Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Near the Bone by Christina Henry

30 reviews

magikmoonchild's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Violence

louisegraveyard's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, and Vomit

caseofspades's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Child death, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Rape, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Child abuse

franknforter'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Animal death

cabeswateraven's review against another edition

4.0

Not gonna lie, this was nothing at all what I expected. The synopsis is honestly super misleading which is why I’m only giving it 4 but…

This literally kept me on the edge of my seat!! I read almost the entire book in one day it made me so nervous I just had to know what would happen!!! The beginning of the book was so disorientating and learning what was happening and what happened to the mc at the same time as she remembered it all made the entire story much more eerie and unsettling! This really is a great read if you want something quick and fast paced with honestly quite graphic descriptions!! This book made me so so angry and just ugh it was so good!!

Warning though as the synopsis didn’t do it justice, there’s mentions of kidnapping, trauma and abuse. (I don’t usually add warnings to my reviews but I didn’t expect anything I got reading this book as it really wasn’t described even remotely correctly, I was expecting a spooky fantasy but it was so real and the fantasy elements were very minimal and it was more a story about escaping a horrible situation!)

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

tartar94's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Kidnapping

alexwuwho's review against another edition

dark slow-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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual assault, Rape, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, and Infertility

kawooreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I am a big fan of Henry's fairy tale re-imaginings and this is my first read of one of her original stories. It was tense and creepy on multiple levels from start to finish. Martha lives in a remote location in the mountains with William, there is a dark predator in the trees that grows bigger and more threatening, and three people come to the mountain in search of a cryptid or mythical creature. How all these journeys collide creates a sad, intense and quite terrifying story. I can't really go much into this one without spoiling the story, but I will just say I felt on edge from the physical and psychological torment, the isolation, Stockholm Syndrome, not to mention the scary thing in the woods. At times, I must mention, the dialogue could have been better, but otherwise I enjoyed this one, it will probably be the last spooky read for me for October. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Torture, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, and Infertility

cryptidkay's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? No

5.0

 SO SCARY! I loved it so much!

I was a little worried about handling the abusive relationship aspects of this book. I really should have been worried about the author's ability to put two monsters in the same book and for me to care about the creature-y one.

I loved the old-school creature feature feel of some of the horror and was shocked by the more modern slasher/thriller style horror the framing narrative incorporated.

I loved it loved it loved it. All the more reason to never go into the woods 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, and Kidnapping

Um... there's a lot of graphic stuff in this book. Like so much.

thaatswhatsheread's review against another edition

3.5

3.5
Christina Henry's Near the Bone blends together fantastical monsters with very human ones. Mattie lives in an isolated cabin with her husband William. She is not allowed to leave the cabin, and her life has been dictated by his religious fanaticism and abuse. After a strange creature makes its presence known and draws the attention of a group of cryptozoolologists, there is a lot of monsters Mattie has to overcome. The descriptions of domestic abuse might be triggering for some people. Mattie's storyline with William was the more compelling storyline of the two presented, and honestly the more horrifying. I didn't feel connected to the crptid aspects of the story as much. The flashbacks Mattie has along with her coming to terms with her abuse is so human and heartbreaking. Her journey is the best part.
It's a very tense, suspenseful story that I couldn't put down once it got going

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Rape