Near the Bone – Review

Hi everyone! I finally have an ARC review that I’m putting out on time! Not much to say in this intro, so let’s just get right into my review for Near the Bone by Christina Henry.

Near the Bone
by Christina Henry
Series: Standalone
Release date: April 13th 2021

Genre: Adult, Horror, Thriller
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ .5

A woman trapped on a mountain attempts to survive more than one kind of monster, in a dread-inducing horror novel from the national bestselling author Christina Henry.

Mattie can’t remember a time before she and William lived alone on a mountain together. She must never make him upset. But when Mattie discovers the mutilated body of a fox in the woods, she realizes that they’re not alone after all.

There’s something in the woods that wasn’t there before, something that makes strange cries in the night, something with sharp teeth and claws.

When three strangers appear on the mountaintop looking for the creature in the woods, Mattie knows their presence will anger William. Terrible things happen when William is angry.

This was good! Nothing groundbreaking, but still enjoyable. This was also the first book by this author that I’ve ever read and I would definitely try out some of the other books that she’s published after this one. I did read through this one quickly, and it did a good job of pulling me in.

Right from the very beginning, I guessed what happened to Mattie and why she was living in a cabin with William. I think if you’ve read many thrillers, or are a true crime fan it’ll be extremely obvious. I think for me that kind of lessened the impact of the reveals of Mattie learning about her past, but it was still pretty sad and shocking to watch her go through everything.

A lot about this book was predictable, and in terms of the plot it was pretty straightforward and simple. That isn’t to say it wasn’t enjoyable though, I just don’t think that I could consider this a new favorite. I think this is an easy horror book to get into, and I personally wasn’t jumping at every turn so I think it would be a good beginner book for horror.

I do want to point out that there is quite a lot of physical and emotional abuse happening in this book which could easily make some people feel uncomfortable. Mattie is also kept confined to the cabin and surrounding areas, and mentions being contained in small places for extended periods of time.

I liked the characters well enough, with the exception of William who was a terrible human through and through. Even though he was terrible, he made a great villain and a great contrast to Mattie and the group of people that end up on the mountain. Then there was C.P. who was pretty bland and didn’t really feel like he added much to the story for me, because it easily could’ve been another character in his place. As for the monster itself, the fact that it was always left as this vague thing in the woods added to the creepiness of it all.

I do wish that we had gotten more closure at the end of the book, as it was definitely more open ended which isn’t always my kind of ending. I did however really like the idea of what makes a monster, and how we view this creature who is doing horrible things versus William, who is a human who does monstrous things.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable read and I think that a lot of people are going to like this one!