Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Der Knochenwald by Christina Henry

53 reviews

mapscitiesandsongs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

2.0

All in all this reading experience was disappointing, especially because BooksandLala recommended the book in one of her videos. The most annoying part of this book were the characters. They felt so unrealistic and one-dimensional. William is your typical abusive and religious lunatic that wants his wive all to himself and beats her up for disrespecting him/not being a good wife. I honestly didn‘t buy it. There was not depth to his character. He is just an archetype. Kiran Millwood Hargrave did a much better job at depicting an abusive and religious husband in The Mercies.  On a different note, what were those reactions and dialogs in the most terrifying moments?

A monster throws a human heart through the window? You know what, let's make grilled cheese. Your best friend gets strung up on a tree by his organs? I suddenly feel hungry and want some eggs. Like what?

  No human would react like that. Also what was the point of the whole scene with Mattie and C.P. in the cabin?

There is a creature and a kidnapper out there and they are having these chill conversations without paying attention to the very obvious threat outside. And what was William doing outside all the time? Were did he go? Why didn't the creature hunt him too when he was already injured and that creature supposedly only attacks weak/injured humans? It doesn't make any sense.

The ending was just the cherry on top. It was so rushed and we don't even find out what exactly the monster is. During some parts I felt like the monster was just some metaphor for William which would have made the story that much more interesting. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, and Confinement

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Vomit

tormerritt's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

This book was awful... To be honest, one of the worst I've read in a while.
**SPOILERS AHEAD** because I need to discuss why this book was so terrible.

First, this book provided a blurb that was somewhat deceiving and didn't give necessary information.

All it stated about one of the main characters, William, is that he is always angry, not that he abuses and rapes Martha or "Mattie" (Samantha, her real name). That is so much more than anger and what bothered me is that the characters were so one-dimensional we know nothing about why William is the way he is.
There are so many plot holes and I have so many questions.
- The biggest question is what the actual f*ck is this "monster" that seems to be hunting them? It's never addressed in the story, except that it might be a bear, or bigfoot, or some cryptid creature. It's described to be so large and on a furious rampage, and attacks their friends in front of them, but they never see it? It's too unrealistic for me.
- What ever happened to Samantha's sister?
- Why are these characters laughing and discussing grilled cheese and cell phones when a human heart was just thrown through the window?
- Where was William hiding out at after Mattie, Jennifer, and C.P. locked themselves in the cabin?
- Why are they so nonchalant for watching their friends get murdered by some unknown creature, all the wile being injured themselves, sleep deprived, and running from this thing on the mountain.
I listened to the Audiobook so maybe it was the narrator, but I don't know of anyone who has so much discussion of casual topics and heavy inner dialogue while literally running for their lives.
The ending pissed me off. C.P.'s arm is bitten off by this creature, Mattie (Samantha) throws William off a cliff. Jennifer's unconscious body that they have been dragging down the mountain on a sled is taken by the creature thing. They suddenly find a road and a truck, jump in and drive to the nearest police station. C.P. falls asleep in the driver's seat and she walks in to the police station, and tells them her name is Samantha (the girl who has been kidnapped and missing for 12 years now). The end.

WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?
This was just so bad and terribly executed. I would not reccomend this to anyone.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

This book is filled with to the brim with Trigger Warnings, but none were provided before reading. Please read with caution.

rosemaryslibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Animal death, Blood, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Child abuse

kris_t97's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-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

4.5

Very well-paced book showing the darkness of humanity and the unknown.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Confinement, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, and Torture

There are a lot of graphic themes in this story, so I wouldn't recommend it if these themes are triggering. More of the main character's background is shown later on, but from the first page, there is a lot of dangerous and problematic behaviour experience by her.

soaphest's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

3.75

started very strong, well-paced, but the story lost its steam a bit the further it went on. characters weren’t really given much depth

so even when jen and griffin died i didn’t feel a particular way about it because we really didn’t get to know them that well.

there was some lost potential with the whole creature aspect of this book and the conclusion wasn’t as satisfying as i had hoped for it to be. still, henry has a way of writing which makes you finish her books in just hours. ultimately i love reading her works & this book was no different. overall it was a very compelling read but i just wasn’t particularly wowed by it in the end.

also i was a bit confused how the whole plot point of heather was just dropped out of nowhere? it was made into this huge thing & ultimately nobody knew anything about her and it was never explained why that was, which also made the ending feel a bit rushed and abrupt

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Drug use

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Animal death, Confinement, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Death of parent and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Rape, Mental illness, and Vomit

nonfictionfeminist's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Rape

archaicrobin's review against another edition

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!

---

Content Warnings

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

p4ncakeprincess's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, and Kidnapping

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Gun violence, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, 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