Juniper & Thorn

The constant sexualisation of the characters, both in the narration and the roles in the story bothered me a lot. I do not like reading constantly about nipples and puckering lips and all that shit. I also disliked all the characters, they all had descriptions that did not match up with the way they were written. We are constantly reminded that Marlinchen is dumb and Rose and Undine are so fucking smart. I have not seen them do a single smart thing until the last 30 pages. 

I didn't like the ending either. It felt like nothing happened until the last couple of pages. It was no plot but also not really good character arcs or anything. It felt a little like an empty shell. It really threw me into a reading slump. 

this is it – this is THE gothic fantasy novel

as a past avid fan of gothics, i was immediately pulled into this story. it had all the classic elements of a gothic novel paired with beautiful prose and storytelling that ava reid simply excels at. and it also has this whole gorgeous “just two kids healing from trauma” part to it that makes this gothic story stand out amongst the rest

additionally, while i predicted the plot twist, i did not completely predict the whole story and that was extremely pleasing, especially as the last 50 pages of the book unfolded. extremely satisfying ending that sweeps up every little crumb left throughout the book well

... now how long do i have to wait until the next ava reid book?

This book was a very disconcerting experience. This is entirely on myself and my experiences in life however. If you are a victim of sexual assault, be careful going into this book, it was a struggle to turn the page sometimes. Despite all this I believe the book to be rather good. I did, after all push myself through to the end.

First, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

In this retelling of The Juniper Tree, we follow the youngest of three sister. Their father is a wizard who has had a curse put on him. He has an insatiable hunger and can't feel love for his three daughters. Each of the daughters has their own magical power which he exploits to bring in money for their family. When the youngest daughter, Marlinchen, goes to the city and meets a dancer, a romance ensues.

This book is very dark and graphic. It is definitely a horror story. I want to preface this whole review by saying there should've been trigger warnings provided by NetGalley and the publisher. There are a lot of graphic scenes in this book. I will list trigger warnings below.

I really liked the fantastical story telling devices used in this book. I've always liked a dark fairy tale, and this fit the bill. It was so atmospheric and scary. However, I really feel like the entire story was over-sexualized. There was so much emphasis on nipples and boobs, like constantly. A lot of it was really hard to read. I think that that was probably the author's intent, but it was still tough. I felt like we could've cut back on some of the sexualization and the story would've still be successful.

This story definitely isn't for the faint of heart. I really did enjoy the story and the ending, but please go into this with caution.

TW: gore, body horror, child sexual abuse, incest, cannibalism, antisemitism, xenophobia, scientific racism, physical and psychological abuse by family members, gaslighting, self-harm and suicidal ideation, bulimia, graphic descriptions of vomiting, animal death

“My eldest sister was right; I would smile blithely if someone tried to saw off my leg. But no one ever told me I was allowed to scream”

This book was so dark and twisted but surprisingly addictive. The prose emanates pure beauty and I immensely enjoyed this gothic, atmospheric fairytale. If you love unique retellings, horror, and witchy themes then you'll enjoy this. However, I can't stress enough how dark this book was, not your standard NA fantasy.

Rating: 2.88 leaves out of 5-Characters: 3/5 -Cover: 3/5-Story: 2.5/5-Writing: 5/5Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Gothic, Retelling, Romance-Horror: 0/5-Fantasy: 4/5-Gothic: 2.5/5-Romance: 3/5Type: AudiobookWorth?: EhHated Disliked Meh It Was Okay Liked Really Liked LovedLook at a beige wall, now look at this book. You will find there is nothing different between the two. I was waiting and waiting for something to happen and when it did I was just like, “okay.” Disappointment can't even describe how I feel. And don't even get me started on that ending.

I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I didn't really like it. Even though it's only 368 pages, it still felt way too long. I think I would've enjoyed it more as a novella.

I enjoyed the folklore and that's about it. I didn't care about the characters. I was just bored.

I received a copy from Net Galley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

dnf @ 58%

I went into this knowing about the animal mutilation but was unaware of the eating disorder and sexual abuse. Completely my fault for not looking up trigger warnings for this book, but I felt like the depictions were harmful and thrown in there to make this book “edgy” and so it could push limits. I had problems with this author's other book, The Wolf and the Woodsman, and I definitely will not be picking up any of their books in the future.

I really enjoyed this book and I definitely recommend it if you're interested. 

I felt that the characters were well-developed: each had their own unique characters and the decisions they made were sensible for their context. The world itself was also quite vidid in detail. The central story is satisfying and unique, and an accurate portrayal of the feelings, thoughts and emotions that victims of abuse experience (e.g. shame, guilt, love, remorse, hatred, anger, etc.), and the complex interplay between each.

The kinda novel that grows you as a person. Well worth the time. 

My only gripe was I felt that the author was building towards the main character having found new magical powers, but instead it was all explained that her father was orchestrating her memory loss and her new “powers” were, in fact, all explainable because of this. I guess it's not that kind of book though where there is an escalation in power and a final epic confrontation.

———
4/5 for writing, 4/5 for story and 4/5 for impact. 

This book is a bit strange. The writing would've been great were it not for the excessive, sometimes even irrelevant and unnecessary, use of comparative descriptions; not everything feels like something else. Odd story elements but not entirely unwarranted working in the genre of fairy tales and fables.