Juniper & Thorn: A Novel

Originally reviewed on Cyn's Workshop


Juniper & Thorn takes a turn at retelling one of the Grimm’s lesser-known fairytales, The Juniper Tree, in a gothic form, tackling various forms of abuse.

Storytelling
Let the reader be warned; the novel may be triggering for some as it deals with emotional and physical abuse. However, Reid does an exemplary job of tackling these issues with tact, leaving the characters stronger and the reader hopeful.

Juniper & Thorn follows Marlinchen, the youngest daughter of the town’s only wizard. Progress has come, and the time of relying on magic has left the father bitter. Incredibly xenophobic and against progress and innovation, he keeps three daughters locked away in the house. They take customers and perform their magic under the watchful eyes of their father, but these girls have no freedom from his watchful gaze.

Some scenes are uncomfortable here. Reid uses subtext to indicate Sevas has suffered sexual abuse and grooming from his “agent,” whereas Marlinchen was physically harmed under her father’s gaze. Reid does not get into detail with these scenes, carefully crafting them to highlight the emotional distress and PTSD the characters have suffered due to this. While not explicit, it makes the reader uncomfortable, as it should, and thankfully does not detract from the evolving plot.

Complex
Juniper & Thorn can be seen as a survivor’s story. Marlinchen and Sevas are survivors of abuse. Some readers may view the hyper-sexualization of their relationship with distaste, but I found it empowering.

These characters had no freedom, were trapped by their guardians and exploited for their talent and gifts. Yet, together they found the inner strength they had. They choose to be with one another and give their bodies to one another. This is probably the most significant act of defiance these characters can show, empowering them.

By taking this big step and saying “my body, my choice,” these characters find within themselves the power to stand up for themselves, the strength to turn away from their abusers with their heads held high. Such a powerful and complex journey for these characters, even emotionally, leaves the reader feeling triumphant.

Final Thoughts
Juniper & Thorn is not for everyone. I admired the storytelling and enjoyed the retribution at the end, but this is a novel that will trigger some readers and leave others uncomfortable. So reader, be warned, the narrative is thoughtful and compelling, but the issues it tackles are tactful and emotional.

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this is kind of hard for me to rate. from the cover i thought it’d be a fantasy adventure book, but that’s my bad because it’s actually much more of a character-driven fairy tale based on “The Juniper Tree.” i didn’t realize any of this going in, and i’d never heard that story anyway.

maybe because i didn’t know this was a retelling, i was really caught off guard by some of the dark themes in this book. it seemed more adult than YA, but the cover and description seemed to target a younger audience. as in the original, this story contains child abuse and murder. also, a tw for sexual assault and eating disorders as well. both are quite graphic

aside from the dark themes, there’s also quite a bit of sexual content so this is really not for younger audiences (again, i feel like the cover could be misleading so…)

as for the actual story and writing!! the story was good. like i said, i didn’t know the original fairy tale, so i got to follow the twists and turns myself. some of it, especially the romantic bits, were sort of cringey. they felt like a teenage wattpad idea of romance. other parts were pretty powerful though! not sure how old this author is, but maybe Reid just needs to keep working on their craft because there was definitely potential!! that said, every few scenes fell a bit short. there was also REALLY heavy usage of the words “belly” and “plum stone” in ways that i think were supposed to be poetic, but really annoyed me. i think a lot of the writing suffered from being too ‘pretty’ and becoming just shallow, which is especially frustrating when you’re listening to the audiobook.

all that said, i did enjoy reading this book towards the end, but overall can’t give it more than 3 stars. i read this for the “read from a playlist” category, and listening to the playlists enhanced my experience for sure! they made me feel more sympathetic for the main character, who was otherwise kind of annoying for me.

2.5 stars
category: find from a playlist

This book leans into the horror aspect of Grim Fairy Tales. There are themes of abuse, assault, rape, molesting, and eating disorder, not to mention cannibalism.

I appreciate how the author talked about and centered the victims experience of abuse. There was also a discussion of power and control for characters and victims being able to take back their own power and control over their lives. The author also talked about the healing process with trauma.

This is a book that will stick with me and I will think bout but is not easy to read. The violent and horrible things that happen to characters while talked about are not talked about in a way that is pleasant for the reader and it the author focuses on how horrific it is for the characters. Sometimes not even talking about what happened so much as the experience of it to the characters.

Juniper and Thorn reminded me of a beautiful sweater I have. It's gorgeous, warm, and looks good on me. But it's also itchy and uncomfortable and I'm always aware I'm wearing it. This story was beautifully told, but it was coarse and unpleasant. I never lost myself in it. The hypersexualization of every scenario was distracting and distasteful. It's clear the sex scenes were not meant to be titillating so I question why the author didn't use a more closed-door approach. The abuse and eating disorder plot points were too rampant and unnecessarily triggering. The story was as grim as those of old. The language and descriptions were precise. The characters were well-developed, even if some of their actions and motivations were questionable. I didn't enjoy it, but others might.

I liked this book but didnt love it. Also, don't take a shot every time you read the worst "breast" less you wanna die.