Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Der Knochenwald: Roman by Christina Henry

33 reviews

celina246's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

Pacing, atmosphere, storytelling - all great. A good book to get me out of my reading slump. It left a lot of questions, but not in a way that irritated me, because it went with the whole "what is it" nature of the monster. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

Minor: Infertility

lishstu's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, and Abandonment

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

i have a bone to pick with Libby (or my library i’m not sure). despite it potentially being a spoiler to the reader, i think books should say when a book is going to contain supernatural/sci-fi/fantasy elements. that is 100% not a deal breaker for me but i HATE being surprised by that. on Libby, it did not say it in the top genres or the synopsis. 

aside from that, this had some good aspects and some bad aspects. i think the underlying abuse

(kidnapping)

storyline felt a little bit of a caricature to me. some parts of it didn’t make sense/pan out

Is her sister even real? Why wasn’t she ever mentioned and nobody has any information on that but know everything else about the case? also, i feel like a lot of the stuff that the main character did didn’t make any sense for her situation. also, where did the drug stuff come from? that felt like it came out of left field.

there’s definitely lots and lots of trigger warnings.

the paranormal portions didn’t really work despite them being a surprise

How does the main character seem to understand and sense the “monster” perfectly despite any experience with anything of that nature? the proportions of the “monster” never made any sense to me either.

overall, i’m mad at Libby and don’t think this was done very well. take that as you will.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

aparker89's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Ahhh! Ms Henry has done it again! Damn! I'm shook!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Death of parent, and Murder

darquedreamer's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

emilylikesbread's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

2.5

Just sorta meh for me. Characters felt very flat. Their development, as well as the progression of the plot, also felt rushed and underdeveloped. There was some imagery that was creepy, but for the most part didn’t find this thrilling. The cryptid was so vague and when it was described it honestly sounded more silly than scary. There was good ideas in the book but overall didn’t feel well fleshed out 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Confinement and Sexual assault

sydneythekydneybean's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

4.5

4.5 terror-inducing stars ⭐

Samantha has always, will always be that final girl. Not only dealing with and battling physical danger at every turn but also dismantling the mental distress she has been forced to endure for over a decade. I loved piecing together her story and watching her becoming something new, not totally Samantha, not totally Mattie. I don't think that the creatures in the woods were as fleshed out as they could have been. I understand their necessity from the plot narratively, but other than as a plot point, I'm not totally sold as to why they are in the story. I always felt a true sense of fear and anxiety from William, always watching, stalking and waiting for the right time to strike, but I didn't feel that way from the creatures.

But, the creatures in the woods, are on the lowest tier of why this book worked for me. For me, the other characters in the story (besides William, but that should be obvious) were so endearing to me that even though they were only introduced halfway through the story and we didn't spend a ton of time with them, the time I did spend with them they dug their way so deep into my heart,

I felt like I was more distraught by Griffin's and Jen's death than C.P.

In another life, Griffin, Jen, C.P., and Samantha all escaped William and the monsters in the forest and lived happily ever after as the best of friends, Mattie finding a family in these strangers who showed up in her forest one day and refused to leave her behind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement and Grief

Minor: Miscarriage and Sexual violence

sonygaystation's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

I had so much fun with this omg it reminded me so much of Until Dawn and that video game is a blast!! Love me a good creature feature horror and this did not disappoint. My only wish is the ending was a little more fleshed out  but it definitely does leave an air of unsettling to have it end the way it did

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement, Miscarriage, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

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

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