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A review by clovetra
Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
oh ava reid. i was hoping that lady macbeth was a fluke, where the issues with the text were an issue confined to that novel alone. sadly i was proved wrong with this. i find that a lot of the issues i had with this novel are issues i had with lady macbeth.
for one, marlinchen has almost no discernible personality, and the same goes for every other character. they are stripped down to a few defining traits. undine? mean. the father? mean. sevas? wants more in life. marlinchen? obedient. really nothing else about them existed, which meant i couldn’t care less about what was affecting them.
the plot twists were incredibly predictable, and not fleshed out properly. not only did we have the main story about marlinchen and the ballet, but then we had all the murders, and the minute the first death was introduced i already knew who was behind it. i certainly didn’t guess why, but even then the explanation was weak. at times it felt like the text completely forgot it introduced the murder plot line, where the book would go pages without bringing it up. that plot point felt like it only had a beginning and an ending; it popped up when necessary and was resolved incredibly quickly. the plot point surrounding marlinchen at the end felt like it came out of left field, and made no sense within the text. it almost felt like it was introduced to have a revenge plot for marlinchen, but instead it felt out of place in the text. sure this is a story about witches and the magic used at this point felt like it fit in universe, but to me it didn’t feel like it fit tonally. marlinchen’s character growth also feels like it literally happens within the blink of an eye, and one moment she is an obedient daughter, and i blinked and now she’s almost done a complete 180 with her character.
the book also repeats itself so often with its dialogue. it feels like i was running in circles reading the same thing — her father is hungry, she goes to the ballet, sevas’ handler is angry, her father is angry, she’s never going to go back home, she goes back home, she’s leaving home forever, she returns home, on and on and on. every time a topic was brought back up again nothing was added to further the story, so instead i felt like i’d made no progress in the book and was over reading the same passage just worded slightly differently.
i’ll say i did enjoy reading this. i did want to know what happened next. but i won’t say i was particularly gripped or worried for the characters, because i wasn’t. honestly i just wanted to see what was going to happen, if the book would improve. i will say though, i was invested in finding out the “why” of the murders, and how sevas & marlinchen’s relationship progressed, and that was enough for me to have a decent time reading this.
i think ill try and read two more reid novels, but after that i think i will move on, as im not particularly live laugh loving.
for one, marlinchen has almost no discernible personality, and the same goes for every other character. they are stripped down to a few defining traits. undine? mean. the father? mean. sevas? wants more in life. marlinchen? obedient. really nothing else about them existed, which meant i couldn’t care less about what was affecting them.
the plot twists were incredibly predictable, and not fleshed out properly. not only did we have the main story about marlinchen and the ballet, but then we had all the murders, and the minute the first death was introduced i already knew who was behind it. i certainly didn’t guess why, but even then the explanation was weak. at times it felt like the text completely forgot it introduced the murder plot line, where the book would go pages without bringing it up. that plot point felt like it only had a beginning and an ending; it popped up when necessary and was resolved incredibly quickly. the plot point surrounding marlinchen at the end felt like it came out of left field, and made no sense within the text. it almost felt like it was introduced to have a revenge plot for marlinchen, but instead it felt out of place in the text. sure this is a story about witches and the magic used at this point felt like it fit in universe, but to me it didn’t feel like it fit tonally. marlinchen’s character growth also feels like it literally happens within the blink of an eye, and one moment she is an obedient daughter, and i blinked and now she’s almost done a complete 180 with her character.
the book also repeats itself so often with its dialogue. it feels like i was running in circles reading the same thing — her father is hungry, she goes to the ballet, sevas’ handler is angry, her father is angry, she’s never going to go back home, she goes back home, she’s leaving home forever, she returns home, on and on and on. every time a topic was brought back up again nothing was added to further the story, so instead i felt like i’d made no progress in the book and was over reading the same passage just worded slightly differently.
i’ll say i did enjoy reading this. i did want to know what happened next. but i won’t say i was particularly gripped or worried for the characters, because i wasn’t. honestly i just wanted to see what was going to happen, if the book would improve. i will say though, i was invested in finding out the “why” of the murders, and how sevas & marlinchen’s relationship progressed, and that was enough for me to have a decent time reading this.
i think ill try and read two more reid novels, but after that i think i will move on, as im not particularly live laugh loving.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Abortion