This book was not something that was on my radar, but so glad it fell into my hands. I hope to read more by this author very soon!

Ava Reid blew me away with her debut novel, The Wolf and the Woodsman, but I think her retelling of Grimm's The Juniper Tree was, if possible, even more amazing. I devoured this book, and it's left me wanting more. It's dark, and Reid's language is so beautiful and haunting. Cannot wait to get a physical copy for my bookshelf.

"⁩ "Juniper & Thorn"
I must admit that the cover is PERFECT, from there I know that I wouldn't dislike this book much, whoever wrote it would have to make a very big effort to make it bad because it had EVERYTHING I could like: it's a horror story / terror, with fantasy, her writing is based on a story by the Grimm brothers and Ava knew how to use the whole concept of fantasy very well to hide the horror of the story but still make it "disgusting" and horrifying for me as a reader. 4 stars.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an eArc.

Thank you so much, NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager and Harper Voyager, for the chance to read and review one of my most anticipated reads this year in exchange of an honest review.

TW: abuse, peadophilia, violence, emotional manipulation, gaslightining, cannibalism, bulimia, self-harm, PTSD, gore and body horror

Marlinchen and her two sisters live with their wizard father in a city changing from magic to industry and they are the last true witches of Oblya, seen as little more as a tourist trap, with their remedies and charms. Marlinchen spends her days with her clients, but, mostly, taking care of her xenophobic and cruel father, cursed by a witch with an unquenchable appetite. Sequestered by their tyrannical father from the outside world, Undine and Rose manage to rebel, sneaking out to enjoy the city's amenities, theater and so on and when Marlinchen joins them everything changes when she meets a dancer that captures her heart.
As she keeps sneaking away, her father's rage keeps growing and so a mysterious threat to the city, when people are found murdered and missing organs. Marlinchen finds herself battling between her loyalty to her father and her desire to discover her love and identity out her prison house.

Juniper & Thorn is a gothic retelling of The Juniper Tree, set in another time and place, but always within the world created of The wolf and the Woodsman.
It's a very dark and gruesome story and the themes explored are dealt with care and sensitivity by the author. Juniper & Thorn is a brilliant, eerie and intense standalone. The story is narrated in first person by Marlinchen, set in a claustrophic and tight setting and it explores traumas, abuse and violence and their consequences, and, through magic and fairytales, examines nationalism. Through Marlinchen's voice the reader is captured right away and thrust into the story, following Marlinchen and her sister, dealing with their tyrannical and cruel father, with clients and mysteries and their deep desires to get away and to be free.
The story setting is, mostly, the family manor and its garden, claustrophobic and restricted, with its monsters and peculiarities, but known and it violently contrast with the outside world, both coveted, but unknown and scary. This contrast is replayed by Marlinchen with her routines, taking care of her father, the house, the food and so on and by her new desire to see the world, to know Sevas, to be a bit like her sisters, more conscious of the outside world and its dangers.

Marlinchen is a very peculiar narrator, a truly unreliable one. Since the readers get know the story through her, it's through her thoughts and actions they start to question themselves and to try to understand what is exactly happening. Marlinchen is different from her older sisters. She's more quiet and introvert, more, at least apparently, scared and SEEMS more passive, if she's seen in contrast with Undine's energy and spite and Rose' determination and calm, but she's a very complex character.
She has always had little power in her life and lived in fear and almost as a servant, taking care of her father and house, bending and hiding her own desires, or, almost refusing to having and beliving in them. When she gets out of the house and meets Sevas, when her father's rage worsens, Marlinchen starts to see how her life could be and her growth is so impressive and moving to read.
Marlinchen is a victim and she's been through horrible things, narrated in intense and heartwrenching moments, letting the readers know what happened and her reactions, and she deals with her traumas and abuses in her own way, hiding from them, being angry and upset, reacting in certain ways. The author did an outstanding job in describing her and her own way to survive and giving us this brilliant and nuanced portrait of a victim and an empowering heroine, in a feminist retelling of The Juniper Tree.
I loved reading this book, mostly thanks to Marlinchen's voice and characterization and her growth, curiosity and desires are truly magnificent.

Ava Reid did a wonderful job not only with the setting, tight and claustrophobic, written in such a skillful way I felt prisoner too, but also with the characterization, from the main character to the side ones and I truly enjoyed how the author dealt with themes like traumas and abuse in different character in various way, depicting their being victims and their reactions and way of surviving, from Marlinchen, to Sevas, Undine and Rose, each of them abused and kept prisoners in their own way. Nationalism, xenophobia, paedophilia and traumas are only some of the themes dealt in this book and Ava Reid did a magnificent job writing about them.

Juniper & Thorn balances romance and horror, magic and modernity, fairytales and reality in a very compelling way, capturing the readers' heart since the beginning, using a writing style evocative and lush, skillfully timed plot twists and revelations and complex and thrilling characters.

A deep and luscious gothic horror, Juniper & Thorn grabs you with its teeth and never relents until all the bloody truth is revealed.

Marlinchen and her two sisters live with their cursed wizard father, a man who holds them close with an iron grip and utilizes their magical talents for coin. But the city outside their crumbling manor is far too tempting with its alluring dancers, light, and freedom. But as Marlinchen's escapes grow more frequent, a new danger begins to reveal itself, as a monster lurks in the shadows with an appetite for blood.

Ava Reid's prose is a dark delight, deftly spun with such vulnerable honesty. I greatly appreciated the thought and care with Marlinchen. To be faced with a monster is one thing, but the slow realization that the monster may be closer than you thought is a difficult but important balance. There is no victim blaming here, only the tragedy. And later, healing with the promise of a full life ahead that not even the deepest scars cannot deter.

I would advise readers to pay attention to the content warnings provided by the author. This book doesn't pull any punches, but when or if you are able, this book is a must read.

Thank you to Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I want to start this review off by explaining that although I love Gothic Horror, this was not the book I expected. Ava Reid posted content warnings on Goodreads, but there were no such warning on Net Galley or in the book, and I might not have read the book if I had known.

Juniper and Thorn follows Marlinchen and her 2 sisters, witches trapped in their father's home who is cursed with hunger. An interesting premise, but unfortunately, Marlinchen focuses surprisingly on nipples. She's extremely sexual by thought and a strange MC to follow.

This entire book fell severely over-asexualized. The romance was underdeveloped, and all in all, the plot felt more like an aesthetic than a plot. It jumped around a lot, and I wasn't really sure where it was going

Content warnings:
TW: body horror; bulimia including on-page vomiting, Sexual abuse, pedophilia, , Cannibalism; xenophobia, Physical and psychological abuse, Self-harm, suicidal thought.

I just... Gosh I wanted to love it, and I just feel severely uncomfortable after having finished it.

A few things to note before I get into this review: The trigger warnings are only presented as a comment from the author on Goodreads. This was buried behind several other comments due to the way Goodreads is formatted. Generally, I don't fuss too much about trigger warnings, but this book heavily needs one at the beginning of the book, and I hope the publisher and author consider adding it.

I DNF'd this book at 60%, despite telling myself I would try to get to 75% at the bare minimum before doing so. However, I found myself wanting to do literally anything else before picking this back up to continue reading, which was when I realized it was time to put it down. I do feel I read enough of the book to give an honest review, though.

This book heavily focuses on morbidity to hide that not much happens (again, at least for 60%). Could I tell you what the plot was, by means of the main character wants x and this is what's preventing it and this is the plan? Maybe, but only in the absolute vaguest of terms. I adore Ava Reid's prose, but in this instance, it tended to make what was happening simply confusing. The constant traumatizing events and overt sexualization of everything made me feel numb to everything that happened. I went from the kind of horrified that I expect with dark books, to emotionally detached and completely not caring. There was no balance, no reprieve from these moments. It wasn't helped by our narrator being not enjoyable and trying to make excuses for this due to her trauma, but coming up short over and over again.

I enjoy horror, and I enjoy body horror especially. This book isn't marketed as a horror, despite it being full of gore, but even in horror, I need it to make sense. Unfortunately, this book missed the mark both as a dark fairytale, and as a "maybe this is horror that they marketed incorrectly?" story.

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid is a dark fairy tale retelling. It is a haunting gothic horror novel masterfully handled by the author. Ava Reid’s first novel, The Wolf & The Woodsman, was released to critical acclaim, her second novel, Juniper & Thorn, shows growth from her already brilliant first novel.
One word of warning, I would recommend looking at the author’s trigger warnings, as this is a dark and graphic novel. Reid deftly handles the dark narrative and creates in her main character an empathetic woman whose struggles and growths throughout the story were fascinating to follow. I found this book dark and captivating and would highly recommend it.

4.5/5

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for an eARC of this book.

5/5 stars.

Juniper & Thorn is an adult horror fantasy based on the Juniper Tree. I haven't read the Juniper Tree, but I absolutely loved this book.

My favorite part of the book by far is Marlinchen. She's a wonderful main character. Her growth over the story is spectacular, and I love how even though she loses her naivete, she never loses her kindness or who she is. Her relationships with the people around her were also amazing. She's a deeply empathetic character, despite her circumstances.

Ava Reid's writing style is incredible. The prose was so engaging, heartbreaking, and horrifying (in the horror elements). I did notice a bit of repetition, and it would yank me out of the story for a second, but it was always easy to find my way back in.

I loved the relationship between Marlinchen and Sevas. Though I don't usually enjoy reading about love that strikes right away, I thought it was done so well here. Sevas and Marlinchen bond over their trauma but it's not the sole reason for their attraction to each other. It really felt as though they had known each other for years, despite only having just met.

I went into this book aware that it was a horror story. For about the first 60% of the book, I was wondering if I had misremembered the genre and kept going back to confirm that it was, in fact, horror. There were some terrible elements but it didn't feel distinctly a horror story. However, the horror does come in towards the end—and it comes in wonderfully. Throughout the beginning, there's a sense that something is off about the story, enough to make you uneasy. without throwing you into the depths. When the horror unfolded, I realized how perfectly it was built up.

This book won't be for everyone—it's disturbing and dark, and I'd suggest checking the trigger warnings before going in. But it's still a beautiful, empathetic story, and I will definitely be reading more of Ava Reid's work.

DNF @ 46%

unfortunately i had to dnf this because i foolishly didn’t read the trigger warnings that the author posted before requesting an arc. i made it through a decent chunk of the book, however, and can say that while i wasn’t enjoying myself at first because sometimes i find flowery writing hard to get through, the story is phenomenally written.

i have ukrainian ancestry and a lot of matrilineal family history in odessa, and reading this book especially during this time and with the current situation being what it is felt somewhat comforting.

my favorite part out of everything that i read was marlinchen’s character. i’m someone that’s been saying for years how monotonous the “strong female protagonist” of fantasy stories has become. that often times the idea of a strong female character within fantasy surmises to just assigning traditionally male attributes to women and throwing in a healthy dose of internalized misogyny. if the tw’s given by reid don’t deter you, read this book to experience marlinchen’s interesting brand of strength that is often found in ukrainian women who lived through such situations. she reminds me so much of my grandmother in so many ways.

i hope that one day i’ll be able to finish this book because marlinchen and her story have become so inherently special to me, and the setting of victorian-era odessa made me weep.

please, if the trigger warnings aren’t things that will harm you, read this book. it’s so special.

thank you to netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Where do I start??? Upon finishing this novel, I felt like I needed a drink, a hug, and a therapy session. WOW.
First of all, the prose is stunning. It reads like a novel written by an author who would have written by candlelight two hundred years ago.
The cover alone is going to draw readers in but the dark, gothic, fairytale will keep them flipping the pages.
But to those of you ready to dive in I must give you a heads up on some of the content.
Like most family sagas or the original fairytales- such as the Grim Brothers, there is some dark DARK, stuff. and I'm not just talking about the lack of light filtering through the forest canopy.
Child sexual abuse, including incest (sorry)
Cannibalism and other gore and horror scenes.
Self-harm, including eating disorders and suicidal thoughts (coping mechanisms you can't blame her for)
Family drama.....and hope....doesn't even begin to tell what is at the root of this epic novel. Take your time though or you will find yourself backtracking.

Full review closer to publication date!

I'd like to thank the publisher, Harper Voyager and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

After reading and really enjoying The Wolf and the Woodsman, I was excited to pick up this book - and it did not disappoint! While the book was quite dark (more so than what I typically read and enjoy), it's a unique and unexpected fairytale retelling, and I felt that it was technically better than The Wolf and the Woodsman.

Marlinchen is a character written with depth and empathy; although many of the other characters were neither particularly likable nor well-rounded, Marlinchen's character and development were impressive. While hard to read at times due to the dark themes (it contains descriptions of gore, disordered eating/purging, child sexual abuse), the story was gripping and the prose was quite beautiful.

My biggest complaints about the book (besides my personal tastes for less dark content) are the relationship between Marlinchen and Sevas (too much instalove for me) and the whole plot point about keeping the hymen intact (which I find so outdated and honestly inaccurate - I'm not here for books that perpetuate the myth that every woman will bleed a ton the first time she has sex).

Overall, I felt it was an honest and true-to-form retelling of the original story, and while I don't generally love the gothic horror genre, I really enjoyed this book (and will be looking forward to Reid's future releases).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC of this book. Below is my honest review!

This is the first gothic horror fantasy book I’ve ever read and, wow, I was not ready for how dark this book is. Because of that, I put the content warnings at the end for anyone who may be interested in reading this book.

What I liked about this book: the main character is compelling and incredibly multidimensional, and I thought her character arc was great. There’s a bit of a mystery in this book, and I thought it was handled really well. This book was mostly ~vibes~ so if you are here for that sort of thing you will love this book!

My main complaints about this book were personal in nature. I learned through reading this book that gothic horror is just not for me. The subject matter is darker than I personally like, but again, if you love gothic horror or that gothic vibe, then you would probably love this book.

‼️Content warnings: eating disorders (specifically purging - on page), self harm, sexual assault (on page), abuse, sex, animal death, death of a loved one, cannibalism, pedophilia & body horror

*THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND THE PUBLISHER FOR PROVIDING ME WITH AN ARC!!*

Marlinchen is one of three daughters born to a wizard father and mortal mother. At age 13, their mother is turned into a bird by a bit of accidental magic, and Marlinchen and her sisters must learn how to grow and manage their budding witch magic under the rule of their tyrannical father. Ten years after the death of their mother, strange things start to happen in their hometown of Oblya, and the timid Marlinchen is pushed out of her comfort zone by the mysteries and romance of a city she has yet to experience.

The book is a treasure. Ava Reid has such a unique voice, and she writes of horrible and obscene things in an almost unbelievably beautiful way.

I’m a sucker for fairytale retellings, so my interest in this was piqued regardless, but this story transcends. It’s rich, it’s descriptive, its at times disgusting and vile, but it’s never anything short of amazing. I was a big fan of her debut, and I can say with certainty that this is even better.

Another utterly engrossing book by Ava Reid!!! This was the darkly lyrical, lush, gothic fantasy novel that read more like folklore of old. It is a retelling of the Juniper Tree legend. I pretty much devoured this, much like some of the characters in this book devour their meals.

I went into this book with high expectations (because how could I not after TWATW?), and was thoroughly impressed by it. Reid has made it clear that this book is not in the same vein as TWATW, as J&T is much more of a gothic horror novel with romantic elements. I love a good horror novel and this book just… was SO GOOD. (That being said, please check trigger warnings before reading).

This is a novel about being included inside a narrative over and over again even if they don’t want to be. Marlinchen has a very unique narrative voice, and because of this, I will be ordering the audiobook too. It has elements of a Bildungsroman as Marlinchen learns to navigate the confines of the story she finds herself stuck in. The love interest, Sevas, is so soft for Marlinchen. It’s hard for any character to compare to Gaspar for me, but Sevas is just as tender and thoughtful. He has his own obstacles to overcome, but he and Marlinchen bond over their shared trauma. They don’t deal with it in the typical way fantasy novels depict, which I liked, because not everyone has to or can deal with it in a direct way.

The imagery? Fantastic. The prose? Lyrical, detailed, and captivating in an enthralling and horrific way. The characters? Authentic and unique. It reminds me of Little Dorrit/ Bleak House by Dickens (i.e. a setting of a decrepit gothic house in a gritty urban city), The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden (by the culture, prose, and Russian/Ukranian inspired setting), and some Brothers Grimm folklores (in the dark fairytale sense).

Again, I can’t wait to see what Reid comes up with next. I’m already waiting with bated breath, and I am excited to listen to the audiobook when it releases. Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc! It did not affect my review in anyway.

I adore unique fiction, and this is such an interesting premise. I recommend because of the story itself, writing style, and its ability to transport you into a different world.

How to even put into words the way this story enraptured me?

Juniper & Thorn is a fairytale unparalleled — a visceral, Grimmesque horror softened by a swathe of pearly hope. Whimsy and macabre entwined; nightmares dancing with dreams; a split womb of the mundane and magical.

The prose is enchanting. Its words sow seeds, grow roots, burgeon into something you never could have imagined, something that belongs nowhere and everywhere at once.

Ava Reid’s stories are important, classic, and infinitely relevant. They don’t shy away from disturbing motifs (content warnings aplenty) — they embrace everything they are supposed to be and it is unexplainably tremendous.

J&T has a permanent place in my soul.

3.75/5

This book is not for the faint of heart. Do not be fooled by the plain-faced naive girl introduction or the instalove to the I can't believe he's into me hot guy, this book is not pleasant. Its dark and disturbing and explores many different types of abuse.

I thought it was fantastic.

I honestly eyerolled at the first couple of chapters. I thought, OK here we go. We've got the "unattractive MC but my sisters are super hot" trope combined with a semi instalove to a guy of unattainable quality. I mean, don't get me wrong.. I read books like this on the daily, haha, I truly enjoy YA but I had been expecting something grittier. And I got it.

Ava Reid's prose is amazing. I was captivated from the start (also was so certain the monster under the bed was going to just be a plain old cat haha). I LOVED the twist and really wish more time had been spent exploring that. I also would've liked to know more about her sisters, especially why they hate Marlinchen so much. Its touched upon, but feels a little too surface.

Overall it was a great read. Perfect if you're looking for something truly dark. Just be certain to look up all the trigger warnings as I don't think this will be a read for everyone.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC!

From the description, I thought I would love this novel-length fairy tale. I tried my best to like it. But this book was unfortunately Not It.

One of the biggest things, for me, was that the story had no humor and very little light. Additionally, the pacing of the plot was confusing, things that didn’t make any sense at all kept happening, almost all of the characters were antagonists, and the writing was more distracting than it was atmospheric. Sometimes the writing was clever and it explained things in such a specific way, and so perfectly — I wanted more of those paragraphs. But more often, we just had prose that was too purple *even for me* alongside an excessive number of analogies. Sometimes we used more than one analogy to describe the same thing. It was A LOT. (I will say, though, that as I read more and more, I got used to the writing so it wasn’t as distracting, but I never truly appreciated it like I wanted to.)

I almost DNF’d this book at least a dozen times, because of these reasons and more (I only kept reading because I’m a masochist and because other reviewers were very convincing). In the end, I think I’m glad I finished the book? I was definitely interested the whole time to see what would happen, and I would have always wondered, but at the same time I don’t like how it ended, or how we got there, so it was really a case of me desperately wanting to love something that was never going to be for me. I loved the concept and a number of the tropes and some of the themes but I just hated reading the book.

I will say, though, that this is one of the most true-to-form Grimm retellings I’ve ever come across. It really dipped into the darkness of Grimm fairy tales in the right way and I liked the aspects of “The Juniper Tree” that it used. The tone and the mood never felt forced. So major props for that, honestly.

If I wasn’t such a character-driven reader, I might have liked this far better.