Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Near the Bone by Christina Henry

73 reviews

nickoliver's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-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? No

5.0

t only took me three days to finish this book, which some might not call a quick read, but for a horror novel with a heavy focus on domestic violence, my reluctance to stop was definitely surprising for me, personally. Usually, hard and graphic stories like this need to be digested in intervals and not all at once.

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.

(Music? A sin. Kidnapping a girl and murdering her mother? Totally okay. Putting a child in a box so that she was so traumatised she’d obey you forever? Definitely what God wanted.)

It was hard to read sometimes, so if that’s triggering for someone, that should be taken into account.

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

Griffin actually dying

- made it hard for me to put the book down. I just wanted to know how it ended.

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.

I would’ve liked to know if she was going to see her sister again and how the public reacted to her showing up again after eight years missing.

However, I do think it made more sense this way. Going from these 363 pages of nonstop suspense and creepy moments in the wildnerness to suddenly having scenes in the public would’ve been too much of a difference. 

Overall, this was an atmospheric, suspenseful horror book that asks the question what’s scarier - monster or man?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Rape, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent

Minor: Miscarriage

joy_ong's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Gun violence

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

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

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

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

remuslibrary's review

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Rape, Miscarriage, Animal death, and Pedophilia

annamorgan27's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

namielle's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

3.5

Mattie lives with William, an abusive man that calls himself her husband, up on a mountain in an abandoned cabin. William ensures that Mattie never leaves their home or has contact with any outsiders. One day, Mattie and William find signs that a mysterious creature has arrived. Three young college students, CP, Griffin, and Jen have come up to investigate reports of a monster up on the mountain, and William is not happy about their presence. Mattie must make a decision on whether she stays with her abuser or if she will help the newcomers avoid the monsters on the mountain.

Near the Bone was successful in filling me with absolute dread, but some of the characters were not fleshed out as well as they could have been. 

I think that I spent the whole book being as scared of William as Mattie was. The monster, whatever it was, was also somewhat frightening, but it was nothing compared to William. I was just rooting for him to die the entire time.

And I was so happy when he finally did!!

In contrast, I really felt for Mattie the entire book and wishing for her eventual escape was what had me turning page after page.

The college kids felt very flat compared to William and Mattie. None of them had much of a personality, and they kind of felt like they were ripped from a subpar horror movie. I just couldn’t really get myself to care about them outside of whether they would be able to help Mattie escape.

I also found myself being very annoyed by the mentions of Heather. There was zero payoff to this!! We never find out what happens to her or if she’s just something Mattie made up or anything. What was the point in having Mattie spend so much time thinking about her? This annoyed me much more than how boring the college kids were.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape and Animal death

jadziad97's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

aus10england's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

Oh, this was PERFECT to read on a snowy day. Ookie spookie and mysterious. Although some characters did not realistically react to certain scenarios. Somebodies

arm legit gets ripped off

and does not NEARLY have an appropriate reaction. Overall, great thriller!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Gore, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Rape and Animal death

oopsadaisy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Rape, Animal death, Murder, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Miscarriage