The Reading Room- Near the Bone by Christina Henry

Hello everyone and welcome back to The Reading Room where I talk about the upcoming/recent releases I’ve read recently and am excited to talk about.

I am thrilled to share my review of Near the Bone by Christina Henry. It was my first book by this author and it will definitely not be my last.

*I received a free copy of Near the Bone in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own and do not reflect that of the publisher or aithor.

About the Book

Near the Bone by Christina Henry
Published by Berkley Books on April 13, 2021
Pages: 336
Goodreads

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.

About the Author

Christina Henry is a horror and dark fantasy author whose works include  The Ghost Tree,  Looking Glass,  The Girl in Red,  The Mermaid,  Lost Boy,  Alice,  Red Queen, and the seven book urban fantasy Black Wings series.
 
She enjoys running long distances, reading anything she can get her hands on and watching movies with samurai, zombies and/or subtitles in her spare time. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.

My Thoughts

Near the Bone is a contemporary horror novel by new to me author Christina Henry. it’s monster and survival horror at its finest, with enough layers that I think there is a little some thing for every kind of horror lover.

The protagonist and narrator is Martha, who has lived with her husband William for as long as she can remember. She is obedient. Subservient. A good wife. She has to be, in order to survive because when she makes mistakes, William punishes her. And since they are alone, no one is around to hear her scream

Until the novel opens and a whole fox is discovered, slaughtered but uneaten near the cabin. Now her husband isn’t the only monster who occupies the mountain. What follows is a gripping, claustrophobic and desperate cat and mouse novel with so many moving parts, I could not stop reading until the last, heartbreaking yet hopeful page.

Martha is a flawed protagonist. Henry writes her struggle with escaping the literal and metaphorical grip of her abuser with sensitivity and authenticity. it was difficult to read, but Martha’s gradual awakening and finding of her voice only added to the caliber of the novel.

When others journey up the mountain to learn about the monster, which William believes is his god-given mission to find and kill, the bubble that William so carefully created, designed to keep Martha isolated, is broken and all hell breaks loose. What follows is a gruesome, bloody survival horror novel where organs can be seen hanging from trees and danger lives in every shadow.

This was my first Christina Henry novel and I will definitely be reading more from her- including her extensive backlist. If you are looking for a solid monster horror novel, like kidnapping stories, and/or enjoy super atmospheric settings, you need to pick up Near the Bone.

Overall, I gave this one 5? and am so thankful to Berkley publishing for the early review copy!

What About You?

Have you read Near the Bone yet? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments!