This was a delightfully creepy fairytale. It reminded me a lot of the author's first book but with more angst and creepy vibes.

I finished reading Juniper & Thorn by Eva Reid on May 28th. It is now December 10th as I write this, and this horror story in the guise of dark fantasy still haunts me. Marlinchen's father is despicable, and everything she faces at his hands will turn your stomach. Yet, I cannot stop thinking about it. The trauma Marlinchen overcomes provides comfort for those struggling with their demons. However, Ms. Reid does not shy away from revealing all of her heroine's demons, so be warned. Those easily triggered by abuse in several forms, eating disorders, self-harm, blood and gore, and violence, would do well to avoid this one. For those who can stomach those triggers, what you will is a dark story that takes you to the edge before providing you a path to salvation and hope. It digs under your skin and captures your imagination so that you too can remain haunted by its feelings of despair and hope seven months after finishing it.

Thanks to NetGalley & Harper Voyager for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

An eloquent gothic horror story that's sure to give thrills and chills! This story follows the "plainest" of three daughters, an unremarkable witch living with her witchy sisters and cursed wizard father. We see her explore life and discover some unfortunate truths about her father and even her sisters.

Definitely another *DARK* fantasy by Reid--she's got a great flair for writing--don't come in expecting to find the characters sweet and wholesome. The protagonist was definitely the most fleshed out character given we see her thoughts, but I wanted to see more of the others, especially her love interest and sisters. Great read, will keep an eye on Red's future works!

I just realized that I forgot to post this sooner! This was one of my favorite books of the year! I loved "The Wolf and the Woodsman," but I might like this one more... The writing was very poetic and sucked me in right at the beginning. I adore Gothic Horror novels, and this book breathes fresh air into the genre. I loved Marlinchen and her softness, her weakness, and her desire for love. Reid writes about her traumas so delicately, which shows obvious respect for the main character. The complicated family relationships were well fleshed out and I recognized the familiar dynamics between sisters. The horror was very horrifying and at times made me feel sick to my stomach.

As a Jewish person, I appreciated Sevas' character and his casual relationship with Judaism. As a reader, I think he is one of my favorite love interests. He is interesting, and the extent to which he accepts Marlinchen is just as terrifying as it is lovely, "'You would rather me eat your heart than look away in disgust?' 'Of course,' he breathed. 'Every time.” I mean, HELLO? Man of my DREAMS!

All in all, this is one of my new all-time favorite books!

I really loved Ava Reid's debut novel and I had high hopes for this. Ultimately it was not the right book for me (at the moment). Reid does atmosphere really well but the plot here felt somewhat disjointed and I had a difficult time relating to the characters. I wouldn't mind trying another of the author's books in the future as I think this may have just been a one-off.

*eARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Not as much horror or sex as the reviews would say. I don't think it is lewd at all. Though it does say nipple a lot.

Much better than The Wolf and the Woodsman.

I finished 8 complete chapters of this novel. 8 of the 15. I really tried to push through but I couldn't. I found myself having to force myself to pick this ebook up and I couldn't do it. Having finished roughly 60% of the book this is based on that portion I did finish. I found the characters completely frustrating and unlikable. They hated their lives but did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to change that. Supposedly our main character had this revelation and secret that no one knew about that she could escape the house and get away but she was still a coward and stayed under her father's thumb and let him mistreat her and her sister's. Noone ever grew a backbone within 60% of the novel and I didn't care to read anymore.

I really enjoyed The Wolf and the Woodsman which I read in July 2021. However, Juniper and Thorn just didn’t work as well for me. I struggled to read this one, and in fact I put it down for months until I decided that I really needed to finish my ARC to finally write a review.

This is a very slow-moving book and there really isn’t a lot of plot, mainly just a lot of abuse and the main character feeling unworthy. The writing was also way more stylistic in this than in the first book, to the point where half the time I had no idea if magic was real or just a metaphor. In fact, there was quite a bit of this that was just metaphor.

I also really did not connect with the characters, and that’s something that I need in my books in order to enjoy them. They don’t necessarily need to be likable, but I do like to understand their thoughts, feelings, and motivation.

With this book being set in the same world as The Wolf and the Woodsman, there is no explanation to the social structure within this book so it’s almost a requirement to read her other book in order to fully understand the world this is set in. Throw in the fact that it’s been over a year since I read The Wolf and the Woodsman and I don’t remember much about this world. With this being a standalone set in the same world, there should’ve been more world building present in this book.

There is also a mystery of a monster killing people in the town, but there is nothing really going on with that until the very end and it was just kind of thrown in as a semblance of a plot. If someone were to ask me what exactly this book is about, I don’t even know if I would be able to describe it other than trauma and a little bit of a slapped together mystery. The first line of the synopsis also mentions the curse, and that really was just an excuse for the father to abuse all three of his daughters. I also found myself questioning if the curse was real or if the father just used it specifically to abuse his daughters.

I know from browsing through Goodreads that the author took her experiences as an abuse survivor as inspiration, I just don’t think that the execution was the best and I just couldn’t get on board with this because it was so hard for me to follow along with. because of the overly flowery writing. This entire book is trauma after trauma and can be VERY triggering so if you are going to read this, keep that in mind. Do I feel terrible that the author went through abuse? Absolutely, but that doesn’t mean I think this was a good book just because of that.

As a warning, all the relationships in this book are toxic, a lot of scenes are pretty graphic. There are graphic sex scenes, killing and dismembering of a creature (animal death), plenty of murder, cannibalism, gore and body horror, child sexual abuse and incest, antisemitism, tons of gaslighting and abuse by family members, self-harm and suicidal thoughts, bulimia with some graphic descriptions, pedophilia, sex trafficking, and also a scene including bestiality. These trigger warnings were not present in the copy that I read, and I believe a few of these were missing from the comments on Goodreads that I think would be helpful.

This just really was not a book for me and unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy reading it.

I loved the atmosphere of this book! It was a really good fairytale retelling mixing with fantasy! I always enjoy books that can do a retelling that is different than your normal one. It makes me want to read more by this author in the future.

TW: Body horror, extremely descriptive gore

Well, I really had no idea this was a horror book when I first requested it. I'm a huge scaredy cat so I don't really think my review is indicitive of what this book actually should be rated. It was evident that the author, Ava Reid has talent, her writing had beautiful prose and I found the pacing well balanced. I just couldn't get over all the gore and such descriptive details of certain vile acts. But like I said I'm not one for horror, I just liked the cover of the book, that will teach me to actually read the blurb next time!

Thank you so much to Avon Harper Voyager for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am a big fan of fairy tall retellings, especially the darker and more obscure they are. Ava Reid does not disappoint in her take of the Grimms' collected tale "The Juniper Tree." Juniper & Thorn is an exploration of abuse and survival, of trauma and memory. The book was captivating. Marlinchen and her sisters, Udine and Rose, their actively quiet rebellion against their father compelling. Ava Reid tackles incredibly difficult issues with a sensitivity and nuance that make the story that much more devastating. Gothic fairy tale horror at its best.

The synopsis and cover of the book pulled me in. Gothic fairy tale retelling?! Yes, please! Ava Reid’s writing is spellbinding and drew me in immediately. Unfortunately, I was not as captivated by the story. About halfway through, I read The Juniper Tree to see what elements Reid used. For those who haven’t read The Juniper Tree, it’s typical gruesome Grimm.

Marlinchen and her sisters are witches in a Russian industrial prototype. She is used and treated poorly by her family. I thought Marlinchen’s flesh-divining magic would come into play, but it didn’t. The gothic horror story didn’t take hold until 70% of the way through the book. Much of the book is about the relationship between Marlinchen and her abusive father and her budding romantic interest in Sevas, a ballet dancer. Which was fine—there are plenty of important themes to explore. Coming of age, healing from trauma, and so forth. However, the book was heavy on all things sexual: sexual tension, sexual assault, crude sex, pedophilia, rape, and bestiality. This is where I did not feel that Reid did justice to the story. The number of sexual elements made the story tacky. The characters never dealt with their trauma. There was no exploration of character development in the wake of trauma, which I believe is necessary, especially for a book that will likely be in the hands of young people.

Reid writes beautifully and creates an immersive world. I would like to see more development of the characters to promote a richer story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. I hope the author continues to write more books in the future. I can't wait to see what the author releases in the future.

This book was a wild ride. I was not expecting such a raw and gritty story but I loved it. It made me squeamish and perturbed but in a wonderful way. There was so much boldness to this story that and I love a woman seeking her revenge and breaking her chains. I would highly recommend to anyone not afraid of gore, grime, and the feeling of being naked in a snake pit. That is exactly what this book offers with so much more. Absolutely loved it!

Truly an incredible story. I just finished and I’m in awe and shock. Marlinchen deserved the world and the way abuse was handled was just incredible. Please be careful reading this book as it’s a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: Antisemitism, Paedophilia & child sexual abuse (past, on page), PTSD, Eating disorder (bulimia), Suicidal ideation, Self-harm, Emesis (on-page), Body horror, Cannibalism, Animal death, murder, emotional and physical abuse from parent, toxic relationship with family, death of parent (past), grief

This was definitely darker than Ava Reid's first novel. The horror elements were prevalent. I really enjoyed the prose, the mix of a myth and fairytale. It was distinct and just really interesting and original from other books I've read.

Steam: 3

This is a very dark and gruesome fantasy inspired by the Juniper Tree fairytale. I really enjoyed the setting being in an Eastern European type town which is different than what I am used to reading. Reid has a distinct writing style that reminds me of V.E. Schwab where you could easily identify it from others. My one criticism about the writing is the repetition of a few words and the overuse of similes. When every sentence is a simile my mind will fixate on it and start tallying how many is on each page. Overall, the story was unique, it kept my interest, and I’ll check out Reid’s other works.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an e-arc! I was really excited about this book and have pretty mixed feelings on it. It was a lot darker than I was expecting, which wasn't bad just a shock going in. During the first half-three quarters of the book I felt like literally nothing happened. The ending--like last quarter--really had all of the action, so I felt like I was dragging through most of the book. The chapters are also really long which made me feel like it was taking forever to read it. The ending really was pretty dark and cannibalistic but I didn't mind that as much as I thought I would when I read some reviews. It there had been more action or plot movement throughout this one I think I would have really liked it, but it was overall too slow for me and not enough action/movement. If you like dark, dark retellings definitely check this one out!

Deliciously dark. I really loved the very visceral imagery and descriptions and emotions in this book. It covered a lot of dark subjects but I think it covered them well, and in a way that felt very authentically European fairytale-esque.

I am a huge fan of retellings and reimaginings. I was actually reintroduced to them this year. I love that Ava Reid focuses on Slavic lore which isn’t something we see very often in retellings. I loved this book. It was everything that you hope for when reading a new take on dark fairy tales. I really love gothic tales and Ava Reid writes a perfect one in Juniper and Thorn. I am definitely a fan and have already picked up the Wolf and the Woodsman so I can continue to enjoy their writing.