Scan barcode
A review by justinkhchen
Near the Bone by Christina Henry
4.0
4 stars
A high-octane thrill ride with an unusual setup, remaining gripping despite the lack of depth; from page one, Near the Bone immediately dropped the reader into its core concept — a wilderness survival story dealing with 2 vastly different manifestations of 'monster'. Some suspension of disbelief is definitely required, particularly when it comes the protagonist's rapid (and conveniently timed) recalling of her past, and some cheesy, situation-unrealistic dialogs; but I bought into its action-oriented storytelling very early on, and was very much onboard for the escalating madness.
Event though it might bothers some readers, I find the loose ends thematically appropriate; the novel is about surviving the moment, so it makes sense to have questions to the larger picture remaining unanswered and open to interpretation.
Near the Bone is a B-movie horror/thriller on paper, it has one conceit and pulls it off expertly; this is not a novel of sophisticated character development, or intricate lore, but if you're looking for a quick, fast-paced read in the vein of No Exit by Taylor Adams, this will be worthy of your time.
A high-octane thrill ride with an unusual setup, remaining gripping despite the lack of depth; from page one, Near the Bone immediately dropped the reader into its core concept — a wilderness survival story dealing with 2 vastly different manifestations of 'monster'. Some suspension of disbelief is definitely required, particularly when it comes the protagonist's rapid (and conveniently timed) recalling of her past, and some cheesy, situation-unrealistic dialogs; but I bought into its action-oriented storytelling very early on, and was very much onboard for the escalating madness.
Event though it might bothers some readers, I find the loose ends thematically appropriate; the novel is about surviving the moment, so it makes sense to have questions to the larger picture remaining unanswered and open to interpretation.
Near the Bone is a B-movie horror/thriller on paper, it has one conceit and pulls it off expertly; this is not a novel of sophisticated character development, or intricate lore, but if you're looking for a quick, fast-paced read in the vein of No Exit by Taylor Adams, this will be worthy of your time.