This one felt like a new classic dark fairytale. It pulls on inspiration from The Juniper Tree (a new one for me I was excited to read about) and is constantly utilizing fairytale themes throughout.

JUNIPER & THORN was a great sophomore novel for Ava Reid. I read THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN last year and while I enjoyed the story, I ended up struggling with the pacing. However, J&T was able to better leverage her unique writing style, have masterful pacing, and create a story that was truly haunting. It felt like a crash I couldn't look away from. As some of the more gruesome details started to emerge, I found myself curling away but never quite wanting to stop. Overall, it is hard to accurately review, it was first and foremost an unapologetic, gruesome fairytale. I felt like we were given exactly what was needed to serve that brief. I contemplated if I wanted more depth to the character and their motivations, more setting descriptions, more backstory and if it was a different book I probably would have but for this, it all felt exactly as it should be.

My biggest complaint is that I think this one should have had a content warning page (emotional abuse, sexual assault, eating disorder, cannibalism) before the book started. I was lucky enough to read a review that clearly started how dark some of the themes were so I independently went to look but I think it may be a disservice to the book itself if people go in without that preparation. Also, felt a bit irresponsible of the publisher to not have done this.

💢TW: vomiting, sexual content and abuse, parental and mentor abuse, purity, gore, cannibalism 💢
•
Thank you HCC Frenzy for the eARC! I chose this book for the folktale-y vibe and the cover, and I did not expect the dark and sexual content at all 🤣 I'm not complaining because I love books with all the eerie vibes. Also, Reid's writing style is super awesome and I need more of it. The imagery of the garden is so ethereal and I love all the folktale woven through the story. Not gonna lie, I kept waiting for Sevas to abandon Marlinchen, but he surprised me and I'm happy with how the book ended. Not so happy with the ending of the spine-tailed monster though 😅 I highly recommend this!

4.5/5 Stars

3.5/5

A gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree, Juniper & Thorn is darkly atmospheric and gory from the jump. This is the story of three sisters and their terror or a father. The great wizard Zmey Vaschenko had three witches for daughters and guards their innocence with a terrible violence. The family is ensconced in a house and garden full of dark magic and monsters.

Ava Reid's writing is always gorgeous. She pulls me under with her descriptive prose. Unfortunately, the darkness of this book was a bit too much for me. I enjoy body horror but there was something different about the MC's constant longing for some kind of violent harm or self-harm.

Throughout the book there is: gore, body horror, sexual assault of minors, cannibalism, child abuse, xenophobia and racism, bulimia and graphic descriptions of of ED, animal harm and death. All of this felt like a LOT and I usually enjoy dark books. I think I struggled with it because the MC has so little agency throughout the majority of the book.

Though, I don't think it should have been written differently, it was just HARD to read. That doesn't mean it was a bad book, just that I was overwhelmed. So many other readers have and will adore this book!

I think this book as a retelling is done amazingly well. It reads like a fairytale all the way through, the repetition (though by the end I wanted to go back and count just how many time the word "breast(s)" was in the text), the insta-love, the transformation throughout, the monster, the maiden, the wizard, the prince. I think most retellings fall short of managing what this book does.

Highly recommend if you can handle a lot of dark themes!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!

Juniper & Thorn is a glorious fever dream of a book. Gilded with hints of well known-tales, but rotten to the core underneath the glamour, Juniper & Thorn grabs you by the throat and pulls you along for the ride. Unlike any fairy tale you’ve heard before, Ava Reid artfully mixes horror and fantasy to deliver a grotesque and aching tale. This is the type of story where you will absolutely not be able to look away as it unfolds and will still be thinking of it after it ends.

I highly recommend Juniper & Thorn! Ava Reid writes very lyrically, with vivid images and sensory details. I would recommend you check content warnings, as there is some very heavy and graphic material. Ava Reid handles it well, intrinsically weaving it into the gruesome tale and not using the material for shock value. This would be a great book for fans of Allison Saft (Down Comes the Night) and Lauren Blackwood (Within These Wicked Walls). But make no mistake, this is an adult fairy tale with plenty of painful lessons along the way and no guarantee of a happy ending. Fans of dark sisterhood, twisted retellings, magic demanding painful prices, and lyrical writing will enjoy Juniper & Thorn!

Juniper & Thorn releases June 21, 2022. Thank you to Ava Reid, Harper Voyager, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, Wordpress blog, and Barnes & Noble etc

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.
Did I just read my first gothic horror? And did I give it 5⭐️? Do I want more?
All signs point to —> YES!

Ava Reid just made the Brothers Grimm look like Mother Geese. *cue maniacal laughter*

Juniper & Thorn, a gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree (a tale from Brothers Grimm) is about Marlinchen, the youngest of three sisters, and her desperate attempt to squelch the tyranny of her domineering, xenophobic wizard father. One night her sisters pressure her to attend The Royal Ballet, Marlinchen finds herself entranced by the lead dancer, giving her a reason to try break free of the magical bonds that her father has crafted. But first, she must unlock the mysteries behind a monster that may or may not live beyond her family’s gates.

Let me tell you a true story. Not being a synopsis reader and going solely by the gorgeous cover, I totally thought this was a YA fantasy akin to Erin A. Craig. I even recommended it to a friend only a third way in. Cue to my surprised face shortly after that message because y’all, this is DARK. Capital dark with an exclamation point. It’s adult gothic horror. There are trigger warnings. Let me know if you need them.

Here are the reasons why I loved this book so much. I’m a sucker for the word susurration. Ava Reid writes exceptionally beautiful prose. The fairy tale itself felt so immersive—the plot was bingeworthy and there were twists I didn’t see coming. The Russian setting was so eerily atmospheric that even I didn’t want Marlinchen to go outside. Just kidding, I loved traveling through the garden and nearby city…at night.
The relationships between the characters explored grief and trauma in both the negative and positive with dynamic interactions that only added to such a wonderfully told tale. The deliciously visceral scenes made me cringe, shocked me to my core, and gave me all of the emotions.

This book has cast a spell on me in the best way possible. If you are a fan of gothic horror, you should definitely read Juniper & Thorn, but first share your favorites with me. I need more.

Thank you to @harpervoyagerus for the opportunity to read and review this book.

(6/21/2022) 5 stars.

Have been waiting to publish this one for a long time and now that it's release day, HAPPY JUNIPER AND THORN RELEASE DAY! Congratulations to Ava Reid for creating another astonishing novel. She doesn't shy away from delving into dark topics and subject matter and although it sometimes makes continuing on difficult, that doesn't mean it's the quality of the material. It's important going in to understand that there are very mature themes and discussion of difficult and potentially triggering topics like pedophilia, sexual assault etc. But that doesn't take away from the story that Ava Reid has woven. Her prose is as lovely as ever, and I love her stories as they draw from Eastern European fairytales. Her characters are always complex and multi-dimensional. They always feel very real and the relationships are always interesting to navigate. The story is grim, grisly, traumatic. But that is what it is meant to be and meant to portray and Ava Reid has done a wonderful job. She is 2/2 in my opinion for great books.

This book is about human evil and dark magic versus a desire for freedom and love. I was confused by how dark the story was at first and then surprised by how good it was. I read it twice so that I could properly appreciate it.

Once there was a wizard who lived in a house on a relatively small plot of land near a large, bustling city. The wizard had used some dark magic that left him always ravenous. No matter how much he ate, he was never full. His wife, whom he had turned into a bird, was dead. He hated change and hated the bustling, busy city that had grown up near his land.

He had three young daughters that he kept strictly confined on their small property. Each daughter had her own magic - and secrets. He exploited their talents to make money, particularly that of the youngest daughter Marlinchen. Marlinchen's magic required her to touch the patrons, usually men, which she hated.

