Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Near the Bone

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Near the Bone by Christina Henry

73 reviews

cursivewolf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

Heartbreaking all around. You really feel for the main character and the struggle of her abuse. I wish the creature plot line had been expanded on more, but overall I enjoyed the book.

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lizzie_anjali's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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archaicrobin's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

I absolutely love myself a good creature feature, especially one so well written! In this winter horror novel, Mattie finds herself prey to not only her “husband” who has held her captive and abused her for years, but she is also suddenly the prey of a strange and vicious creature that has made the caves near her cabin it’s home. When some cryptozoologists stumble across Mattie and William’s cabin they also stumble across the creature, and Mattie’s struggle to survive takes another turn.

I loved Mattie as a character as well as the cryptozoologists she meets. You want them to survive! This was a great blend of creature feature and survival horror that I could not put down. Highly recommend reading Near the Bone for the perfect winter horror vibes!

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addiclaire's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

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randiroo's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Mattie lives in a cabin on a mountain with her abusive husband, William. She isn't allowed to wander far from their home, & she has never seen anyone else for as long as she can remember, but when Mattie discovers the mutilated body of a fox, she realizes that they're not alone after all. Something strange is in the woods, a natural predator, so William wants to get rid of it as he fears it will bring more people up the mountain to hunt it.

This starts off quite slowly, but gradually builds to where a small group of people are fleeing for their lives from whatever is killing everything around it & leaving their corpses strung from trees. This part of the book is gripping, especially as Mattie starts to remember her life before William. Talking of William, never have I wanted a character to meet a sticky end as much as I wanted him to. I have rated this 3.5 stars as it wasn't quite as good as I had hoped, but it was a decent read.

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howlinglibraries's review against another edition

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dark 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

5.0

Every time I think I can't possibly love Christina Henry even more, she releases another book that blows me away and proves me wrong. Near the Bone is quite possibly my favorite thing I've read from her so far, and I can easily see it landing in my favorite books of the year list. This book was shocking, captivating, and utterly unputdownable — literally, I wasn't even willing to take a break for dinner until I finished it, and ended up inhaling the entire book in one sitting because I was so drawn in that I had to know what would happen next right this moment.

Near the Bone is a tough read at its core, as it follows Mattie, a woman who is trapped in a brutal marriage that is abusive in every possible sense of the word. Christina Henry doesn't shy away from showing the ugly details, but it never feels overly gratuitous, either (and the sexual abuse is off-page, which many readers like myself will undoubtedly appreciate).Mattie is beaten down, but not broken, and her spirit is incredibly brave beneath the veneer of timidity she displays to keep herself safe. I loved Mattie so much and I think that's a big part of why Near the Bone held me captive so well: I needed Mattie to make it, and I couldn't look away until her fate played out.

This is a monster story, sure — there's a fantastic, eerie creature that stalks the residents and animals of the secluded mountain Mattie lives on — but I would caution readers not to go into this story expecting a full-blown creature feature. At its core, Near the Bone strikes me more as a commentary on abuse than anything else: the world abuse survivors live in, the ways that abuse can create a fear and trauma that stalks their daily life, and the reactions on-lookers have, whether it's victim-blaming, or undying love and support.

I have more I want to say, but all of it is spoiler-y, so click the tag at your own risk:

I was fascinated by the monster's refusal to attack Mattie herself, and quickly theorized that perhaps the monster had been seeing the abuse as it happened and was attempting to protect her in its own way. We learned at the end that the monster was simply a parent protecting its young, and with Mattie being barely an adult herself, I still think, just maybe, that the "monster" was Mattie's greatest ally in the end. Even when it took her companions, it seemed to specifically target whoever might be standing between Mattie and her freedom at any given time, and that feels significant to me.

Back to the point, though: truly, I adored every single page of this heart-wrenching, suspenseful read. With a heroine I cheered for every step of the way, a villain I loathed with every fiber of my being, and a beautiful, intense wintry scenery that gave me chills despite the warmth and safety of my home, Christina Henry absolutely blew away every (already high) expectation I had and made Near the Bone a powerful and memorable story that I already can't wait to re-visit.

✨ Representation: a side character is Asian (briefly mentioned)

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