Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Der Knochenwald by Christina Henry

141 reviews

annamorgan27's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

namielle's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

3.5

Mattie lives with William, an abusive man that calls himself her husband, up on a mountain in an abandoned cabin. William ensures that Mattie never leaves their home or has contact with any outsiders. One day, Mattie and William find signs that a mysterious creature has arrived. Three young college students, CP, Griffin, and Jen have come up to investigate reports of a monster up on the mountain, and William is not happy about their presence. Mattie must make a decision on whether she stays with her abuser or if she will help the newcomers avoid the monsters on the mountain.

Near the Bone was successful in filling me with absolute dread, but some of the characters were not fleshed out as well as they could have been. 

I think that I spent the whole book being as scared of William as Mattie was. The monster, whatever it was, was also somewhat frightening, but it was nothing compared to William. I was just rooting for him to die the entire time.

And I was so happy when he finally did!!

In contrast, I really felt for Mattie the entire book and wishing for her eventual escape was what had me turning page after page.

The college kids felt very flat compared to William and Mattie. None of them had much of a personality, and they kind of felt like they were ripped from a subpar horror movie. I just couldn’t really get myself to care about them outside of whether they would be able to help Mattie escape.

I also found myself being very annoyed by the mentions of Heather. There was zero payoff to this!! We never find out what happens to her or if she’s just something Mattie made up or anything. What was the point in having Mattie spend so much time thinking about her? This annoyed me much more than how boring the college kids were.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death and Rape

jessab's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

A bit of a slow start but I quite liked the second half. Slow burn mystery with some criptid creature intrigue 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child abuse and Rape

Minor: Gaslighting

leahrosereads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

A creature feature where man is once again the scariest monster. Near the Bone starts off as a slow, domestic thriller of sorts, and then goes absolutely off the hinges.  There's mystery and a beastie and of course, the real villain of it all, a man named William.

I could not put this one down!  It was brutal in every sense of the word!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping

jadziad97's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

mj38012's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Miscarriage

aus10england's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

Oh, this was PERFECT to read on a snowy day. Ookie spookie and mysterious. Although some characters did not realistically react to certain scenarios. Somebodies

arm legit gets ripped off

and does not NEARLY have an appropriate reaction. Overall, great thriller!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Animal death and Rape

linoone's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

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

---

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

oddoneo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Kidnapping