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A review by analenegrace
Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Read for the November Guild Fantasy Book Club meeting at Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, LA.
This was a super engaging read I could not put down, and I read it all in one sitting. Twisted or retold fairytales are one of my favorite genres, and Ava Reid did a fantastic job with this dark, horror-esque story.
I really enjoyed the actual bones of this story, and I think it's a very powerful good for her story. It hit especially close to home, as we met for book club on election night. Marlinchen is mistreated, manipulated, sexually assaulted, and lied to by everyone in her life until she takes it into her own hands and begins to handle things herself. I think a woman making her own path is powerful and wonderful no matter the story.
My criticisms of this book mostly lie in how Reid changed the names of things, such as Russia and Judaism, but kept them in their place and used language like Tsar and Tsarina, which don't exist outside their context. Additionally, it was hard to tell where this book fell on capitalism and Jewish people, and I don't particularly appreciate when opinions on those things feel up in the air.
Altogether, this was a super interesting read and a very fun book club, and I will be reading more of Reid's twisted fairytales!
Best Line: "I imagined each one giving my arm a gentle squeeze, telling me that I had been brave, so brave and strong, to have lived in the same house as these monsters all my life."
This was a super engaging read I could not put down, and I read it all in one sitting. Twisted or retold fairytales are one of my favorite genres, and Ava Reid did a fantastic job with this dark, horror-esque story.
I really enjoyed the actual bones of this story, and I think it's a very powerful good for her story. It hit especially close to home, as we met for book club on election night. Marlinchen is mistreated, manipulated, sexually assaulted, and lied to by everyone in her life until she takes it into her own hands and begins to handle things herself. I think a woman making her own path is powerful and wonderful no matter the story.
My criticisms of this book mostly lie in how Reid changed the names of things, such as Russia and Judaism, but kept them in their place and used language like Tsar and Tsarina, which don't exist outside their context. Additionally, it was hard to tell where this book fell on capitalism and Jewish people, and I don't particularly appreciate when opinions on those things feel up in the air.
Altogether, this was a super interesting read and a very fun book club, and I will be reading more of Reid's twisted fairytales!
Best Line: "I imagined each one giving my arm a gentle squeeze, telling me that I had been brave, so brave and strong, to have lived in the same house as these monsters all my life."