Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Near the Bone by Christina Henry

28 reviews

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

moxiereads's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, 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

sabrinz's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

The story starts with a young woman living at the top of a mountin in an isolated cabin with her husband. She stumbles upon a killed fox that raises some alarm bells, her husband, however, dismisses the fox initially and is more than angry with her for dallying in checking the snares - the task he had set for her.
As we follow Mattie and discover that her husband is far, far from loving and caring and that there is more to the dead fox - a huge beast roaming the mountaintop that will draw people and endanger the isolation William, Mattie's husband has created.

The story is quite gripping and the tension is high throughout. In addition to the monster, the story of how Mattie (and William) came to be on this mountain top is shown as well, picking up on important topics of blame and guilt along the way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Miscarriage, and Vomit

mandi_lea's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

viselik's review against another edition

This book needs a fucking content warning. I adored Christina Henry's Lost Boys and was super excited to see a horror/thriller... But I did not expect whatever the fuck this is. I am uncomfortable with the huge focus on Christianity in this book and the undertones of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Vomit

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, Gore, and Sexism

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Miscarriage and Kidnapping

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: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, and Murder

Minor: Confinement

additionally: brainwashing, religious abuse rape is not on page/described, but it is referenced fairly frequently