The two oldest daughters talked their younger sister into sneaking out and going to the city with them, to see a ballet. Marlinchen was captivated by the excitement of the city and more so by the ballet, particularly the principal dancer. She met him outside the opera house before the performance. He is a gorgeous young man who is under the thumb of his mentor while she is similarly controlled by her father. It was wonderful to see her begin to bloom, while she also began to understand the true horror of her home life and the history of her family.

I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher Avon Books via NetGalley. It was my pleasure to read and review this book. All opinions here are my own.

I find it difficult to rate this book. On one hand, it might be one of the best-written books I've ever read. Some of the turns of phrase here hit me bone-deep. On the other hand, I'm not sure I even liked the experience of reading it.

Reid's previous book, The Wolf and the Woodsman, was one I found to be slightly overwrought with atmosphere and the magic system one I found so repellant it took a lot of my enjoyment away from reading it. I think Juniper & Thorn is a much more cohesive story with compelling character arcs that end in gruesome yet satisfying ways for the narrative and there really isn't more I can ask for in a book.

This book is a disgusting, gross, stunning, twisted fairy tale about the stories we hear and the way what you wish for can come to you in ways that bring out the monster in you. The trappings of a good fairy tale are here: three witchy sisters, oppressed and terrorized by their cursed father. I don't really want to even go into the plot here because I think part of the journey of this book is the way Reid plays on your conceptions about what a story like this should be and seeps those trappings in trauma so even if we get a satisfying ending, it's one that fits the universe Reid has created and not what we thought we wanted.

I had to take frequent breaks while reading this book. It does not let up or let you forget exactly what kind of story this is. That being said, the writing is drenched in some of the most clever metaphors I've ever read, the prose dripping with vivid imagery that had me highlighting constantly.

I can't even begin to scratch the surface on the content warnings here so please seek those out as some of the themes and issues the book deals with include sexual violence, assault, disordered eating and more.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Haper Voyager for the opportunity to read an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! Ava Reid’s debut, The Wolf and the Woodsman, was one of my favorite books in 2021 so to say that I was excited to read this book is an understatement. I couldn’t wait to dive into this story and once I did I read almost the entire book in a single day simply because I didn’t want to put it down. This is a very dark tale and I would encourage readers to check out the content warnings before picking this one up.

This story is told from the point of view of a young witch, Marlinchen, who lives with her father, a wizard living under a curse. Marlinchen and her two older sisters must deal with his cruel ways but they have found a way to escape to the city to see the ballet while he sleeps. This is where she meets Sevas, the principal dancer in the show. Even though Marlinchen isn’t as beautiful as her two older sisters, she wins the eye of the young dancer. The world that Marlinchen and Sevas live in is often cruel and decisions about their lives are frequently made by others but they hope to change that.

I grew to like Marlinchen pretty quickly and hated the way she was treated. I really wanted to see some positive changes come into her life. She worked so hard to keep her father happy and was never appreciated. The story itself was exciting. There were some pretty big surprises that came into play in the story. Because of Marlinchen’s father’s magic, anything could happen in this tale which kept things really interesting. I thought that the writing was excellent and loved the way that the vivid descriptions helped to bring the story to life.

I would recommend this book to others. This was an incredibly imaginative and well-written tale that kept me glued to the pages. I have not read The Juniper Tree so I can’t say how this book compares but it was an entertaining read on its own. I look forward to reading more of this author’s work in the future.

I received an advanced review copy of this book from Harper Voyager.

Wow, wow, wow this book. I’m a feeling a lot of things after reading it, but most of all I’m feeling seen. This book was like stepping through the halls of my soul. It resonated so deeply with me, and feels like a great big “YOU MATTER” in so many ways. ♥️

First of all, Juniper and Thorn is an adult gothic horror fantasy. Don’t let “retelling” lead you to believe this is a whimsical fairytale. There are certainly fairytale aspects of the book, but The Juniper Tree is already a dark story, and Reid reimagines it in ways that only they could do (and they do it well!). One of the purposes of the horror genre is to leave readers unsettled and if you feel that way after finishing this book, all I can say is: Good! Mission accomplished!

Personally, I delighted in every bewildering moment of it. Again, it resonated deeply with me and I think many who have experienced similar traumas and violence will feel the same way. I greatly appreciated the way Reid carefully and accurately represents the effects of sexual trauma, particularly through Marlinchen’s intrusive thoughts and fixation on specific body parts, which tend to be hypersexual in nature. This is a very common behavior and even coping mechanism in folks who have experienced sexual trauma and violence particularly CSA. (There are reviews out there clutching pearls over this and making it out to be gratuitous or gross or unnecessary or disgusting, and simply put it’s disappointing and disheartening to see, as someone who actually lives these types of thoughts and behaviors. It’s not helpful rhetoric on SA or CSA at all and completely misses what I feel is one of the central themes of this book. Again, reminder here that it is a horror book borrowing from an already horrifying story.)

Reid has been frank and open about how much of this book reflects their own experiences and I felt like they handled that portrayal through the perspective of a main character masterfully. Simply put, it’s not something we see often in genre fiction. Characters who go through similar experiences are supposed to Get Good With A Sword™ and slay dragons and topple evil and dismantle authoritarian governments. Rather, Marlinchen isn’t a character that’s going to lead a rebellion or sacrifice themself for the greater good or take down a ruthless king. Instead she felt REAL. Marlinchen is smart and resourceful and has an innate desire to not just survive, but to live and experience everything the world has to offer.

And when she meets Sevas and they discover how much of their experiences mirror one another? *chef’s kiss* Marlinchen and Sevas have both been treated in unspeakable ways by the people they should be able to trust and rely on more than one another (common for those who have experienced SA, particularly CSA), and there’s an innate beauty in seeing Marlinchen and Sevas them come together and discover how much power they hold and feed into the other.

There is satisfying romance to root for throughout this book as well and it balanced the horror themes well. Sevas is the himbo fantasy love interest I didn’t know I needed, but I’m taking him home with me! You saw it here first!

Simply put, Juniper & Thorn is a dark book with dark themes and dark consequences. It’s a story of two souls valued only for what they can do, rather than who they are, and the unraveling of the world around them that happens when they stand together.

Again, if this book leaves you feeling unsettled, then it’s done what it’s supposed to do!

I won’t get into a long list of trigger warnings on this book because as a horror novel, it’s safe to assume there will be potentially triggering content. Pointedly, there is depictions of (childhood) sexual assault and trauma (both post experience and seen through flashback), body horror, gore, bulimia, animal death, violence, and more. If you’re at all familiar with The Juniper Tree, then it’s safe to assume this book has a similar level of content. Finally, this is an adult novel.

Between The Wolf and the Woodsman and this book, Reid has found themselves solidly in my favorite fantasy authors and I’m looking forward to everything that comes from them in the future! This book was a win in so many ways for me, and I feel as though I’ve found a kindred soul in Reid’s storytelling.

3.75
Thank you to Harper Voyager for sending me an ARC of this book to read and review! This was dark and twisty. Not necessarily in a bad way, I just don't know if all the dark and violent ideas are for me. That being said, I did really enjoy Marlinchen as the narrator and main character. It was interesting to see her relationships with her sisters, her father and others unfold. The writing was stunning and so many of the descriptions really stuck out to me in a good way. I did feel a bit lost sometimes with the timeline of the story. The magic was unique and had more of that darkness vibe attached to it, but I really was intrigued as I was reading. Overall I did like this one.

