This retelling of Grimm’s “The Juniper Tree” holds darkness and whimsical wonder in a delicate, yet gruesome dance. I was swept up in this tale, spellbound, leaping through the garden among the monsters. This went right to my gothic heart. Reid’s lyrical prose is made for gothic horror-fantasy. Juniper and Thorn is set in Victorian-era Odessa, Ukraine. There’s witches, monsters, curses, forbidden love and so much more.

Reminder this is gothic-HORROR! It can be brutal with viscerally sharp content, especially if you’re a survivor of abuse and not a reader of horror. Marlinchen has honest layers that can be unsettling when digging into the darkest parts of ourselves. I had Tori Amos’ Silent All These Years in my head when Marlinchen was finding her voice. I related to some of the trauma in this book and knew the warnings before requesting the eARC. I did struggle reading at times as a survivor and in my ongoing recovery with ED, but I truly felt the vulnerability and care from the author. PLEASE check the author’s trigger warnings before you request and decide to read it.

I feel like my younger self was very much a Witch-swan-girl.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sharing this eARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

Av Reid has done it again— made another perfectly devourably dark book

Juniper & Thorn is a gothic/ horror modern fairytale. It takes inspiration from the Brothers' Grimm story The Juniper Tree, and while it is one of the darkest books that I've read in quite some time, it does not do it to be outlandish. There are moments of joy that are brighter than stars, albeit few and far between. It’s a story that will unsettle people in many ways, but it’s gothic and that’s innate to the genre. It’s what the genre asks its readers to be prepared to endure.

I don’t usually read horror books because a lot have that gimmicky feeling to them like horror movies. Yet Ava Reid’s writing and plot remind me of Mary Shelley in Frankenstein with her eloquent but horrific (not in a “bad” writing way) prose. I’m thinking deeply about decision ramifications and freedom and morality— to name a few themes. I wasn't sure this novel would pack the punch that The Wolf and the Woodsman did because I loved Ava's debut so much, but somehow it surpassed it.

I'm in awe of Marlinchen. I'm in awe of her journey and her love, so endlessly loyal to her loved ones. I saw myself in her in those moments, not necessarily because we share similar experiences, but because we are built to love and help and give so much of ourselves that we leave nothing for us in return.

I don't really have words to explain this book other that the multitude of emotions that rolled through me like a giant wave. It was mind bogglingly incredible. I cannot wait fore more books by Ava. She's a master storyteller.

This book is extremely dark, and I am obsessed with it. The writing is beautiful, and the story is gritty and unapologetic.

This wonderfully, magical book. Full of dark, gothic, delicious, prose and a never ending world of myths and monsters. A dark delight in a bloody world of wonder.

The blurb for this book does describe the plot pretty well, it's indeed a dark fairy tale-inspired story that included serial murders and a family of witches living under the oppressive tutelage of their mage father, from whom they want to escape and enjoy life and love. The world it's set in is pretty much Russia just barely varnished with a layer of magic and new naming that doesn't quite obscure the real inspiration.

I've been trying to enjoy this author's retellings since her début, and this is the second time in a row that I fail. I simply cannot connect with her characters and stories no matter how much I try, and it's frustrating because Ava Reid's playing ground of choice is Slavic lore. I like Eastern European fairy tales a lot, so whenever a book is announced with a blurb stating it takes its inspiration from Eastern European tales, I pay attention. I keep expecting another Katherine Arden or Naomi Novik, and instead they give me disappointments like "Jumiper & Thorn."

Besides that, another catch is that Ava Reid's prose is lovely. She definitely knows how to write, her command of imagery and mood and feels is superb, and the flow of her words is smooth. That's another reason to want to love her books so hard.

And yet, the characters and the plotting proper are her weakness. There's no sense of moderation, no sense of directing her train of thought consistently, no good grasp of character progression, and above all, little command of plot structure. That eventually ends up harming her stories, because pretty words and on-point mood can only do so much for a book.

The most off-putting aspect in "Juniper & Thorn" is the crass oversexualisation, and it starts too early, practically in the very first chapter, that starts with Marlinchen, the protagonist, slipping away with her sisters to the ballet and instantly lusting for the primo ballerino the minute he comes into the stage, drooling over Sevastyan's chest hair, the outline of his groin, etc., and ends up with masturbation. And it doesn't stop there, everything from sexual assault to paedophilia to incest is thrown at us without warning from there on, and whilst I'm not a stickler for trigger warnings, the excessive amount of triggering this book can set off merits saying that there should've been better warning for readers. Readers need to know what they're going to find here, and they weren't given fair warning because many, like me, didn't see any warnings when they asked for the book for review. We thought it was a Gothic fairy tale retelling with dark twists, exactly as the marketing specifies. But it's been revealed that its contents aren't the usual fare for retellings, and it should've been clarified.

The oversexualisation takes away from the story, because Marlinchen and Sevas can't seem to be able to have a healthy interaction that's not immediately jumping into bed or involving sex in every single chapter. They're like traumatised rabbits that only know to couple whenever they're in the vicinity of each other, with little in the way of building up a relationship, and you end up wondering what exactly the story is here. And the descriptions are always tacky and ordinary, because the author doesn't write sex scenes well, and when you add to it the unnatural and criminal aspects (rape, paedophilia), it ends up wearing you down so badly the temptation to stop reading is irresistible.

I did finish the book, however, optimistically hoping it'd get better. It did not. Reid went overdrive with the body horror, adding an excess of gore and bodily functions to the excess sex, so it turns unpleasant very quickly, it grosses you out reading all the vomiting, all the guts out, the blood... I'm not squeamish in the slightest, but this was too much even for my strong stomach.

In the end, that was sold to me as a dark take on the Grimms' "The Juniper Tree" turned out to be a Jack the Ripper copycat with an emphasis on the gore and the sex and grossness, neglecting the plot and the characterisation. I really wish there had been more emphasis on the characters and less on the shock for shock's sake, as well as better marketing, because as with the first book, it promised more than it delivers but this time with the addition of needless triggers and titillation.

I can’t stop thinking about this book since finishing it. It was the perfect combination of a gothic horror with tender and soft moments in between. Marlinchen was such a complex and multifaceted character that was a joy to read. I loved her kind heart and her struggles and responses to the events of her life were understandable and I sympathized with her every step of the way. Sevas was a perfect partner for her and I adored their relationship as well as his character individually.

The writing was amazing. Simple and to the point but also beautiful and felt like I was reading an old fairytale? I don’t know how that’s possible but it is with Ava. There were a couple things that were hinted at instead of fully explained that I didn’t grasp onto first but I think that was reader error.

This book is very dark, touching on a handful of sensitive subjects so definitely recommend content warnings before diving in! But I recommend everyone should.

Wow, what a dark and horrifying retelling of The Juniper Tree. My biggest advice to readers is to check the TWs before you read—I did not do this and I really wish I had! This book is definitely not for the faint of heart.

While there are some lighter or sweeter moments, overall this book is a story of horror, trauma, and endurance through the unthinkable. I haven’t read The Wolf and the Woodsman yet, but I definitely am interested in picking this one up now!

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).