Juniper & Thorn” reimagines the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “The Juniper Tree,” one of their darkest and most violent fables. Reid leans into Hungarian and Jewish folklore to tell the story of a third daughter trapped in a meagre life by her cursed, tyrannical father, a xenophobic wizard. After slipping away with her sisters to see the ballet, she stumbles across a young man whose deepest desires mirror her own, setting in motion a painful journey toward emancipation. I knew I was reading something special when I found myself scribbling in the margins at 3 a.m., unable to put the book down. I’ve read more than 150 novels in 2022, and nothing comes close to “Juniper & Thorn’s” rich and often vicious imagery. In an era when far too many fantasy novels suffer from unnecessary bloat, this book is the antidote; Reid doesn’t waste a single sentence.

The Wolf and the Woodsman enraptured me last year, with its gorgeously written, rich and dark adult fantasy that expertly wove elements of Jewish mythology and Hungarian history. Juniper & Thorn goes darker and deeper in a way that entranced me even more. Reid has proven themselves as a stunning spell-weaver and I know I will need their next creation in my hands imminently.What was a story except a berry you ate over and over again, until your lips and tongue were red and every word you spoke was poison?” Juniper & Thorn is one of those books that buries itself beneath your skin and refuses to move. It has captured my mind entirely. The Nerd Daily I look forward to anything else Ava Reid may write in the future, especially A Study in Drowning (fall 2023) and will certainly add this book to my collection come June!

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. ♥️ 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. It has just now come to my attention that this is a retelling of the Grimm fairytale The Juniper Tree, so the whole "reads like a fairytale" thing makes a lot of sense now.)

Summary

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! 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! Fairytales are woven in to this narrative as Marlinchen recounts them to herself as she compares them to her life or uses them to make sense of things that have happened to her, or tells them to Sevas, the love interest. She was a child raised on magic and a fairytale codex and since this was a fairytale retelling, it seemed fitting. I always love the incorporation of fairytales and mythology within fantasy books. For the writing, the prose wasn't particularly "pretty" or flowery (and I'm self-admittedly one for whom flowery is often an attraction, and the standards of "pretty" are high), but it wasn't necessarily plain, and I think it came close to that fairytale cadence/voice. The pacing wasn't perfect, but was good overall- I often felt a drag in the middle of many chapters, which were rather long sometimes, but I think the end of each chapter was good about always having a hook. I think if you made it to each chapter's end, you'd be sure to continue on. I don't personally notice or have a preference for these things, but it was a quite intimately told first person past tense narrative. This is a dark and bloody tale, full of magic both otherworldly and familiar, and despite its monsters, it reads like comfort. After you read it, you'll start saving space on your shelf for Ava Reid. Kendare Blake, New York Times bestselling author of Three Dark Crowns

Perhaps most importantly, “Juniper & Thorn” offers a nuanced criticism of how patriarchal structures enable violence against women. Throughout the novel, Marlinchen is constantly seen by her father, her clients, and even herself as an object to be used by the men around her. Because of this, her self-objectification permeates the novel’s narrative style. This makes for a somewhat unsettling read, as the reader’s understanding of Marlinchen — as a young person unjustly robbed of her agency — conflicts with the unforgiving way that she views herself. For the most part, Reid handles this well and navigates this uncomfortable perspective with the necessary compassion and skill.Since humanity began recording their stories, we’ve used fairytales to explore the darkness inside us and around us and explain that monsters can come from within as easily as they can stalk us through the woods. Juniper & Thorn is faithful to that purpose and shows such understanding and reverence to that function fairytales performed, and as custom, also managing to have a happy ending for our dear plain-faced fairytale heroine Marlinchen.

Overall, my biggest issue with this book was how oversexualized it was. I lost count of how many times Marlinchen became hyperfocused on someone’s nipples and if the author had used the words “maidenhead” or “seed” one more time, I probably would have thrown my Kindle across the room. The plot was completely vulgar at points and I put the book down several times, completely nauseated by the content. Nothing about the original fairytale required that level of sexualization. That may be a purely personal preference, but again, I was not prepared for that at all. And I have to say I loved the complex relationship Marlinchen had with her sisters. So many times we read books about siblings being the best of friends, even if that isn’t always what reflects real life. Marlinchen’s relationship with her sisters was messy, was awful, set them apart, showed what they all had to do to themselves and to each other to survive living under their father, regardless if that meant throwing someone else to their father’s rage. I found it fascinating, and horrible, and understandable. 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. It's been a hot second since I read a book that I just could not vibe with on any level, but alas, here we are. JUNIPER & THORN was a disappointment. And while I'd like to think that some of my dislike might have been tempered by a favourable reading of Ava Reid's debut novel THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN (full disclaimer: never read it), or even by some knowledge of the folktale this is purportedly retelling ("The Juniper Tree"), I mostly think that when it all comes down to it.... I'm just not sure this was a well-written book? Or at least, maybe just not a particularly well-edited one? Book Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Fiction, Gothic, Historical, Historical Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Retellings, Romance, Witches

See a Problem?

Folkloric themes and the history of storytelling are neatly folded and baked into every ounce of this text. From the theme of hunger and insatiability used as a metaphor for control, to the plentiful (near overflowing) use of the rule of threes, Ava Reid does not allow us to forget the limited and particular perspective of our story-obsessed main character. Juniper & Thorn is many things, but it is not an easy story told or read. Reid has been upfront about how difficult this was to write and the content warnings therein. But through darkness and abuse, through violence and trauma, there is victory: strength, love, freedom, and light at the end of a long, long tunnel. In this masterful retelling of The Juniper Tree, Reid brings all her talent to bear as we meet Marlinchen, her two sisters, and their cursed, monstrous father living in an otherworldly garden at the heart of a city on the verge of change. I don't think Juniper & Thorn was necessarily a bad book, and I think it will definitely have its fans, but it didn't ultimately work for me. Primarily, I think this is because it wasn't what I'd been led to expect. It was labeled in the blurb descriptor as a "Gothic Horror retelling", but I don't really feel like "Gothic" or "Horror", the parts which had most intrigued me, are accurate descriptors at all. I'd say this is a dark "historical-fantasy-retelling" fantasy romance. By "historical-fantasy-retelling," I mean to evoke that it falls most in that genre of historical fantasy reminiscent of Madeline Miller or Naomi Novik (and presumably Reid's first work, The Wolf and the Woodsman, which I haven't myself read). There's also a strong focus on a romance, and the book is somewhat dark (particularly towards the end).