Spooktastic Review: Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

This year, I’m excited to take part in the Spooktastic Reads event hosted by Imyril at There’s Always Room for One More, Annemieke at A Dance With Books, Ariana at The Book Nook, Jorie Loves A Story, Lisa at Dear Geek Place. Spooktastic Reads is a casual spinnoff of Wyrd and Wonder celebrating spooky fantasy in honor of Halloween. This week, I’m reviewing Ava Reid’s dark and enchanting gothic horror novel, Juniper & Thorn and I’m planning to dive into some lesbian horror-romance before the month ends!

This post contains affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure for more information. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Blurb

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.

Review of

• Format: physical copy
• Pacing: medium
• Plot or character-driven: mix of plot and character driven
• Multiple POVs: no
• Representation: m/f romance

This was definitely one of the weirder books I’ve read, and I don’t think it will be for everyone. It’s a gory, dark exploration of emotional and sexual abuse told within a fairytale. I loved the use of Marlinchen as an unreliable narrator and thought it added to the theme of abuse making people doubt their own perception. 

I really felt myself pulled into this story and unable to stop thinking about it when I had to put it down.  The bloody imagery and mystery surrounding the many layers of magic and control Marlinchen’s father wove into his household captured my attention. I felt on edge trying to predict what he might do next or if he’d already laid the perfect trap. 

I also really enjoyed the romance. Marlinchen and Sevastyan became quickly infatuated with each other, bonding over their mutual desire to escape their current circumstances. It was clear that to both of them, the other represented freedom, which added depth and a little risk to their relationship. I couldn’t help rooting for them and hoping they would still see themselves as compatible when they weren’t just desperate to escape.

The most layered and tragic part of the story was Marlinchen’s relationship to her sisters. The whole story, I wanted them to grow close because of the abuse they all suffered from their father, but relationships are more complicated than that. Their father’s abuse only stoked feelings of rivalry and resentment among the sisters as they each tried to find relief from father’s abuse at each other’s expense. I was really happy with how this theme was explored throughout the story and Ava Reid’s willingness to show the ugly side of survival. 

I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes gothic horror, but ESPECIALLY to fans of Crimson Peak!

You’ll Like This Book if You Enjoy…

• Vivid imagery with lots of gore
• Dark stories with a silver lining
• Kind and noble love interests
• Books that explore trauma/abuse

Where to find Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

Have you read Juniper & Thorn? Let’s chat in the comments!