3.5
Let’s take a moment for this cover because I was living for it❤️
If you enjoyed The Wolf and The Woodsman, you’ll likely enjoy this as well. Ava Reid has absolutely lovely prose and definitely knows how to write imagery and mood. It was a great read with just that alone. However, I’ve seen some people say that the characters were hard to connect with and, while that wasn’t necessarily the case for me, I can see how or why it would be. They could feel overly sexualized and one dimensional at times. Still, I had a good time reading this. Just keep in mind that it is a dark fantasy and does have Trigger Warnings such as : SA, pedophilia, violence, incest, etc.

Juniper & Thorn is a tough book. Plot-wise, it's dark and gut-churning. The reading experience, to me, often felt like wading through thick honey - rich, but slow going. And given that I absolutely loved Ava Reid's previous book, The Wolf and the Woodsman, I really wanted to like this book. But ultimately, I found that I just couldn't enjoy it.

The best things about Juniper & Thorn are also the worst. The plot felt daring to me, harkening back to the most gruesome fairy tales and folktales. But daring does not necessarily mean fun to read, and I often felt like I was plodding through a lot of mess to find the nuggets of good story. The writing, too, is lush and gorgeous, but there were also just so so many similes and metaphors. Too many. Every description had one. To the point where eventually I just wished someone had thought to rein the writer back a bit.

The pacing of the book was another odd point. It had the rhythm of the kind of tales it clearly drew on, but stretched out to the length of a novel, that sort of slow, meandering type of storytelling doesn't necessarily work. I was constantly frustrated with how slowly things were moving and how long it was taking Marlinchen to put the pieces together.

It's possible that this just wasn't the right book for me - what I found to be slow going and over-described might enchant other readers. But in the end, I was mostly just glad to be done with it.

3/5

First, I’ll start by saying that I struggle to explain why I like books; it’s easier to point to things I didn’t like. As it is, I’ve struggled to gather my thoughts on why I enjoyed this book so much. It might be the vivid and atmospheric writing or the stories woven in throughout that tie into the themes of the main plot. Either way, Juniper & Thorn is a beautiful yet gruesome story to which I will keep returning.

Juniper & Thorn is the gothic retelling of my dreams. The prose is lovely, and before the story even begins, it’s what draws you in.

It’s dark and atmospheric but hard to read at times.

Marlinchen is an isolated girl, confined to her house with only her father and two sisters. Marlinchen receives abuse from everyone, which has messed with how she acts and thinks of herself.

Juniper & Thorn follows Marlinchen and Sevas as they try to escape from abuse and manipulation.

CW: (taken directly from author’s Goodreads)

Gore and body horror
Child sexual abuse; incest
Cannibalism
Antisemitism, xenophobia, and scientific racism
Physical and psychological abuse by family members;
gaslighting
Self-harm and suicidal ideation
Bulimia; graphic descriptions of vomiting
Animal death

Ava Reid has done it again: created a modern gothic masterpiece that is raw, and real, and brimming with truth. I absolutely loved last year’s The Wolf and the Woodsman, and to return to that same world with another character is a real treat.

Juniper and Thorn, a gothic horror retelling of the fairytale the Juniper Tree, follows Marlinchen, a girl who is put in a terrible position and has to find a way to protect herself and those she loves. Set in the same world as Reid’s debut novel, Juniper and Thorn is about magic, monsters, trauma, healing, love, and power. As the last true witches, Marlinchen and her two sisters spend their days as little more than a tourist trap, treating their clients with archaic remedies and nostalgic charm for days before the city began shifting from magic to industry. Marlinchen spends her days working and trying to placate her tyrannical, xenophobic, wizard father, who keeps his daughters sequestered from the outside world… but at night, Marlinchen and her sisters sneak out to enjoy the city and its revels, particularly the new ballet theater, where Marlinchen meets a dancer she can’t help but start to fall for. There’s always a price though, and soon, as Marlinchen’s visits to the ballet grow more fervent and frequent, so does the danger of her father’s rage and magic. And beneath it all is a monster lurking in the mist, full of hate and an old-world power. With the world caught between history and progress, blood and desire, it’s down to Marlinchen and her magic to keep the city and herself safe.

