Reviews tagging Gore

Near the Bone, by Christina Henry

54 reviews

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

Spoiler

arm legit gets ripped off

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Gore, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Rape and Animal death

oopsadaisy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Rape, Animal death, Murder, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Miscarriage

vivireads99's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

3.75

I loved the first half of the book. It was a very uncomfortable and tough read but it gave the book a sense of direction. I found the second half of the book gave a stall to the momentum it had built up. The ending left me wanting more. There were a lot of questions left abandoned in the end. I also found the way the creature moved and acted to be very cartoonish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Violence, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Confinement

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Animal death, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

Moderate: Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Drug use and Confinement

chemicalpink's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Confinement, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Infertility, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

antimony's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No

2.75

most of the stars go to this being readable, because despite the fact that it wasn't all that good, i flew through it in under 3 hours. this is not a book that slogs along! it's an easy read, maybe entertaining depending on who you are. the writing style didn't agree with me (there was a lack of commas) but that is thoroughly subjective.

the problems lay elsewhere.

like mattie's amnesia, which i don't know. it felt so convenient and she remembered things so conveniently as well. does that make sense? i wish there were fewer flashbacks. and william had no motive and all the characters were one dimensional. like i wish there was some explanation for why william wanted to

Spoiler

kidnap mattie and kill her mom

? and also the reveal that he was

Spoiler

dealing heroin to make money????????

made so sense and didn't fit thematically. and the monster was so nebulous that it didn't ever feel scary because it just felt fake. like i think some authors can get away with never really describing their monsters because that works for cosmic horror. it does not work here. it's like a bear but like a billion times bigger? and is there one or is there two? and it has paws and its eyes glow. that's it.

and dear god the ending is SO unsatisfying. like COME ON. there's no resolution. i'm not saying we have to see every day of mattie adjusting to normal life again but i mean at least some more resolution than that. i like little epilogue chapters where it's like a month later and the main character explains how everything turned out after they killed the monster and passed out in the hospital or whatever. it's like a cliffhanger without a book 2 to follow up and explain all the rest :/

but then again i read this in two hours which was cause for a 5 star rating when i was 13 so do i even have a right to complain?

EDIT and HOW did i forget to mention.

Spoiler

that every time mattie asks about heather and what happened to her cp or jen or griffin are like ???? who's that????? and it's definitely implied that something was up with heather, like was she ever even real? and then that's NEVER resolved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Gore, and Gun violence

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Animal death and Vomit

goodnekovibes's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gore

graveyardreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Rape, and Sexual assault

readwithbells's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

4.5

Reading this is what I imagine reading thrillers for everyone else is like. It went at a breakneck pace, I couldn’t stop until it was over, and the fact that I was more scared of the human monster than the actual cryptid monster says a lot. It was suspenseful, and sad, and the ending was well-deserved and definitely earned. All the characters were great, the ones you’re supposed to like you like right away and when Henry tells us what’s actually going on, I think we’d all go try and kill that human monster ourselves. Totally fantastic, absolutely worth the hype. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

jadatrack's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Gore, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Rape, Blood, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Miscarriage