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A review by lizabethstucker
Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid
Did not finish book. Stopped at 28%.
1.0
An ARC picked up at the Martin County Library System's Book Swap (they're B-A-C-K!). Publication date moved from May to June 2022.
Marlinchen and her two older sisters, all witches, are tightly controlled by their wizard father, a man cursed by his last rival to never be satisfied. Despite his best efforts, the young women have been slipping out of the house to attend the local theater in the Russian town of Oblya. This time they convince Marlinchen to accompany them, starting a flame of love and rebellion in her heart.
At the ballet, Marlinchen becomes fascinated with the ballet's lead dancer Sevastyan Rezkin. She also overhears talk about a monster killing people. While her sisters dismiss the gossip as nonsense, it appears to be more.
Writing a synopsis for this book was tough, to be honest. Before I get into my thoughts about what I did read, we need to discuss SOME of the content warnings. And there are many.
CONTENT WARNINGS: child abuse (physical, emotional, & sexual); self-harm and suicide fixation; eating disorders; racism; antisemitism; animal & creature abuse; eating disorders; gore.
I have to admit that I hesitated before picking this book up. The cover was intriguing, but the description of being "gothic horror" gave me pause. I have read (and enjoyed) gothic horror in the past, but it is a difficult type of story to do successfully. I should've trusted my gut.
Other readers may not agree with me, especially if you consider the number of five star ratings on Goodreads, but I found the characterization to be childish, shallow, and sexually focused in a bad way. Oh, and there's a serial killer?
It is incredibly slow moving. And this is from someone who read and adored "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky! I never read the author's previous book, so I went in with no expectations other than to possibly find an interesting retelling of a fairy tale that I was unacquainted with.
I have no regrets over DNF'ing this as I wasn't even tempted to flip to the end to see what happened. And that, my fellow readers, is telling!
Marlinchen and her two older sisters, all witches, are tightly controlled by their wizard father, a man cursed by his last rival to never be satisfied. Despite his best efforts, the young women have been slipping out of the house to attend the local theater in the Russian town of Oblya. This time they convince Marlinchen to accompany them, starting a flame of love and rebellion in her heart.
At the ballet, Marlinchen becomes fascinated with the ballet's lead dancer Sevastyan Rezkin. She also overhears talk about a monster killing people. While her sisters dismiss the gossip as nonsense, it appears to be more.
Writing a synopsis for this book was tough, to be honest. Before I get into my thoughts about what I did read, we need to discuss SOME of the content warnings. And there are many.
CONTENT WARNINGS: child abuse (physical, emotional, & sexual); self-harm and suicide fixation; eating disorders; racism; antisemitism; animal & creature abuse; eating disorders; gore.
I have to admit that I hesitated before picking this book up. The cover was intriguing, but the description of being "gothic horror" gave me pause. I have read (and enjoyed) gothic horror in the past, but it is a difficult type of story to do successfully. I should've trusted my gut.
Other readers may not agree with me, especially if you consider the number of five star ratings on Goodreads, but I found the characterization to be childish, shallow, and sexually focused in a bad way. Oh, and there's a serial killer?
It is incredibly slow moving. And this is from someone who read and adored "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky! I never read the author's previous book, so I went in with no expectations other than to possibly find an interesting retelling of a fairy tale that I was unacquainted with.
I have no regrets over DNF'ing this as I wasn't even tempted to flip to the end to see what happened. And that, my fellow readers, is telling!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, and Gaslighting