imaged multiple times even by Disney (see Cinderella, Rapunzel, The Frog Prince, Snow White), but it is nice to see the gothic and romantic aspect reintroduced. Still, I would not call this a retelling of The Juniper Tree. Marlinchen is a character present in both stories, the juniper tree is there. That is all.
This is a book about the transition between magic and industry, about the struggles of letting go of the old and embracing the new. It sits at the corner stone of the industrial revolution. It is also a story about abuse and survival. It has been a long time since I had seen a character as wicked and vile as Zmiy Vashchenko. I hated him, I hated the emotional and mental abuse he threw at Marlinchen, but even more, I hated he made his other daughters accomplices.
Alike the fairy tales, some characters are well formed, while some are there just to serve a purpose: the evil sisters, the doctor. I feel like the love story added served too much purpose for the plot and Sevas almost felt like a savior for Marlinchen. The book tried to show that they were saving each other, but it made Marlinchen too attached to this boy and this boy too smart for what he really was.
There were moments when the book dragged and it hung to details to small to matter and it left some things in the open, some aspects that were too big to ignore. While the book does have a satisfying ending, it does leave a lot of unanswered questions.
I found this book to be both satisfying and utterly frustrating. I think it is a great feat for a story to do both. I would recommend it to fans of gothic stories, but not to those who like fairy tale retellings. If you have read Brothers Grimm, do not go into this thinking it is them. While chilling, Juniper and Thorn stands on its own, without the heavy legacy of the story it tries to cling to. It would be better for the story and for the readers to back away from the folk tale.
I went into this story after re-reading The Juniper Tree. I had grown up reading Brothers Grimm fairy tales, I knew their world well. The traditional air and style of folk stories was captured by Ava Reid as well as the cruelty, violence and sexuality that are strongly present in the Grimm fairy tales. Their tales have been censored and re-imaged multiple times even by Disney (see Cinderella, Rapunzel, The Frog Prince, Snow White), but it is nice to see the gothic and romantic aspect reintroduced. Still, I would not call this a retelling of The Juniper Tree. Marlinchen is a character present in both stories, the juniper tree is there. That is all.
This is a book about the transition between magic and industry, about the struggles of letting go of the old and embracing the new. It sits at the corner stone of the industrial revolution. It is also a story about abuse and survival. It has been a long time since I had seen a character as wicked and vile as Zmiy Vashchenko. I hated him, I hated the emotional and mental abuse he threw at Marlinchen, but even more, I hated he made his other daughters accomplices.
Spoiler
I found it even more harrowing how the other girls managed to spill their fear and hate over their younger sister and just close a blind eye, how they simply claimed survival as their shield. It is obvious from the beginning that some of his magic is fake and that he is a charlatan, using his title as wizard as a way to abuse his children.Alike the fairy tales, some characters are well formed, while some are there just to serve a purpose: the evil sisters, the doctor. I feel like the love story added served too much purpose for the plot and Sevas almost felt like a savior for Marlinchen. The book tried to show that they were saving each other, but it made Marlinchen too attached to this boy and this boy too smart for what he really was.
There were moments when the book dragged and it hung to details to small to matter and it left some things in the open, some aspects that were too big to ignore. While the book does have a satisfying ending, it does leave a lot of unanswered questions.
I found this book to be both satisfying and utterly frustrating. I think it is a great feat for a story to do both. I would recommend it to fans of gothic stories, but not to those who like fairy tale retellings. If you have read Brothers Grimm, do not go into this thinking it is them. While chilling, Juniper and Thorn stands on its own, without the heavy legacy of the story it tries to cling to. It would be better for the story and for the readers to back away from the folk tale.
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense