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A review by theodenreads
Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Juniper & Thorn is a haunting and folkloric tale that grapples with themes of trauma and abuse while building up a darkly alluring romance.
Content Warnings: abuse, alcoholism, animal cruelty, antisemitism, blood, body horror, cannibalism, eating disorder, emotional abuse, gaslighting, gore, murder, racism, self-harm and self-harm ideation, sexual assault, sexual content, pedophilia, vomit, xenophobia
Feel free to let me know if anything else should be added to the content warnings, as it’s very likely I could have forgotten something!
Generally, I tack content warnings onto the end of my reviews, however given how dark and graphic this story is, I thought it would be best to start with those! Don’t get me wrong, the author approached the topics explored with care, however it was dark enough that even I got squeamish (which is very rare for me). Please be careful going into this story as there are very graphic depictions of blood and gore, cannibalism, disordered eating, emotional abuse, and vomit, and many of the other CWs I listed are also very present throughout the book.
Now that that’s out of the way, onto the rest of my review!
Ava Reid masterfully depicts a slavic inspired fantasy in Juniper & Thorn (and it’s to my knowledge that it takes place within the same universe as The Wolf and the Woodsman, although I have yet to read that). The worldbuilding was lush and the atmosphere pulled me in from the very first chapter. The dark atmosphere of Reid’s writing alone is almost enough to make me pick up The Wolf and the Woodsman!
All of the protagonists introduced had a ton of trauma, and their trauma is a heavy theme throughout the story (see CWs). They all dealt with (or didn’t deal with) it in different ways, and their experiences were all so incredibly complex, but they were also handled with care. One of the main reasons I didn’t give this story a full 4 stars is that, although I felt for them and wanted them to come out on top, I ultimately didn’t find myself being incredibly enamored with any of the leads.
The other reason I didn’t give this a full 4 was because of the sexual content. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love love love exploring themes of sexuality in stories, whether it’s through fantasy or romance or erotica. That being said, the way it was explored in this story just… didn’t hit any of the right notes for me. From the very first chapter, the main character is lusting over the love interest, and normally I don’t have a problem with insta-love/insta-lust, but the way it was written felt very objectifying. People joke about how horribly men write women, but this almost read as the opposite end of the spectrum, and it was very off-putting for me. There were also a few points where something very dark or serious would be happening, only for it to cut to Marlinchen’s thoughts being about the love interest’s body and or sex–and there was also a random sex scene in the middle of an otherwise very tense moment, which just completely threw me out of the story for a moment. There was also quite a bit of sexual descriptions of Marlinchen’s sisters, which was uncomfortable to read, and there were a few points where it felt almost borderline incesty.
Overall, Ava Reid crafted a great horror story, filled with dark characters and an alluring romance (although I could have done without some of those descriptions). For fans of dark fantasy and slavic inspired worldbuilding, I would definitely recommend this. I loved the world building and the tense atmosphere, there were just a few spots that didn’t hit the right notes for me personally.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings: abuse, alcoholism, animal cruelty, antisemitism, blood, body horror, cannibalism, eating disorder, emotional abuse, gaslighting, gore, murder, racism, self-harm and self-harm ideation, sexual assault, sexual content, pedophilia, vomit, xenophobia
Feel free to let me know if anything else should be added to the content warnings, as it’s very likely I could have forgotten something!
Generally, I tack content warnings onto the end of my reviews, however given how dark and graphic this story is, I thought it would be best to start with those! Don’t get me wrong, the author approached the topics explored with care, however it was dark enough that even I got squeamish (which is very rare for me). Please be careful going into this story as there are very graphic depictions of blood and gore, cannibalism, disordered eating, emotional abuse, and vomit, and many of the other CWs I listed are also very present throughout the book.
Now that that’s out of the way, onto the rest of my review!
Ava Reid masterfully depicts a slavic inspired fantasy in Juniper & Thorn (and it’s to my knowledge that it takes place within the same universe as The Wolf and the Woodsman, although I have yet to read that). The worldbuilding was lush and the atmosphere pulled me in from the very first chapter. The dark atmosphere of Reid’s writing alone is almost enough to make me pick up The Wolf and the Woodsman!
All of the protagonists introduced had a ton of trauma, and their trauma is a heavy theme throughout the story (see CWs). They all dealt with (or didn’t deal with) it in different ways, and their experiences were all so incredibly complex, but they were also handled with care. One of the main reasons I didn’t give this story a full 4 stars is that, although I felt for them and wanted them to come out on top, I ultimately didn’t find myself being incredibly enamored with any of the leads.
The other reason I didn’t give this a full 4 was because of the sexual content. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love love love exploring themes of sexuality in stories, whether it’s through fantasy or romance or erotica. That being said, the way it was explored in this story just… didn’t hit any of the right notes for me. From the very first chapter, the main character is lusting over the love interest, and normally I don’t have a problem with insta-love/insta-lust, but the way it was written felt very objectifying. People joke about how horribly men write women, but this almost read as the opposite end of the spectrum, and it was very off-putting for me. There were also a few points where something very dark or serious would be happening, only for it to cut to Marlinchen’s thoughts being about the love interest’s body and or sex–and there was also a random sex scene in the middle of an otherwise very tense moment, which just completely threw me out of the story for a moment. There was also quite a bit of sexual descriptions of Marlinchen’s sisters, which was uncomfortable to read, and there were a few points where it felt almost borderline incesty.
Overall, Ava Reid crafted a great horror story, filled with dark characters and an alluring romance (although I could have done without some of those descriptions). For fans of dark fantasy and slavic inspired worldbuilding, I would definitely recommend this. I loved the world building and the tense atmosphere, there were just a few spots that didn’t hit the right notes for me personally.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Vomit, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Blood, Xenophobia, Gore, Sexual assault, and Body horror
Moderate: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Racism, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, and Suicidal thoughts