A review by yomireads
Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Juniper and Thorn takes a dark magic based world and confronts far darker realities of abuse. The story opens with a catalyst event for our MC, Marlinchen as she and her sisters venture out of their home and she experiences life outside the borders of her home. As the story unfolds from their we glean how Marlinchen has adapted to a hostile environment, and glimpse the ways her sisters have done the same in their own ways. Relationships and the way trauma affects them are shown through her eyes, and observed as she learns more of her sisters, who are often kept at arms length from each other. 

This is a well conceived and deeply disturbing story that's intoxicatingly written. Each plot reveal was loaded with expecting foreshadowing, and by the end I was utterly speechless at the reveals. Well worth the read.

My drawbacks play into my personal tastes and aversions. From the first chapter sex plays a much larger part in the story than I anticipated. And while the story does explore romance to some degree it's done as a means of allowing for character growth and insight to their traumas. Even so I always have a difficult time when a book ventures down this plotline. Additionally, I was expecting something a bit more magic heavy, and was deeply intrigued by the different types of magic each sister possessed. I was disappointed not to get more of it.
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