Juniper & Thorn: A Novel

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Marlinchen is a witch, youngest of three daughters to a cursed wizard, living out her days in a city transforming from magic to industry.

The evening brings escape, as Marlinchen and her sisters creep into the city to partake in its revels and observe the captivating ballet theatre.While you could clearly see where the author pulled inspiration from The Juniper Tree, it is by no means a retelling, just inspired by at best. To simply say “Well, Marlinchen’s sisters are just mean and there’s no room to examine this possible aspect of their mutual experiences of abuse” feels very disappointing to me. 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. marlinchen starts to believe more in herself and learns some of the secrets that have been kept from her. In turn, Marlinchen’s love interest Sevas was entirely endearing and latched on to my heart as the two attempted to escape their situations.

There were lots of things that seemed excessive to me at first—especially some of the things that are highly sexualized—but make total sense within the context of Marlinchen’s trauma. I’m updating this review a bit now that I’ve had some time for the book to settle - and to see some other reactions to it. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.But it isn't just him - Sevas is Yehuli, and his handler Derkach takes every opportunity to remind him that he is "only" a Yehuli boy pulled from the slums. But in the other books I mentioned, there was also room for growth and reconciliation, reckonings and the potential repair of terrible relationships between the siblings once their abuse ended - they acknowledged the things they had done to hurt each other and betray each other while they tried imperfectly to survive in situations that no children are equipped to survive in. If anything, the contrast is the point, because the contrast is the conflict - the magical and mundane worlds, at least to the wizard's eyes, are irreconcilable, and the presence and growth of the city is an active detriment to magic and those who practice it.

This is a perfect example of how to handle seriously disturbing things and actions while being able to keep your audience engaged.It occurs to me that Reid could have taken a much darker turn here—in addition to all the other horrible things that happen in this book, Marlinchen’s lover could easily betray her.

This is a very common behavior and even coping mechanism in folks who have experienced sexual trauma and violence, especially CSA.I don't even know how to rate or review the story (I'm terrible at reviewing books I loved, I just love them). I greatly appreciated the way Reid carefully and accurately represents the effects of sexual trauma, particularly through Marlinchen’s intrusive thoughts and fixation on specific body parts, which tend to be hypersexual in nature. 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. Pointedly, there is depictions of (childhood) sexual assault and trauma (both post experience and seen through flashback), body horror, gore, bulimia, animal death, violence, and more.