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girlontheverge's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
A creature feature that unfortunately doesn’t quite deliver.
Part of this is personal preference - I’m not a huge fan of domestic violence themes, especially when it’s a large aspect of the story, although visualising Mattie boot the absolute waste of skin that was William off the mountain was quite satisfying.
I thought that the whole atmosphere of the book was very well done. You felt the cold and the night creep in, and when the birds fell silent it felt very real. Unfortunately I don’t think this book lives up to its promise, it falls (where a lot of books in this genre do) at the last hurdle wherein the ending is too abrupt and leaves us with unsatisfying answers (or none at all as the case is here).
Anyway, it’s over now at least.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence
wheeliechick's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
judassilver's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Drug use and Infertility
bookishb03's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book kicks right off, wasting no time grabbing you and pulling you straight into the life of Mattie. It's definitely tense, and I'd honestly put it more into a thriller category vs 'horror' as is used in the description, but nonetheless it is good!
Wish there was a tad bit more explanation of what the creature looked liked (maybe that's why I wasn't as terrified of it, it's description was a little lacking-besides the claws lmao.)
Wish there was a tad bit more explanation of what the creature looked liked (maybe that's why I wasn't as terrified of it, it's description was a little lacking-besides the claws lmao.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
esterie's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5
a comparison of the monster inside your own home and the monster that lives in the forest
for what i liked:
-the introspective narration and monologue of the main character. she has a dual monologue that intensifies as they story progresses and she remembers events from her past, fluctuating between "mattie" (present) andsamantha (past)
-the writing style was very good and each character had a distinct voice/mannerisms. for instance, one of the characters rambles as he speaks and tends to go off on short tangents, felt very real as to how some people speak under duress.
and now for what didn't land for me:
-the abuse/abduction story line (versus the monster in the woods story line) was of more interest to me. it was gruesome and horrifying in its own right, and the domestic violence-related triggers are NOT used lightly! but, i genuinely feel that the monster could have been removed COMPLETELY from the story, and barring one or two incidents, the rest of the story would have remained the same. it just didn't give the creature-horror i was hoping for.
-speaking of, also wasn't a huge fan of the "sympathetic" lean of the monster? it's just a lone parent caring for their child, which i understand is in contrast tomattie having been abducted and her mother murdered , but it just felt..... so.... normal? like again, this could have just been an ol regular degular BEAR and not a monster. i wish the monster was more primal, unpredictable, calculating. not just "protective". maybe leaning into skinwalker/infection territory? something MORE.
-CP was.... frustratingly dismissive of mattie, saying things like "come on / pull yourself together / stay on track", even saying this MOMENTS after mattie finds newspaper clippings ofher abduction & mom's murder . like.... tact, man. and yet when HE gets his hand cut off he's all "Jesus, doesn’t losing a limb entitle me to five seconds of rest?” like. lol????!?!?!?
-sometimes the text was repetitive. mattie will think "i need to find out what's in the trunk" and literally the next chapter thinks the exact same thing word for word. this isn't a long story, so that level of repeatedly explaining plot points and character thoughts was starting to annoy me. just a bit.
-also, like, genuinely upset that griffin died. he seemed like a good dude (see scene described below).
ALL THAT SAID lol, the writing style WAS very good, as was the depiction of domestic abuse (the inner monologue of the character, PTSD, not even felling safe from her abductor in her own thoughts, etc.) and would be interested in reading more from this author. it's just the monster stuff, for the most part, that didn't land for me.
quotes/passages:
-Yes, it was a skill she’d perfected—shrinking inside her body, her thoughts receding so they weren’t visible, so that she was nothing but a body and everything about her that mattered was hidden away.
-It just seemed that the light of the morning should make everything better, that a new day ought to wash away the terror of the night.
-the scene when griffin meets mattie for the second time, showing anger that her "husband" left her outside to possibly die: mattie has never experienced someone being mad on her behalf and not directly at her and she doesn't know how to process that. big oof.
-[...] the past lying over her present like two pieces of a puzzle that didn’t fit together. (as mattie has flashbacks that she can't place)
-Mattie wanted to scream to the heavens. Griffin Banerjee was a very kind man, she could see that, but he needed to learn to listen when she spoke. (in the context of HER being in an abusive situation for 10+ years i thought this was very cathartic!)
-Mattie shook her head, felt the grief swelling inside her, pushing against her skin, making her feel like she would burst. How could she live with this? How could she ever feel whole again?
My mother is dead. What happened to Heather?
What if William had killed her, too, killed her smiling sister who built fairy houses in the yard and danced with Mattie—not Mattie, Samantha—to loud music and built forts in the living room out of blankets and pillows? What would Mattie do then if there were no one to go home to?
-I don’t know what kind of person I am. William took that from me.
-Mattie didn’t believe in happy endings. She didn’t even believe in happy middles. It was only at that beginning part of the story, when you were young and didn’t know any better, that you could be happy and carefree. Once life piled up on you, happiness was impossible.
-once mattie starts to remember her past, including a dream of flying like a bird, she wonders to herself if she would rather be the mouse (cowering, afraid, meek and making herself as small as possible to evade punishment) or or the falcon (free).
for what i liked:
-the introspective narration and monologue of the main character. she has a dual monologue that intensifies as they story progresses and she remembers events from her past, fluctuating between "mattie" (present) and
-the writing style was very good and each character had a distinct voice/mannerisms. for instance, one of the characters rambles as he speaks and tends to go off on short tangents, felt very real as to how some people speak under duress.
and now for what didn't land for me:
-the abuse/abduction story line (versus the monster in the woods story line) was of more interest to me. it was gruesome and horrifying in its own right, and the domestic violence-related triggers are NOT used lightly! but, i genuinely feel that the monster could have been removed COMPLETELY from the story, and barring one or two incidents, the rest of the story would have remained the same. it just didn't give the creature-horror i was hoping for.
-speaking of, also wasn't a huge fan of the "sympathetic" lean of the monster? it's just a lone parent caring for their child, which i understand is in contrast to
-CP was.... frustratingly dismissive of mattie, saying things like "come on / pull yourself together / stay on track", even saying this MOMENTS after mattie finds newspaper clippings of
-sometimes the text was repetitive. mattie will think "i need to find out what's in the trunk" and literally the next chapter thinks the exact same thing word for word. this isn't a long story, so that level of repeatedly explaining plot points and character thoughts was starting to annoy me. just a bit.
-also, like, genuinely upset that griffin died. he seemed like a good dude (see scene described below).
ALL THAT SAID lol, the writing style WAS very good, as was the depiction of domestic abuse (the inner monologue of the character, PTSD, not even felling safe from her abductor in her own thoughts, etc.) and would be interested in reading more from this author. it's just the monster stuff, for the most part, that didn't land for me.
quotes/passages:
-It just seemed that the light of the morning should make everything better, that a new day ought to wash away the terror of the night.
-the scene when griffin meets mattie for the second time, showing anger that her "husband" left her outside to possibly die: mattie has never experienced someone being mad on her behalf and not directly at her and she doesn't know how to process that. big oof.
-[...] the past lying over her present like two pieces of a puzzle that didn’t fit together. (as mattie has flashbacks that she can't place)
-Mattie wanted to scream to the heavens. Griffin Banerjee was a very kind man, she could see that, but he needed to learn to listen when she spoke. (in the context of HER being in an abusive situation for 10+ years i thought this was very cathartic!)
-Mattie shook her head, felt the grief swelling inside her, pushing against her skin, making her feel like she would burst. How could she live with this? How could she ever feel whole again?
My mother is dead. What happened to Heather?
What if William had killed her, too, killed her smiling sister who built fairy houses in the yard and danced with Mattie—not Mattie, Samantha—to loud music and built forts in the living room out of blankets and pillows? What would Mattie do then if there were no one to go home to?
-I don’t know what kind of person I am. William took that from me.
-Mattie didn’t believe in happy endings. She didn’t even believe in happy middles. It was only at that beginning part of the story, when you were young and didn’t know any better, that you could be happy and carefree. Once life piled up on you, happiness was impossible.
-once mattie starts to remember her past, including a dream of flying like a bird, she wonders to herself if she would rather be the mouse (cowering, afraid, meek and making herself as small as possible to evade punishment) or or the falcon (free).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Miscarriage
crowyhead's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Miscarriage, Blood, and Pregnancy
dripdrop's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Rape, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Grief and Death of parent
croceldon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
directorpurry's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Sexual violence
cmbohn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I enjoyed this thriller. I wish that we got to see what happened to William though. The ending was rushed. My biggest complaint was the reader. Mattie was just one dimensional. The reader was hysterical all the time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail