Near the Bone is the story of Mattie, a young woman living alone on a mountain with her abusive, much older husband. Something isn’t right on the mountain. Something besides the abuse Mattie can never seem to escape. A new creature has made the mountain its home. It’s huge, a master at staying hidden, and far too intelligent to be a bear or any other average predator. Can Mattie find a way to escape them mountain, and leave both of her monsters behind?

I flew through Near the Bone in less than 24 hours. I’ve never read anything by Christina Henry, but I found her prose to be compulsively readable. There’s something about her writing style that really drew me in. It’s like the words just disappeared from the page, leaving a movie of sorts in their place. And while this is a novel about a preternatural creature, and while there are a handful of other characters in the narrative, this is largely a character study of Mattie. I loved watching her reclaim her courage and her voice over the course of the novel, as well as her mission to uncover her own past. She was without a doubt the star of the show.

While the story was incredibly compelling, there was a lack of depth outside of Mattie’s internal story that left me feeling a bit dissatisfied. If it were a movie, Near the Bone would have been a made-for-tv, SyFy cut, not a big-budget HBO or theatrical release. This could totally be an issue on my end, though, instead of with the book itself. I tend to find a lot of horror novels a bit shallow, and I think this is because my first loves of the genre were Dean Koontz and Stephen King. As both of these authors tend to pen chonkers, I think it’s an unfair comparison to make with shorter novels, but it’s one that I can’t seem to help making. However, Near the Bone fared better than most in my mind due to the depth of Mattie’s story. I just wish a bit more of that wonderful depth had been applied to the creature itself, and to the mountain survival scenario.

If you’re in the market for a well-paced survival horror with a compelling protagonist and a slim page count, Near the Bone should definitely be at the top of your list.

Mattie lives in a cabin on an isolated mountainside with her abusive husband, William. Her daily life is a struggle as she tries not to set William off and often fails. When she discovers a fox that has been methodically dissected by some kind of creature, Matties realizes there are other monsters on the mountain other than her husband. When some scientists show up after hearing rumours about the creatures, Mattie’s past and present collide with a new world.

The truth about Mattie and William was such an interesting undercurrent to the horror component. It definitely added to the story as Mattie begins to uncover who she really is and recover her memories. The story itself was pretty suspenseful but I found myself feeling disconnected by the third person narration. I have never been a huge fan of it as I find I just have a harder time connecting with the characters. I also found the supporting characters such as Jenn, C.J. and Griffin to be flat. The banter that starts between the three of them once they are in survival mode often just goes in circles and I found myself skimming their parts. Overall, I could take or leave this one.

Wow, just Wow. Another great novel from Christina Henry. Mattie lives in an isolated cottage in the woods with her husband William. William is not a very nice man as we will learn. Don’t make William angry. When Mattie discovers a mutated fox in the woods, she realizes they may not be alone and this isn’t any ordinary predator . When three strangers come to investigate, Mattie realizes something is up with William. What is hiding and what is stalking things in the woods? Sometimes monsters are real.

This was a great combination of survivalist and psychological horror with threats coming from all sides. It is very faced paced and I was sucked in from the beginning. I have loved all of Ms. Henry’s books and while this isn’t a retelling like some of her others, it's a great story and one that I just wanted to keep reading. Will some of the subject matter make you angry, yes I hope so but don’t let it deter you from this book unless this subject is a trigger for you. I give this 4.5 of 5 stars and thank Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for the review copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5
Christina Henry's Near the Bone blends together fantastical monsters with very human ones. Mattie lives in an isolated cabin with her husband William. She is not allowed to leave the cabin, and her life has been dictated by his religious fanaticism and abuse. After a strange creature makes its presence known and draws the attention of a group of cryptozoolologists, there is a lot of monsters Mattie has to overcome. The descriptions of domestic abuse might be triggering for some people. Mattie's storyline with William was the more compelling storyline of the two presented, and honestly the more horrifying. I didn't feel connected to the crptid aspects of the story as much. The flashbacks Mattie has along with her coming to terms with her abuse is so human and heartbreaking. Her journey is the best part.
It's a very tense, suspenseful story that I couldn't put down once it got going

This was my first Christina Henry book but it won't be my last! Near the Bone was a tense and terrifying ride from start to finish and I could not put it down. I love a good possible cryptid in the woods story and the horror was compounded here by Maddie's situation. I almost wanted to have more of the monster monster parts vs the human monster parts but by the end, I had no complaints.

