Did I FINALLY get another #24in24 completed?? This shouldn't have taken me so long to get to. I loved The Wolf and the Woodsman, and then I saw this was a Mashup of horror and retellings, I needed this.
JUNIPER & THORN - Ava Reid (Released June 21st, 2022)
You can see my review for THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN here!
Book Description:
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.
My Thoughts: 5/5 stars
I wasn't anticipating the gore and body horror in this, and I'm not mad about it. At all. If you don't want gore and horror with your fairytales, then you may want to skip this retelling of The Juniper Tree. There is some sexual content that I know was divisive on some reviews - so I do recommend checking out the list of content/trigger warnings that the author shares on Goodreads.
This is dark in every sense of the word. The atmosphere, the characters, the plot. Just everything, and I loved all of it. I wasn't too familiar with the fairytale, so I did check out The Juniper Tree prior to reading this, and I'm glad I did! Things got brutal and hard to read at times, but I think that Reid handles a lot of these topics with compassion and is able to weave an endearing story that keeps you gripped.
I can't wait to see what Reid comes out with next! I'm hoping for more darkness and gore and horror goodness!
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