Juniper & Thorn: A Novel
From highly acclaimed, bestselling author Ava Reid comes a gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree, set in another time and place within the world of The Wolf and the Woodsman, where a young witch seeks to discover her identity and escape the domination of her abusive wizard father, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Catherynne M. Valente.
A gruesome curse. A city in upheaval. A monster with unquenchable appetites.
Marlinchen and her two sisters live with their wizard father in a city shifting from magic to industry. As Oblya’s last true witches, she and her sisters are little more than a tourist trap as they treat their clients with archaic remedies and beguile them with nostalgic charm. Marlinchen spends her days divining secrets in exchange for rubles and trying to placate her tyrannical, xenophobic father, who keeps his daughters sequestered from the outside world. But at night, Marlinchen and her sisters sneak out to enjoy the city’s amenities and revel in its thrills, particularly the recently established ballet theater, where Marlinchen meets a dancer who quickly captures her heart.
As Marlinchen’s late-night trysts grow more fervent and frequent, so does the threat of her father’s rage and magic. And while Oblya flourishes with culture and bustles with enterprise, a monster lurks in its midst, borne of intolerance and resentment and suffused with old-world power. Caught between history and progress and blood and desire, Marlinchen must draw upon her own magic to keep her city safe and find her place within it.
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Community Reviews
maybe because i didnât 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, thereâs also quite a bit of sexual content so this is really not for younger audiences (again, i feel like the cover could be misleading soâ¦)
as for the actual story and writing!! the story was good. like i said, i didnât 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 âbellyâ and âplum stoneâ 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 âprettyâ and becoming just shallow, which is especially frustrating when youâre listening to the audiobook.
all that said, i did enjoy reading this book towards the end, but overall canât give it more than 3 stars. i read this for the âread from a playlistâ 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
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.
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