Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

Near the Bone by Christina Henry

108 reviews

mj38012's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Miscarriage

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

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Content Warnings

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

vivireads99's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

3.75

I loved the first half of the book. It was a very uncomfortable and tough read but it gave the book a sense of direction. I found the second half of the book gave a stall to the momentum it had built up. The ending left me wanting more. There were a lot of questions left abandoned in the end. I also found the way the creature moved and acted to be very cartoonish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

sphinxofblackquartz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Minor: Confinement and Drug use

willow_knot's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

chemicalpink's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

lucereads98's review

dark 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? Yes

3.5

Struggling to decide between a 3.5 or 4 star for this one… think I’m going with 3.5.

Mattie and her husband William live at the top of a mountain, completely secluded for the rest of the world. William is controlling, physically abusive and just an all round evil human being.
I struggled with the writing in the beginning, when we were just with these two characters. It covered a very serious topic of abuse, but it almost felt silly and unbelievable. The book was fairly repetitive throughout, but I did really like the storyline as a whole. The second half of the book was definitely better and the pace picked up when we met the three strangers who were trying to find the monster on the mountain. Parts where we encountered the monster were more gruesome than I expected too which was a pleasant surprise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Miscarriage and Death of parent

antimony's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No

2.75

most of the stars go to this being readable, because despite the fact that it wasn't all that good, i flew through it in under 3 hours. this is not a book that slogs along! it's an easy read, maybe entertaining depending on who you are. the writing style didn't agree with me (there was a lack of commas) but that is thoroughly subjective.

the problems lay elsewhere.

like mattie's amnesia, which i don't know. it felt so convenient and she remembered things so conveniently as well. does that make sense? i wish there were fewer flashbacks. and william had no motive and all the characters were one dimensional. like i wish there was some explanation for why william wanted to

kidnap mattie and kill her mom

? and also the reveal that he was

dealing heroin to make money????????

made so sense and didn't fit thematically. and the monster was so nebulous that it didn't ever feel scary because it just felt fake. like i think some authors can get away with never really describing their monsters because that works for cosmic horror. it does not work here. it's like a bear but like a billion times bigger? and is there one or is there two? and it has paws and its eyes glow. that's it.

and dear god the ending is SO unsatisfying. like COME ON. there's no resolution. i'm not saying we have to see every day of mattie adjusting to normal life again but i mean at least some more resolution than that. i like little epilogue chapters where it's like a month later and the main character explains how everything turned out after they killed the monster and passed out in the hospital or whatever. it's like a cliffhanger without a book 2 to follow up and explain all the rest :/

but then again i read this in two hours which was cause for a 5 star rating when i was 13 so do i even have a right to complain?

EDIT and HOW did i forget to mention.

that every time mattie asks about heather and what happened to her cp or jen or griffin are like ???? who's that????? and it's definitely implied that something was up with heather, like was she ever even real? and then that's NEVER resolved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Animal death and Vomit

typedtruths's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Miscarriage and Death of parent

graveyardreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail