Boundless Press | Juniper & Thorn: A Novel

Juniper & Thorn: A Novel

Ava Reid

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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.

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Posts about this title from Boundless Press

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Sep 11 2023

the 40+ books on my fall TBR 🍁🍂 fall book recommendations ☕️

tell me your fall book recommendations in the comments! 🍁🍂

🎃 books mentioned 🎃

Misc. ↳ rouge ↳ she walks in shadows ↳ silver nitrate

Dark Academia ↳ in these hallowed halls: a dark academia anthology ↳ vita nostra ↳ plain bad heroines

“Classic” horror ↳ rebecca ↳ interview with a vampire ↳ dark tales

Real World Horror ↳ natural beauty ↳ lakewood ↳ her body and other parties ↳ bad cree ↳ weight of blood

Vampires ↳ vampires of el norte ↳ a dowry of blood ↳ masters of death ↳ house of hunger ↳ the book eaters

Haunted House books ↳ a house with good bones ↳ she is a haunting ↳ the hacienda ↳ just like home

Deathly Retellings ↳ a haunting on the hill ↳ the death i gave him ↳ one for my enemy

Cozy fantasies ↳ legends & lattes ↳ the very secret society of irregular witches ↳ venco ↳ emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries

Fantasies ↳ nettle & bone ↳ gods of jade and shadow ↳ juniper & thorn ↳the wolf & the woodsman ↳ the bone orchard ↳ the adventures of amina al-sirafi

Other ↳ my dark vanessa ↳ station eleven ↳ glass hotel ↳ sea of tranquility

socials 🤍 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisstoryaintover/ 🤍 twitter: https://twitter.com/jananiekvelu 🤍 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisstoryaintover?lang=en 🤍 storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thisstoryaintover 🤍 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/thisstoryaintover

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nuh-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

40 books

Posts about this book from across Bindery

Death by TBR Books\ \ Stephanie\ \ • Apr 27

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I shared a post on Instagram recently but wanted to give even more book recs on here for Pocahontas characters and the reasons I chose each one. \ \ THOMAS \ \ The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling & Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid\ \ Both stories center control, repression, and systems that look orderly on the surface but are quietly rotting underneath. That tension between logic and something deeply wrong mirrors Thomas perfectly.\ \ KOCOUM\ \ Never Whistle at Night: Back for Blood & Bad Cree by Jessica Johns\ \ These both ground horror in ancestry, land, and generational memory. Together, they reflect Kocoum’s connection to community and the idea that the past is never truly separate from the present.\ \ JOHN \ \ The Hacienda by Isabel Canas & The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell\ \ Both books trap their characters in controlled, domestic spaces that slowly turn hostile. That loss of authority in the face of something supernatural lines up with John’s need for certainty.\ \ RATCLIFFE \ \ Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin & The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson\ \ These are both brutal, society-breaking narratives where survival requires adaptation to constant violence. They match Ratcliffe’s world, where chaos isn’t an anomaly, it’s the baseline.\ \ FLIT \ \ Maeve Fly by CJ Leede & A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers\ \ Both lean into indulgence, performance, and female rage with a sharp, self-aware edge. That mix of chaos and control fits Flit’s unpredictable, almost theatrical energy.\ \ MEEKO \ \ Nothing Tastes As Good by Luke Dumas & Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson\ \ These stories start soft and intimate before shifting into obsession and transformation. That progression mirrors Meeko’s curiosity and loyalty evolving into something more complicated.\ \ PERCY \ \ Diavola by Jennifer Thorne + Rouge by Mona Awad\ \ Both focus on vanity, image, and identity unraveling under pressure. They reflect Percy’s arc from surface-level entitlement to a more self-aware, fractured perspective.\ \ POCAHONTAS \ \ White Horse by Erika T. Wurth + Shutter by Ramona Emerson\ \ These both center cultural memory, spiritual responsibility, and connection to land. Together, they align with Pocahontas’s role as someone who carries history rather than escapes it.\ \ I'm definitely going to do more of these types of posts. Everyone has their own niche on Instagram and I think since I love watching and reading so much it's a great way to combine the two. Also, the books for each character are readalikes so generally if you like one you'll like the other.\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login

Book Recs for Pocahontas Characters

16 books

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Dec 19 2025

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🕎 happy hanukkah & happy holidays to everyone!

🕎 happy hanukkah & happy holidays to everyone! i know this can be a really challenging time of year for a number of reasons, so sending all the love to all of you.

📚 books mentioned: - The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez - Model Home by Rivers Solomon - Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott - Ring of Solomon by Aden Polydoros - Heavyweight: A Family Story of the Holocaust, Empire, and Memory by Solomon J. Brager - The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero - The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan - Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

👗💄: - dress is from Cider - eyeshadow is from Ourbella - eyeliner is from Kaleidos - (also if you have a question about my makeup or something i’m wearing, most of it is curated in my shopmy!)

thank you to Tor Books, Anchor, Inkyard/HarperCollins, William Morrow, Peachtree Teen, and Erewhon Books for the gifted copies!

#fantasybooks #horrorbooks #jewishbooks #jewishauthors #happyhanukkah #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #diversebookstagram #nycbookstagram #bookstagram @torbooks @mcdbooks @vintageanchorbooks @aaknopf @inkyardpress @harpercollins @williammorrowbooks @peachtreeteen @erewhonbooks @harpervoyagerus @ourbella.us @kaleidosmakeup

8 books

Bookwyrm Ink\ \ Bookwyrm Ink\ \ • Aug 10 2025

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Another round of books I recommend from an airport. ✈️ London Heathrow!

Another round of books I recommend from an airport. ✈️

8 books

Daph's Reads 📚✨\ \ Daphne\ \ • Mar 25 2025

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A guide to Ava Reid books!

A guide to Ava Reid books! 📚✨🔮💀⚔️🩸

#booktok #avareid #thewolfandthewoodsman #juniperandthorn #astudyindrowning #fantasybooks #bookrecs #bookrecommendations #fantasybookrecs #fablefortheendoftheworld

5 books

Skies Press\ \ Emma\ \ • Jan 14 2025

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10 Book Recs for TikTok before I go (Part 1)

Don’t forget me!! (or my recs) 😭 #bookrecs #booktok #bookrecommendations #booksilove #favoritebooks #fantasybooks #scifibooks #themaskofmirrors #macarrick #thespearcutsthroughwater #simonjimenez #adarkershadeofmagic #veschwab #littlethieves #margaretowen #juniperandthorn #avareid #coldhearted #heatherguerre #wolfshifterromance #romancebooks #emmaskiesreads

6 books

Skies Press\ \ Emma\ \ • Aug 20 2024

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Submit your questions for a Q&A with Ava Reid!

# Our next author interview podcast episode is none other than Ava Reid! Author of The Wolf & the Woodsman, Juniper & Thorn, A Study in Drowning, and the just-released Lady Macbeth

4 books

Skies Press\ \ Emma\ \ • Jun 9 2024

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Needed a treat today 😌

Needed a treat today 😌 as opposed to all the other times i go to the bookstore when i just *want* a treat

8 books

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • May 19 2024

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book recommendations ... based on broadway musicals!

2 books