Juniper & Thorn: A Novel

Written by Ava Reid

Narrated by Stina Nielsen

From highly acclaimed, bestselling author Ava Reid comes a gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree, set in another time and place within the world of The Wolf and the Woodsman, where a young witch seeks to discover her identity and escape the domination of her abusive wizard father, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Catherynne M. Valente.

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Jun 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9780062973191

Ava Reid

Ava Reid was born in Manhattan and raised right across the Hudson River in Hoboken but currently lives in Palo Alto. She has a degree in political science from Barnard College, focusing on religion and ethnonationalism. 

Reviews for Juniper & Thorn

[Shelby Caitlyn Russo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lovely, artfully written, a good pallet cleanser book for between other series’s

[Eda Savaseri · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have to say this was an interesting read and I found the narrator to be excellent. This was my third Ava Reid book and I love how she writes but this dark fairy tale retelling was quite dark and disturbing in some parts. I still found it to be worth reading although this was my least favorite of the 3 books I've read from her.

[haleyjahnel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Dark Russian Fairytale vibes. I'm a huge fan of the atmosphere

[vinniewaffle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mysterious, dark, fascinating. I loved every creepy bit of it and the prose is sososo beautiful. Trigger warnings: sexual and mental abuse

[Marcy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Woof. This is the kind of fairy tale that reminds you of what fairy tales used to be: a dark exploration of the haunted woods of humanity. It’s beautifully written, and the story seems to reflect a truth about abusive relationships that transcends this magical landscape. It’s relatable, in all the worst ways, and uses the symbols and metaphors to really paint a picture of what it’s like to be in this kind of situation- trapped in a house with a cursed father.

I’ve read a few reviews about this book online and wanted to address one thing I’ve heard repeated. There were some who weren’t into the love story aspect of this and said it wasn’t believable. As a person who grew up in a situation that mirrored this tale, I gotta tell u, trauma bonding looks a lot like love at first sight. And if you were raised on Disney movies and rom coms, these kind of relationships are what you look for if only because you believe that love can save you.

Her main squeeze in this book is just as fucked up as she is, he just looks pretty on the outside. Wounds recognize wounds. And so I thought the story of her love was a necessary part of it all.

This book is disturbing and triggering, so beware. But I found some catharsis here, so maybe you will too.

[Julie Meiner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The writing style and descriptions were really satisfying, sometimes in an unsettling way. The side characters were a bit one dimensional but imo that made it feel more like a traditional creepy fairytale you might find in grimms’ book. Overall I really liked the story, although the ending felt a bit rushed.

[sidney sever · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Honestly it was better than I expected! Some parts are disturbing and I wasn’t really prepared for it. But, it was moving and the ending was amazing!!

[Wendi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book mixes fairytales and gore into a bitter sweet story. The main character has a quite grace that makes you root for her. I can tell that alot of care and love went into this story.

[Teddi Stothers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lots of TWs to be aware of, but it is brutal and worth the listen.

One TW that I have not seen commonly listed for this book would be the graphic description of eating disorders, particularly binging and purging.

[Republic212 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just as good as Reid’s debut! Can’t wait to read more of her work!

[Paloma Sanchez · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

While I'll concede that the writing is beautiful and immersive, creating a dark, heavy atmosphere, unfortunately I found "Juniper and Thorn" boring. There's really no character development and much of the story repeats itself again and again -how ugly Marlienchen is, how stunning Sevas looks and the meaness of a wretched father. We spend so much time in the fears and traumas of the main character, that I felt the other characters are not really explored. There's also a plotline about a monster killing people, bit given how immersed in the mind of the main character, this story is not as impactful as it should be.

[Kelly Hancock · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I just finished this book, and the overarching thought in my mind is "wtf did I just read?!" I have never read anything else by this author, so I can't say if this book is or isn't similar to her other work. It mostly reminded me of works by Franz Kafka, with its perplexing combination of reality and fantasy. Throughout the entire book, I kept feeling as if I had missed some crucial details. I often had no idea what was going on in the story. My mind immediately fogged over the majority of the mundane repetitive details, barely grasping the gist of the main storyline.

I chose this audiobook because I really enjoy the narrator. Her voices and the style with which she reads the story were the only thing I honestly enjoyed.

One thing some might enjoy was that the author utilizes an exceptionally expansive vocabulary. It reminded me of books I had to read in literature classes to prepare myself for the SATs. Sadly, however, she was often annoyingly repetitive, and the flowery wording did little to improve the quality of the storytelling.

The story is written as a first-person narrative of the main female character. Despite the numerous times in which the author describes certain features of main character, the repetition of the same descriptions did nothing to create any depth. In fact, all of the characters fell flat, with most of the author's attention given only to their physical appearances. I will admit a personal bias towards books that feature strong, intelligent, female characters, with a story arc that demonstrates the growth and development of the characters along their journies. That being said, I found myself loathing the main character very early into the book; a feeling that did not change by the end.

The main character seemed meek, self-deprecating, and without personality, wit, or motivation. She bored me so much, that I found myself rolling my eyes by the 3rd or 4th time the character repeated the same exact words to describe herself, her sisters, her history, etc. It was like reading a grade school essay where someone regurgitates their words over and over, just to rack up the word count. When a story is presented in first-person narrative, it's important to develop a character with whom the reader can empathize or at least find interesting. Otherwise, reading their story feels much like being stuck on a long flight next to a deplorable person who won't stop nagging about petty things about which you couldn't care less.

The story "progressed" without actually adding much information, entertainment, personality, or depth of any kind. The relationship that develops between the main character and her love interest makes no sense. It happens so suddenly and without reason that it essentially seems to occur for the simple purpose of providing the author an opportunity to write sex scenes, which consequently just felt awkward to read.

To make matters worse, the story is filled with taboos and trigger warnings, and not in a way that felt necessary or interesting. There is bulemia, sexual assault, pedophilia, abuse, bestiality, etc. Often times, information was presented in such a vague and confusing manner that the reader is left to assume or imagine what has occurred. By the end of the book, I was still not certain if details of the story were things I had only imagined through my own interpretations/inferences.