Juniper & Thorn: A Novel

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I haven’t had a five star read in almost six months and THE DROUGHT IS OFFICIALLY OVER. FIVE [VERY WEIRD] STARS. The girls have little freedom under the watchful eye of their father, who suffers from a debilitating curse of his own and who refuses to let them leave or see anyone who isn’t a paying client. (And his idea of the services these clients are allowed to pay for runs a long and often disturbing gamut.) When the girls sneak out to the ballet one night, Marlinchen accidentally meets Sevastyan, the theater company’s principal dancer, on whom she develops an instant and obvious crush. 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. 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?

But as young women, they chafe under his rules and sneak out of the house at night. On Marlinchen’s first night out, she is swept away by the ballet performance she sees, and the principal dancer who plays Prince Ivan. Every midnight tryst leaves hope for true love and freedom, but she also risks her father’s magic and rage if she’s ever found out. 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 any one (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.

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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. I missed Reid’s debut The Wolf and the Woodsman a bit ago, but Juniper & Thorn sounded like such a good fit for me that I was delighted to get an ARC. Thanks to NetGalley for that!!! The first thing that I can say about this book is that I wanted to keep reading it very badly and ended up finishing it in a day. There was definitely something about it that drew me in all the way until the end - it has grit and atmosphere and personality in spades. I think a lot of this has to do with the writing style, which I generally found to be beautiful, immersive and effective in creating a sense of a dreadful fairy tale with lots of interesting/charming little details, especially about the stories that Marlinchen loves. I do think it could have been cleaned up in places, however - I definitely noticed certain tics and repetitions and similes of dubious quality. As the last true witches of Oblya, Marlinchen and her sisters, Rose and Undine, are trapped in the gripped of their overbearing wizard father. As the city of Oblya veers away from its magic roots and industry grows, their fathers grip on the girls and their magic grows tighter and tighter by day. But by night, Marlinchen and her sisters sneak from their home to see the wonder of the city. As Marlinchen’s late night escapes grow more frequent, spurred by her lust from a local ballet performer, the stakes grow higher. A monster lingers in the streets of Oblya, waiting to pounce. Marlinchen must keep her city safe while trying to find her new place within it. But personally, I think my favorite thing about this book, and about Ava Reid’s writing, is their protagonists. Ava writes real people. Marlinchen is morally grey in the way in the way that navigating the world is inherently a gray experience, especially when you’re raised within such a limited scope of understanding, especially when you’re taught corrupt and bigoted perspectives, and especially when you’re living with trauma. Ava Reid’s protagonists move about the world doing the best they can to protect themselves and their happiness. Marlinchen is no exception to this. She is the perfect portrayal of a survivor of CSA and abuse by not being perfect. By showing that there is no right way to handle trauma. By showing that every single day is different, but every single day she is alive and doing her best to live for herself. And isn’t that what we’re all doing?

At the same time, I ask that readers, particularly those who do not personally identify with these topics, not pre-judge the book based on content warnings. Nuanced depictions of uncomfortable subject matter have always been crucial to literature - one of the most valuable elements of fiction is its capacity to explore these subjects, shine a light on topics that are traditionally stigmatized, and elevate the voices of those who have been historically silenced. In retrospect, my expectations for this were ramped up high — Novik and Valente’s Eastern European lore-inspired books are some of my most beloved, and my standards were through the roof. Still, I commend Reid for her raw portrayal of womanhood, toxic relationships, and the hope that cycles of abuse can be broken. Marlinchen earned my sympathy and tested my patience; and it is the poignance of her journey that allowed me to overlook most of my gripes. In terms of why I felt the descriptors were inapt: for "Gothic," I can understand where the thought came from in terms of the setting, but it really didn't have any of the atmosphere of a Gothic novel (which is most of what makes a novel Gothic to me). There were fear and supernatural elements present, and it had a good focus on the internal life of our protagonist, as one might expect from Gothic; but the fear was mostly that of if people were going to be an asshole, and the supernatural for the vast portion of the book was the (mostly) comfortably familiar, being that the protagonist Marlinchen and her sisters are witches, and their father a wizard. I never felt the claustrophobia or fear due to supernatural that tends to be what I expect from Gothic, or the presence of revenge/murder/scheming or ghosts of the past invading and altering the now. Juniper & Thorn is the story of a young witch whose life is confined to a family that mistreats her and a father who terrifies her in a rapidly changing world where her family's brand of magic is little more than a tourist trap of the Old Ways. It is about isolation and the desire to be free warring with the fear of the unknown. It's about all the ways an abuser exerts control over their victims in an effort to feel fulfilled in a way that will ultimately never be enough. It's about love and the escape it can bring.Juniper and Thorn is technically set in the same world as The Wolf and the Woodsman (and even brilliantly works in a direct reference to its mythology at one point) but where that story wrestled primarily with issues of faith and belonging, this one explores complex issues of family and personal agency. What does it mean to love someone who hurts you? Who you well know is most likely a literal monster? And how can you claim your own power or recognize your own value when those who are supposed to love you best have always told you you don’t have any of those things? A gothic masterpiece. Reid weaves threads of unsettling horror and abuse with astonishing empathy. Kat Dunn, author of Dangerous Remedy 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. This book is inspired by the original unedited brothers Grimm fairytale The Juniper-Tree which I read before digging into this one. Let me tell ya, that old “fairytale” horrified me, and this story gives it a nice nod and also tells its own story. I’d recommend giving the Grimm tale a read so the horror will be fresh in your brain! I found an audio version on YouTube. 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.

Juniper and Thorn is technically a fairytale, but not in the way we’ve been trained to expect. A magical Gothic horror story of monstrous fathers, untrustworthy sisters, and lost innocence, this is a tale where a heroine has to save herself from a viciously patriarchal system, but she won’t be able to keep the blood off her hands while she does so. (Either figuratively or literally speaking.)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 I had high expectations for this book to the point where I tried to curb them before I started reading because I knew odds were good that when I think a book is going to be THIS good, I’m probably going to be disappointed. Utterly astonishing . . . Juniper & Thorn is the dark fairytale brought to perfection: terrible, and true, and full of teeth.