As always, I found myself enamored by Ava Reid’s lyrical prose and the breath of life she infuses in her words. Characters and worlds come to life off the page, even those stained with unimaginable horrors. This is not a novel for the faint of heart (I mean, it’s a gothic horror novel… you should know both of those things have the ability to mess you up really good), so make sure to check out the trigger warnings listed below:

-Gore/body horror
-Child sexual abuse, incest, physical and psychological abuse from family members, gaslighting
-Cannibalism
-Antisemitism, xenophobia, scientific racism
-Self-harm, suicidal ideation
-Bulimia, graphic depictions of vomiting
-Animal death

Overall, if you think this book might not be for you because of the trigger warnings, listen to your gut and stay safe in your reading. I promise though that this is a story about so much more than that— it’s about strength in the face of and despite horrific things, and although Marlinchen might be a quieter character, her story certainly is not.

A hauntingly beautiful story that's set in the world of The Wolf and the Woodsman, although I had to DNF it due to the triggering content! I thought I was in a more prepared/better mindset than I was when requesting it, and ultimately had to DNF. Still, I really enjoyed what I read of it!

Juniper & Thorn is a loose retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale “The Juniper Tree,” incorporating aspects of the original tale but ultimately telling it’s own story. Our main character is Marlinchen, the daughter of a wizard who refuses to let her or her two older sisters leave the house. When the three sneak out to attend the ballet, Marlinchen becomes entranced with the male principal dancer. Meanwhile, there is a string of gruesome murders happening in the city, and the penny presses are speculating the murderer may not be human. First of all: trigger warnings. This book features physical and psychological abuse, sexual abuse of children, depiction of bulimia, and violent, gory animal death. So please beware of all that before jumping into this book. Also note, all of this content means that this is NOT a YA book. There’s a trend of labeling all fantasy books by women, especially retellings, as YA. But this is very much meant for an adult audience.

This book is simply spectacular. Reid’s writing is lush, vivid, and perfectly suited to a dark fairy tale like this. I will say, this does make some of the darker scenes even more disturbing. There was a scene featuring animal death that shook me quite hard. I generally stop reading a book when something like that comes up, so it’s a credit to Reid’s skill as an author that I kept going. The book was too good to stop. Her characters are complex and engaging, and I found myself so invested in Marlinchen. I also loved the way she weaved different fairy tales together; while this is technically a retelling of “The Juniper Tree,” she also incorporates some aspects of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses,” “Cinderella,” Russian folklore, and more.

The one flaw I found with the book was the love story. While I loved both of the characters, I did feel a bit like insta-love to me. To be fair, the initial attraction is clearly portrayed as lust, but it becomes far deeper than that after only a few interactions. It’s ultimately a small complaint since there was so much more to enjoy in the book, but it is something that stood out to me.

Overall, Juniper & Thorn is a wonderfully written dark fairy tale well-suited for fans of Naomi Novik and Gregory Maguire. It’s disturbing at times, but I cannot recommend it enough.

This was a very dark book which I didn't realize until I had already gotten around 20% in. I think the writing and setting was the strong point of the book. The characters (besides the main character) didn't seem fully developed and I wish we had gotten more development for them. Overall, it was a very atmospheric book with beautiful writing.

This book started really good but then halfway through it just got so slow and so dry. There was just so much but so little happening and this book seemed to rely really heavily on bookish tropes like the missing mother, evil sister, love at first sight, etc.

Also TW for bulimia for some weird reason that had nothing to do with the story and didn’t help the plot.

This was a heart achingly good book.

There’s magic, love, and deceit.
The world building is phenomenal.

I gasped. My heart broke.
My felt so proud of Marlichen.

Thanks to @netgalley and @hapervoyager for this ARC! #juniperandthorn comes out 6/21