Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Der Knochenwald by Christina Henry

132 reviews

batcaves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Violence

wild_sazzy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

Fantastic book. 
Christina Henry addresses modern day issues in a horror context and I am here for it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

twogreenpenguins's review against another edition

dark

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Misogyny

sbubb's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-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

this book was a bit slow and difficult to get through at times. the creature scenes felt tense, but i found it difficult to picture what exactly Mattie is supposed to be looking at. every scene with William was infuriating. if the revelation Mattie has about William

taking her from her mother

is supposed to be a plot twist, it was predictable. all faults and plot holes aside

(who is heather?)

, the ending was satisfying and i was sufficiently spooked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

jet_nebula's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Sexual violence

hannahstromauthor9's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

This book was a fairly unique take on monster horror, mainly focusing on the domestic abuse Maddie faces from her husband than the the actual monster. The story about Maddie and William was deep and dark. But I do wish the book mentioned the monster a bit more for being a monster horror. And it kind of got slow and repetitive during the middle.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Miscarriage and Kidnapping

jj_tj's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child death and Murder

Minor: Gore

elskabee's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

 This was a compelling horror novel where the horrors humans can inflict outweigh the horrors of an actual monster stalking our MC through the remote wilderness.

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 

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Content Warnings

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 frequently

suvata's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Rape, Confinement, Sexual assault, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

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