A review by bookleafcrow
Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

A gothic fantasy revolving around monstrous men, and the monsters they create. 

I went into Juniper and Thorn practically blind, having read Reid’s debut novel “The Wolf and the Woodsman” last year and enjoying it so much that it became one of my top reads of 2022. However, I would not advise picking up this book without knowing exactly what you’re getting yourself into. At its core, “Juniper and Thorn” is a story about abuse and striving for freedom against the odds, as well as being a retelling of the German fairy tale “The Juniper Tree”; alongside other trigger warnings listed within this review, it depicts graphic scenes of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse with little to no reprieve until the last third of the book. The main character, Marlinchen, develops at a frustratingly slow pace, and whilst this is understandable given her situation, her back-and-forth uncertainty becomes irritating towards the end. Despite being only ~300 pages, it feels much, much longer. I found myself struggling to pick it back up after reading sessions. That being said, the prose is beautiful. The world-building is claustrophobic and narrow in a way that matches the scope of the narrator, and Reid’s imagery is a vibrant gut-punch for better or worse; Juniper and Thorn’s uncomfortable atmosphere is carefully curated until it blossoms into a closing act with incredible payoff. 

Overall, “Juniper and Thorn” is as charming and alluring as it is repulsing. The characters are slightly weaker than those in Reid’s previous novel, lacking their rate of development, and the romance feels a little superficial until it very suddenly doesn’t, but the conclusion is so much stronger. It has a very satisfying ending that ties up all loose ends brilliantly. I would recommend this book to fans of Reid’s first book, fans of folklore/fairytale retellings, and gothic fantasy enjoyers; whilst I personally wouldn’t describe this book as horror for the most part, it definitely incorporates horrific elements. 


Expand filter menu Content Warnings