The nitty-gritty: Henry's latest is a fast-paced suspense story with some very dark elements.

I had a lot of fun with this book! After having some issues with Christina Henry’s The Ghost Tree, I was a little worried going into Near the Bone. But it ended up working a lot better for me, I think mostly because it was a much more tightly focused story. If you’re a fan of horror stories that are set in remote snowy mountain locations, then you will probably enjoy this too. However, there are a couple of trigger warnings I want to mention above and beyond your standard horror triggers, so do beware that the story includes physical abuse, kidnapping and implied rape, just in case you are sensitive about those issues.

Mattie can’t remember a time before she lived on the mountain with her husband William. Her days are spent cooking and cleaning and checking the traps in the woods for rabbits, and her nights are spent performing her “wifely duties” so that William can have a son someday. Mattie isn’t allowed to leave the cabin without William’s permission, and she must obey his every word, or there will be consequences. She isn’t allowed to go into town for supplies, and she isn’t allowed to speak to strangers, either. But one day, a couple of things happen that change everything. William and Mattie are checking their traps when they spot the signs of a large predator in the area. Bears aren’t too unusual, but this one leaves huge prints in the snow and only walks on its hind legs. When they follow the prints, they are horrified when they lead to a cave filled with animal bones and organs—sorted into piles.

When a group of cryptozoologists wander into William’s territory, searching for the very monster that William and Mattie have just seen evidence of, all hell breaks loose. William will do anything to get rid of them, even shoot them if he has to. Mattie has suddenly realized that the appearance of Griffin and his friends might offer her an opportunity to escape, and the monster—unseen but lurking high in the trees of the forest and ready to swoop down on the unsuspecting humans—only wants to rid its mountain lair of the intruders once and for all. 

Near the Bone was a super fast read, mostly because the suspense was so well done that I just had to keep reading. Henry is really good at creating tension in her stories, especially here where we have a couple of mysteries going on at the same time. The “monster” is never really seen, which makes it even scarier, in my opinion. We know it’s huge and can creep silently through the forest, and it appears to be intelligent, which adds another level of terror. We also have the mystery of Mattie and how she came to be living with William. Henry drops hints here and there as Mattie starts to regain her memories, so it’s not too hard to piece things together. Still, I was riveted by her story—as horrible as it is—and even though the resolution wasn’t a huge surprise, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out what was going to happen. Add in the setting—a cold and snowy, secluded mountain top—and you have a fantastic recipe for suspense.

As you can imagine, William is a horrible man, and in my opinion he’s the real monster in this story. He kidnapped Mattie when she was eight and forced her to live with him. He regularly beats her if she doesn’t follow his directions or if she asks too many questions. As punishment, he often withholds food, so she’s always hungry. He forces her to wear old fashioned clothing like long skirts, and because there’s no electricity in the cabin, chores like laundry must be done by hand. Worst of all, he’s been raping her since she was a young teenager, something she dreads every night at bedtime. Mattie has forgotten most of her life before she came to the mountain, but now those old memories are starting to come back. One of the most harrowing scenes in the book takes place late in the story as Mattie remembers exactly what happened the night William took her from her home, which was worse than any scene involving the monster. 

I thought Mattie’s character was really well done and believable. She’s only about twenty and she’s spent most of her life in a horrible situation, so she doesn’t have a real sense of the danger she’s in. She believes all the nonsense that William has spewed out over the years, and even though she’s not happy, she doesn’t have anything to compare her life to. That is until a few events start to jog her memory and she realizes she was taken away from her other life, one with a caring mother and sister. It turns out Mattie is actually pretty smart, despite her lack of schooling and the way William has kept her in the dark about nearly everything. I also liked her brief interactions with the monster, who she seems to have a connection to, and even though the rest of the characters are being terrorized by it, I was never worried about Mattie, for some reason.

The last half of the story veers into slasher territory, and there are a few delightfully gruesome scenes involving the monster. Henry ends her story before everything is resolved, and I was OK with that. If you enjoy horror, both the graphic and the psychological variety, you’ll probably have a good time with Near the Bone.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

Ughhh monsters! Scary but intriguing! Unique plot with likable characters.. I’m lost for words, I’m always been a fan of sci-fi and horror and this is it!

BOOK REVIEW 👓

NEAR THE BONE 🦴 BY: CHRISTINA HENRY

Thank you a million times over to @netgalley and @berkleypub for the eARC Of Near the Bone.

I ordered a thriller and horror combo with a side of psychological suspense..it sure as hell delivered.

Mattie lives in the mountains (literally in the middle of nowhere) with her husband William. One day while doing her usual routine of checking animal traps for supper, she stumbles across a dead fox cut open and mutilated but not eaten or taken away by the unknown predator. Cue the secret discoveries of a creature, a horrifying cave and the terrifying fight for survival.

Throw some strangers in the mix and we’ve got a party! One problem though; Mattie’s husband William, does not like strangers and when he gets mad there’s hell to pay. Mattie knows this truth all too well...

This book does an amazing job of not only creating an engrossing tale about a mysterious and dangerous creature but also revealing that Mattie is also dealing with another monster that has a horrific grip on her. Sometimes humans can be the monsters in our nightmares too.

I loved being on the edge of my seat with this one. I loved the character development of Mattie and how the author not only covered the dark quality of human nature but also the strength and fight we have when we are in dangerous territory.

I couldn’t put this down. I READ IT till I fell asleep woke up then started reading again. I took it to the grocery store LAWD it’s obvious I highly recommend it.

Near The Bone was released April 13th, 2021 .

“‘We can up here to do some research and now we’re in a horror movie with a monster and unkillable redneck with a gun.’”

You know when you pick up a book and can’t put it down? Near the Bone is one of those books. I read this one is less that 24 hours and now I need to read everything Christina Henry has ever written.

Mattie lives in a secluded cabin in the woods with her husband William, who is a controlling monster. One day when she is out checking rabbit snares she comes across something strange—something that seems to indicate that there is a monster in the woods with them. A monster other than Mattie’s husband.

This book has everything I love: survival horror, monsters of both the human and monster variety, amazing writing and creepy stuff in the woods. I raced through this book and did not want it to end. I still have some anxiety just thinking about the storyline. This is a definite must-read.

I am really bummed about this but I do believe this will be my last attempt at reading Christina Henry, I need to just realize that she was a one hit wonder with me as out of the four books by her I have read I only loved Lost Boy.

Mattie lives with a horrible man who is very abusive and they live out in the mountains alone and he won't let her do much of anything. He does let her go check their traps where she found something strange. There was a dead animal with some very weird prints in the snow. She tells William about it and he is not happy about something be there on their mountain. It could attract unwanted attention. He also thinks it's big so it would be a lot of meat if he could kill it.

They find it's cave and it doesn't act like a normal creature as they find bones divided up, skulls all in one place, etc. Later that night the creature comes close to their cabin and leaves a warning of some sort. Mattie thinks it was mad they went to it's cave.

While out looking for the creature they meet Griffin who it seems is cryptid fan and when he sees Mattie he thinks she looks familiar. Him even talking to Mattie get's her into trouble by William. Griffin though it seems can't quit worrying about her and decides to have his friends come with him to find them which just gets everyone in trouble.

I find it hard to describe without giving something away but it basically ends up being them trying to survive against William and a creature.

I absolutely hated this story from the get go and almost gave up on it several times. William was so abusive, I wanted to reach into the book and hit him! I couldn't get over this horribly unlikeable character and the abuse he inflicted on Mattie though almost half the book. Who wants to read that? Not to mention some of the things you learn William (trying not to spoil) It made my blood boil. I want to read a book that is entertaining not hate it so bad because of the characters. Then I got to where I didn't like Mattie cause I couldn't see why she stayed. I would have took my chances and ran!

Once about 60% gets there and they are trying to survive on the mountain it got a bit interesting but I was already so mad at it that it didn't really do anything to help my thoughts of the story. Then you never even get to know what the creature is as it never explains anything. You  verily get any descriptions of it. To be honest I think this story would have been the same without the creature. William would have tried to kill everyone with or without the creature.

I think the only character I kind of liked was C.P. as he had some fun dialogue!

I know a lot of people have enjoyed this book and so I really think it wasn't a book for me. Barb said it best when she said it was more like a domestic thriller with a bit of supernatural thrown in. It just wasn't what I hoped and it will take a lot to get me to read this author again and I am sad. I was going to DNF it and I should have and Barb told me to go ahead and do so and I should have listened because I couldn't get my mind past the first half of the book. This was by far the worst of the ones I didn't like from here. :(

I absolutely love Christina Henry. This is my fourth book, and new favorite, by her. I started this last night and finished this morning and I'm glad work took some of my attention after I was done so that I could sit with this for a bit.
As with all books I intend to read, I steer clear from reading any reviews so that I'm not influenced in any way with how I may feel. I can imagine that some people wanted more monster from this read and at first, I did too... but then I realize that there is PLENTY of monster throughout this read. But let me go back a little bit.

Mattie is young, isolated and living in a constant state of fear. Not from some new monster that seems to have come to her part of the mountain. But from her asshole of a husband who repeatedly beats her and has a desperate need to "plant his seed" (uff, I hate this terminology) and get some sons, as God supposedly demands of him. But this new creature that shows up, while absolutely terrifying and unlike anything they would ever encounter, could also be her salvation because now others have come and maybe... just maybe... she'll be saved.

So look, I was hooked from the get go. There's something about this type of story that just sits on my heart. I would've loved some more creature feature moments, but ultimately, I found myself ridiing right along with Mattie - suffering through her memories, hair prickled at the thought of either monster, hope for the potential escape. Even at the end when I noticed the pages were thinning and the story was about to close, I wanted MORE. But when I truly think of this, this isn't so much about these monsters, but about Mattie and her character. And that final scene when she looked back and saw those eyes. Well, it got me. And quite frankly, I was rooting for more than just her. Well done, Henry.

Yeah, somehow this got to me emotionally and I would recommend not going into this expecting this blood and gore creature horror novel... and instead let the suspense and foreboding get to you while putting yourself straight into Mattie's thick longjohns and petticoats. But don't get me wrong, there's still plenty of bloody goodness to suit you too.

This book invokes Mattie's fear of her abusive husband as well as a mysterious creature that viciously kills. But which monster scares Mattie the most?

Mattie's life revolves around her husband William and only William. Living alone on an isolated mountain, Mattie is not allowed to go into town with him or talk to others. For years she's managed to be the good and obedient wife by following all of William's instructions and demands. She learned early on that by asking questions and defying him, there will be severe and brutal consequences. William has Mattie under lock and key and is in full control. But what he can't control are her memories, especially the many images of another life full of laughter and love.

When a mutilated fox and unusual paw prints are found near their cabin, Mattie now has to figure out a way to escape not one but two monsters. And the arrival of three strangers looking for the strange beast will set off a chain of events that will be beyond Mattie's control. Now they are in the fight of their lives as they fend off two violent entities, having no idea which are the lesser of two evils.

This was a page-turning, thrilling, and frightful book. The author had a lot of things going on with the supernatural mixed in with reality. I was rooting for Mattie to figure out how to escape her horrific life while dealing with strangers and a ferocious, unknown being lurking outside her home. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this book.

I thought this did a good job of adding a small aspect of supernatural to the store with this mysterious beast in the woods that you never really see. I liked Mattie and her story arc throughout the book. It kept me guessing about what was going to happen next. Really enjoyed it and will be reading more from this author in the future.

"There weren’t many creatures that would eat a fox—a bear would, of course, a bear would eat anything. Maybe a mountain lion, sometimes an eagle, but almost no creature would take the trouble of killing an animal and then not bother to eat it at all. None, as a matter of fact, except people."

This is an actual quote pulled from Near The Bone by Christina Henry.

The novel doesn't waste any time. Mattie -our main protagonist- sees a streak of scarlet across fresh snowfall. She later finds a dead fox. Uneaten. Which she finds weird.

Little after that she spots an unusual track.

"The track seemed to be from a bear, but if it was a bear then the animal was much larger than any bear Mattie had ever seen—maybe twice as big as the biggest grizzly in the area. The print appeared to be a rear paw— she could make out the curve of the heel and the five toe pads. But the claw marks at the front were much longer and deeper than usual. The size of the print made her think it must be the biggest bear in existence."

