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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
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
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2,5
„Dark fairytale”, która jest jednak trochę zbyt edgy jak na moje gusta. Czytając po raz trzeci o fantazji z odcinaniem sutków sekatorem miałam ochotę odłożyć czytnik.
„Dark fairytale”, która jest jednak trochę zbyt edgy jak na moje gusta. Czytając po raz trzeci o fantazji z odcinaniem sutków sekatorem miałam ochotę odłożyć czytnik.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I have really mixed feelings on this one.
I was super hooked from the beginning and thought I was going to love this book. But the plot got kind of muddled for me? I know there’s a mystery element, but I was left at the end going, “but wait, what? Why did ____?” About too many elements. The ending was ultimately not super satisfying to me.
I also take some issue with the love story in this one. It reads just a little too “fall in love to fix your trauma” to me.
Also, the breast imagery in the back half of the book felt a bit overdone. I get what Ava Reid was going for, and there were a lot of interesting themes of womanhood, sexuality, and abuse, but it felt like the main character was just seeing the entire world through the lens of her breasts by the end…
I was super hooked from the beginning and thought I was going to love this book. But the plot got kind of muddled for me? I know there’s a mystery element, but I was left at the end going, “but wait, what? Why did ____?” About too many elements. The ending was ultimately not super satisfying to me.
I also take some issue with the love story in this one. It reads just a little too “fall in love to fix your trauma” to me.
Also, the breast imagery in the back half of the book felt a bit overdone. I get what Ava Reid was going for, and there were a lot of interesting themes of womanhood, sexuality, and abuse, but it felt like the main character was just seeing the entire world through the lens of her breasts by the end…
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“He pushed himself onto the first step and held out his hand. Only a witch wouldn’t have taken it. A real witch, like Titka Whiskers, or the various extinct forest hags who ministered to motherless girls. It was not yet three, and I was still a feather-haired maiden under the peeled-apple moon, so I threaded our fingers and let him pull me up into the carriage after him.”
First published: 21/06/22
Genre: Gothic horror, fantasy, fairytale retelling
Page count: 368
Format read: 📱
Others read by this author: The Wolf & the Woodsman, Lady Macbeth, Fable for the End of the World
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
A gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree, Juniper & Thorn sees sisters Undine, Rosenrot & Marlinchen attempt to escape the dominion of their abusive wizard father. Set in the same world as The Wolf & the Woodsman, Juniper & Thorn contains many of the same folkloric & magical elements, whilst also exploring darker real-world elements such as antisemitism & xenophobia, child abuse, & purity culture. The settings are vividly described, the industrial town contrasting with the lush wildness of the sisters' ramshackle house & garden full of monsters. The characters are beautiful & tragic, particularly the alcoholic prima ballerina Sevas who captures Marlinchen's heart. Reid's writing is beautiful for its inclusion of gory detail, the juxtaposition of viscera described as architecture or fine clothing ("I cut the sinew from the cathedral of its ribcage and carved out its stomach", "sinew draped from the scaffolding of its bones like a corset undone") in a way perfectly befitting a Brothers Grimm fairytale.
First published: 21/06/22
Genre: Gothic horror, fantasy, fairytale retelling
Page count: 368
Format read: 📱
Others read by this author: The Wolf & the Woodsman, Lady Macbeth, Fable for the End of the World
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
A gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree, Juniper & Thorn sees sisters Undine, Rosenrot & Marlinchen attempt to escape the dominion of their abusive wizard father. Set in the same world as The Wolf & the Woodsman, Juniper & Thorn contains many of the same folkloric & magical elements, whilst also exploring darker real-world elements such as antisemitism & xenophobia, child abuse, & purity culture. The settings are vividly described, the industrial town contrasting with the lush wildness of the sisters' ramshackle house & garden full of monsters. The characters are beautiful & tragic, particularly the alcoholic prima ballerina Sevas who captures Marlinchen's heart. Reid's writing is beautiful for its inclusion of gory detail, the juxtaposition of viscera described as architecture or fine clothing ("I cut the sinew from the cathedral of its ribcage and carved out its stomach", "sinew draped from the scaffolding of its bones like a corset undone") in a way perfectly befitting a Brothers Grimm fairytale.
such a solid start, loved the atmospheric descriptions and the set up of witches and wizard in a “modern-day” context. as the story progressed, i felt less and less confident of where it would take me. tbh the climax was a bit lackluster and predictable but i enjoyed the “happily ever after” fairy tale ending
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As much as I looked forward to reading this story, I found it fell just short of my expectations.
Here's what worked for me in this story:
-the vibes were immaculate, like this book is perfect for you mood readers when you're looking for something a little dark, with some dirt rubbed in for flavor.
-sister stories are my sh*t, especially when they're creepy sisters
-Isn't the true horror of being a woman the fact that men feel it's their place to tell us when we're pure or not? Love that we're taking this classic story and remixing it to talk about the true horror and trauma that comes from abuse.
-monsters? say less
Here's what didn't work for me:
-the obsessive instalove between our main character and the love interest was...convenient. Too convenient.
-I didn't love that the sisters didn't really feel like sisters after a certain point.
-it's a little too dark that just felt like it was dark for novelty and shock factor.
-the overall story to me was kind of underwhelming. Just kind of meh. *shrug*
c/w: sexual abuse, family member abuse, death, pedophilia, body horror, sex
Here's what worked for me in this story:
-the vibes were immaculate, like this book is perfect for you mood readers when you're looking for something a little dark, with some dirt rubbed in for flavor.
-sister stories are my sh*t, especially when they're creepy sisters
-Isn't the true horror of being a woman the fact that men feel it's their place to tell us when we're pure or not? Love that we're taking this classic story and remixing it to talk about the true horror and trauma that comes from abuse.
-monsters? say less
Here's what didn't work for me:
-the obsessive instalove between our main character and the love interest was...convenient. Too convenient.
-I didn't love that the sisters didn't really feel like sisters after a certain point.
-it's a little too dark that just felt like it was dark for novelty and shock factor.
-the overall story to me was kind of underwhelming. Just kind of meh. *shrug*
c/w: sexual abuse, family member abuse, death, pedophilia, body horror, sex