Take a photo of a barcode or cover
titalindaslibrary 's review for:
Juniper & Thorn
by Ava Reid
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Based on what I’d heard and what others had told me, this should have been a 5-star, new favorite read, and I went in fully anticipating that. And yet…something about this just didn’t work for me. I think this is a book that’s for a certain niche. You either get it or you don’t, and unfortunately I do not 🥲
I really admire the complex and entirely different types of FMCs Ava Reid can write. A Study in Drowning introduced me to Effy, the gentle, strong scholar. Evike was a snarling outcast who, despite some “not-like-other-girls” moments, won me over. Marlinchen is one I struggled to connect with the most, despite being able to personally understand aspects of her sheltered upbringing.
There were several repetitious phrases when it comes to her internal dialogue that drove me up the wall.
- The nipple accusations weren't kidding. This girl is constantly looking at/thinking about nipples. Whether they're her mom's, her sister's, or her own, the constant reference to them makes me wonder if I'm missing something about what this represents?
- Okay, by chapter 1, I GOT IT. She’s SO ugly, SO wild-haired, and SO plain. Why would ANYONE even LOOK at her? I’m sorry, I started rolling my eyes every time I saw those descriptors - it happened so often!
And towards the end when she confesses these “I’m so ugly” thoughts to her love interest, I couldn’t help thinking of a previous read, Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang, and the way that book addressed ugliness. It was a much more satisfying commentary on this topic, one that Juniper & Thorn dismisses with a “There there, but you’re not plain-faced to ME!” 🙄
Speaking of love interests…this is very much an insta-love connection, and it’s my least favorite thing in the world.
The first 60% of this book is quite meandering, with beautiful, poetic prose that spends all its time describing the dishes Marlinchen makes for her father, two random nights of escapades (aka: the ballet hottie!), and the family’s monstrous garden and relationships.
In the end…I think I should’ve DNFed because even that wild, horror-filled ending couldn’t save this for me.