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wild_sazzy's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Christina Henry addresses modern day issues in a horror context and I am here for it.
Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
twogreenpenguins's review against another edition
1.5
Graphic: Rape, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Misogyny
viselik's review
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Animal death, Violence, Domestic abuse, Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Pedophilia
Minor: Vomit and Adult/minor relationship
elskabee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
For me this book was not a comfortable read, but most of the things that happen to the MC are left vaguely described (most, not all). William's monstrosity still is more than clear and the MC's mental journey of starting to deconstruct everything she'd been brainwashed to believe as her memories come back is beautifully done. Being in Matty's head is incredible, she's smart and compassionate and finds an inner strength that made this story feel powerful rather than depressing.
I won't say this is a perfect book. As terrifying as the actual cryptid monster is, those looking for a creature horror will likely leave feeling unsatisfied. Although Matty is smart and careful, the strangers she meets make some stupid decisions that are kind of frustrating. But imo it was fairly tolerable because at least we still had Matty and their motivations for the decisions were understandable (but still stupid). The abruptness of the ending was very jarring for me as I felt that some things were left unresolved and I also just wish I could have known more about events afterwards.
Highly recommend, but definitely consider the triggers before picking up
Graphic: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death, Animal death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Pedophilia, Murder, Miscarriage, and Rape
Minor: Confinement
additionally: brainwashing, religious abuse rape is not on page/described, but it is referenced fairly frequentlynicole_cob_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Confinement, Sexism, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Moderate: Infertility, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, and Rape
nickoliver's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
What made it such a page-turner for me was how atmospheric it was. The sheer idea alone of being stuck on a mountain with your very abusive husband was horrifying. Add to that the terror of knowing there was a monster out there that you couldn’t identify - and your husband’s insistence that it was his mission to kill it, therefore deliberately seeking it out and forcing you to do the same -, and you’ve got yourself a nightmare setting and scenario.
What was the bigger threat and monster in Mattie’s life? This big, scary creature out in the woods who kept brutally killing animals? Or the man in her house who beat and raped her daily and kept her chronically malnourished and weak? I loved the way Henry played with that thought, because it made you question who you should fear more. In any other book, the answer would always clearly be the unknown, supernatural creature, but here, that wasn’t really the case. The snowy, cold season exacerbated Mattie's situation even more and turned the atmosphere even more nightmarish.
Admittedly, the domestic violence was a lot. It wasn’t completely graphic, thankfully; especially the rape scenes were off-page, and a lot of the beatings were also only talked about before or afterwards. But William was extremely misogynistic and abusive - a religious nut job who picked and chose what he decided was a sin and what wasn’t.
I loved that the story subverted my expectations a little. Once the three strangers appeared, I assumed there would be a tentative step to romance, just based on the way Griffin was talking and Henry wrote about him. So the way the plot progressed instead was brutal and shocking to me, but also kind of a nice surprise? It’s not like a romance would’ve fit well into the book, anyways.
I liked Mattie as a protagonist. Her trauma was portrayed very well and real. While I did think the way her memories came back was a bit too convenient at times, Henry focused a lot on the reasons behind how she managed to forget about things in the first place, and it was just very authentic. I also never got properly angry at the way she acted, because it made sense that she wouldn’t fight back in the way some readers would.
I also liked the three strangers a lot. They were developed quite nicely, and even though C.P. was sometimes thick in the head and dismissed Mattie’s very real and obvious trauma, some of his actions did make sense in retrospect. And he seemed pretty versatile - my feelings about him changed a lot, he was never static or all too predictable, which made sense in the stressful situations they were all in. The only gripe I had was the fact that he reacted to a quite gory scene very nonchalantly afterwards. It was a nightmare in the moment, but he got over it way too quickly. That didn’t feel very realistic.
Like I said, I read this pretty quickly and didn’t want to stop. It was very suspenseful! Especially the unexpected plot points - like
Speaking of ending, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about that. It was a bit too abrupt, and personally, I would’ve liked to see a bit further into Mattie’s future.
Overall, this was an atmospheric, suspenseful horror book that asks the question what’s scarier - monster or man?
Graphic: Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Rape, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent
Minor: Miscarriage
sophiesbookshelf2's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Gore, Violence, Rape, and Sexism
Minor: Miscarriage
nrogers_1030's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Gore, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death, Religious bigotry, Violence, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Miscarriage and Confinement
Minor: Infertility, Pedophilia, Torture, Cursing, and Rape
Rapes are not detailed.lasamviela's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Murder, and Vomit
Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Death of parent, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Violence, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy
cammaleahh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, and Rape
Moderate: Gore and Animal cruelty