Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Near the Bone by Christina Henry

169 reviews

graveyardreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

theriehldeal's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

The beginning was promising, but the book didn’t go in the direction I was hoping for. Plus, the “monster” wasn’t really revealed; just implied. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

linetyynibooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Violence

anna_hepworth's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I don't think I've read anything quite this dark recently. I knew going in that Henry tends to write at the darker end of what I am comfortable with, and this was even more so than expected. It does a fabulous job of bringing to the page a particular type of B-grade horror movie.

And while I absolutely loved it, I can't think of a single person, horror fan or no, to whom I could honestly recommend it. Henry has outdone themself in terms of WTAF.

I've seen in some other reviews complaints about the ambiguity, and the fact that there are story threads not resolved. I loved this -- this is not a story of resolution, it is a story of beginning. Almost as if it is a prequel to a very different story. And while I would be fascinated to find out how that story could come from this one, I'm not sure that I want to read it. 

some rather rambling thoughts, all of which are at least some spoilery:

• I had to put the book down about 20 pages from the end, just to take a breath, because I hadn't expected more than one person to make it off the mountain
• the juxtaposition of the human and cryptid monsters, their capriciousness, and the way that both make things worse for our protagonist is so well done
• I get the narrative reason for Mattie to make their own resolution, their own justice, but it frustrated me as a plot point
• the fact that there are no children at the beginning of the story made no sense. The sense that came as the story continued was awful. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Murder

I will have missed warnings; it is so very dark.

lilgrimmy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

bec_97's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

chloemurphy1820's review against another edition

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

readwithbells's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

4.5

Reading this is what I imagine reading thrillers for everyone else is like. It went at a breakneck pace, I couldn’t stop until it was over, and the fact that I was more scared of the human monster than the actual cryptid monster says a lot. It was suspenseful, and sad, and the ending was well-deserved and definitely earned. All the characters were great, the ones you’re supposed to like you like right away and when Henry tells us what’s actually going on, I think we’d all go try and kill that human monster ourselves. Totally fantastic, absolutely worth the hype. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

laramlr_05's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Murder

jadatrack's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy