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hannahstromauthor9'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
4.0
Regardless, I did enjoy the book. It was empowering, thrilling and hopefu. I was really rooting for Maddie as a character and felt the book really made the reader have a tight connection with her.
I also felt like the book left us with some unanswered questions about a particular character. I just needed another chapter or so for closure.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Gore
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Miscarriage and Kidnapping
jj_tj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Child death and Murder
Minor: Gore
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
e_gracereads'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Miscarriage
nickoliver's review
- 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
terry9375'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Blood
Moderate: Violence and Vomit
Minor: Sexual assault and Miscarriage
Just for trigger warning. The sexual assault is all off page, and more of a reference to it, not graphic or on page descriptions. Kind of a fade to black style.joy_ong'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? No
5.0
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
- 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