Juniper & Thorn av Ada Reid

 

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 drawn upon her to keep her city safe and find hers place within it.

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Den här boken valde jag att läsa/lyssna på då den var en av Hannahs (a Clockwork readers) favoritböcker från förra året, och jag är verkligen glad att jag gjorde det, för det är en av de bättre av dessa booktubers favoritböcker från 2022 som jag valt att läsa 2023.

Jag gillade den lite hemska och mörka berättelsen baserad på folktro och mytologi av hemska monster och blodig magi etc. Och som ljudbok fungerade den bra, då den inte var en bok jag tappade koncentation och intresse från så jag var med hela vägen och hade mera problem med att sluta lyssna då det var dags att sova.