#juniper and thorn

[freckles-and-books]

These are three of my favorites reads this year, and they all feel like they’re in conversation with each other. Each deals with fairytales in ways that go beyond mere retellings, and each one has stunning prose that really made me fall in love.

[kwc-reads]

birthday book haul!

which of these should I read first?

[stargirlbryce]

Every book I read in 2025: Juniper and thorn by Ava Reid

"I almost laughed. “You would rather me eat your heart than look away in disgust?”

“Of course,” he breathed. “Every time.""

[normalfaerie]

There was something sick in me, something wrong. Even baby birds knew how to shriek, even kittens knew how to mewl, even puppies knew how to whine. Papa had told me I hadn’t even cried when he’d pulled me from between my mother’s thighs. I hadn’t protested when he dragged me through the streets of Oblya, hadn’t protested when Rose had chided me or when Undine had slapped me. My eldest sister was right; I would smile blithely if someone tried to saw off my leg. But no one had ever told me that I was allowed to scream.

- Juniper and thorn by Ava Reid

[thirtythirdhalfbirthday]

"Your love cannot make me less of a monster."

Sevas lets out a breath. "I wouldn't presume my love could do such a thing. I would have you as you are, nothing less."

-Ava Reid, Juniper & Thorn (2022)

"So you are no mortal man. I have seen what mortal men can do. I prefer a monster that shows itself openly."

-Ava Reid, Lady Macbeth (2024)

[beeneedssleep]

This is about that one scene with the hypochondriac guy

[nerves-nebula]

her SISTER is FUCKIN THAT SATYR and her OTHER SISTER is a LESBIAN

[hauntedmeow]

"Let all the bears she meet be friendly and pliant and never men in disguise."

[gaoshunenjoyer]

Here is what happened to our mother. You should know, of course, that there are only two kinds of mothers in stories, and if you are a mother, you are either wicked or you are dead.

Ava Reid, Juniper and Thorn

[deathsweetblossoms]

“Your love cannot make me less of a monster”

Sevas let out a breath. “I wouldn’t presume my love could do such a thing. I would have you as you are, nothing less.”

Juniper and Thorn by @avasreid

(2023 favorite reads)

[strongintherealgay]

Currently reading Juniper and Thorn and I made the mistake of going on tumblr to see what others were saying about it. I always forget that people don't get the horror of abusive & dysfunctional family dynamics when they have either never experienced them or believe that there was nothing wrong with the abuse they experienced. Or the horror of being unable to trust your own memories. Instead people think this is a story just about insta-love, forgetting that infatuation is a thing that can happen instantly, and that often times abuse victims will cling to the first person to show them any kindness.

Anyway, I was a lot like Marlinchen when I was in my abusive home and it is nice to see a character with this complex role in the family learn to escape its confines. This is me cheering on her character arc.

[theredofoctober]

Surprised people are whining about the 'insta love' in Juniper and Thorn between Marlinchen and Sevas. No offence but considering she's barely allowed to leave the house I thought the attraction built between the two and the reasons they connected made sense

I can tell a lot of book reviewers aren't really lovers because I swear falling in love that quickly isn't rare in the real world. I mean, ask anyone gay (meaning me)

Also it was a beautifully written book. So pleased I picked this one up!

[teagrl]

“I almost laughed. “You would rather me eat your heart than look away in disgust?”

“Of course,” he breathed. “Every time.”

So I stepped toward him and took his face into my hands, drawing my thumb across his lips. He shivered under my touch, lashes painting a feathered shadow on his high, slim cheekbone. I tried for as long as I could not to blink, to stare him down to his marrow, to the truth of him. The serpent wound its way up his throat, tightening its body around him like a vise. When I saw his pulse throbbing between the coils of muscle, I pried the serpent off him and let it wind around my wrist instead.

“Perhaps,” I said, “this story can have a happy end.”

The corner of his lip pulled up into a beautiful, crooked smile. “Who says so?”

“I do.”

-Juniper and Thorn

[freckles-and-books]

Next up! I may also try to get to Ava Reid’s A Study in Drowning this fall as well. We will see.

[doyouknowthisjewishcharacter]

Do you know this Jewish character?

[warlock-enthusiast]

Currently reading Juniper and Thorn by Ava Reid and I don't think that a book has ever hit me harder