We are left to wonder (but just for a little while) if it's actually the biggest bear in existence or, you know, 'just' a monster. But if it is a monster we later realize it won't be the only one lurking around.

William is Mattie's husband, and he's definitely a monster. Abusive and possessive, William doesn't need a reason to beat Mattie, to take advantage of her, to make her feel miserable, and it's obvious from the get-go that Mattie is trying to survive more than just one kind of monster. Everything gets worse when people start to show up. William hates to be around people, he gets violent... and Mattie's on the receiving end.

"I wish I could fly away like a bird instead of crouching behind a boulder like a scared little mouse waiting for the swipe of a cat's paw."

I enjoyed Near the Bone, the way the author structured the plots kept things fresh and interesting and I also liked Christina Henry's writing style, I kept turning pages almost like a madman.

This is the first book I read from this author and now I'm sure it won't be the last.

Near the bone is a horror novel set in a cabin in snowy mountains. If you're a fan of a desolate setting, creature-feature, unreliable narrators and a compelling suspenseful read, this book might be for you.

Expect your usual trigger warnings found in a horror novel. Also domestic violence and sexual assault.


I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow so this was dark and messed up! I don’t even know where to begin with trigger warnings, frankly. So if you can’t do dark and brutal, this isn’t the book for you. But if you do enjoy darker fare, it’s compulsively readable and impossible to put down.

Mattie is sequestered alone in a creepy cabin in the creepy woods with William, who is legit the grossest person in the whole world. I am not exaggerating, he is a monster. Through and through. This isn’t a spoiler, you’ll be aware of this by like, page three. It will, however, horrify you more and more with each page.

But beyond that, Mattie and William find that perhaps the woods aren’t as isolated as they’d assumed. Something… strange is afoot, and whatever it is, it’s definitively not friendly. And then. Then they encounter people. Mattie hasn’t seen humans in so long that it becomes quite an experience for her.

I’ll say no more, for fear of spoiling, but trust that you will not be able to put this book down. I couldn’t, because I needed answers to all the things. It’s atmospheric and incredibly mysterious, and it blew my mind in more ways than one.

Bottom Line: If you’re in the mood for a dark mystery that will leave you unsettled, this is your book!

*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.

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!

Before jumping into the review, I'd like to add a quick content warning that Near the Bone has some explicit depictions of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. I won't be getting into any explicit details in my review, but just a head's up!

I've loved all of Christina Henry's books up until last year's The Ghost Tree, which didn't quite hit the right note for me (although it was still a solid story!), so I was exceptionally pleased by how much I ended up enjoying this one! Near the Bone is a spine-tingling story that quite literally made it difficult for me to stop reading whenever I picked this book up. There's a very addictive quality to this story that makes it hard to look away from the action, even though a lot of the action is very difficult to take in and experience.

Mattie lives alone in the mountains with only her abusive and despicable husband, William, for company--only, they're not quite as alone as they may think. There appears to be a monster living on the mountain with them that they discover after Mattie finds a mutilated fox, as well as a few other indicators when Mattie and her husband begin exploring to try to find the monstrous creature. Not only is there horror in the fact that Martha is stuck living with her abusive husband, but there's also a more conventional horror in the fact that there is what appears to be an actual monster lurking in the mountains where Martha and her husband live, and these two horror elements working together served to make this book a truly horrifying book to read. I found it particular interesting in exploring what seemed more horrific--the abuse or the truly terrifying and violent monster, and I think this opens up a door for some great conversations around abuse in general that are important.

I really appreciated and enjoyed how Henry chose to portray Mattie's personality and the various thoughts and 'versions' of herself that fought in her hand. Without giving anything away, I loved seeing Mattie slowly begin to fight with her thoughts that have been influenced and molded by her abusive husband more and more and began to develop her own thoughts and deductions about things that her husband may have 'trained' her not to think or worry about. Her fortitude was something that I didn't expect to be quite so meaningful to me, and I think Mattie will be a character that a lot of people will connect with on a variety of levels.

I'm not going to mention any plot points or characters other than Mattie and her husband so as not to give anything specific away, even though it's difficult not to mention some aspects related to these that I really enjoyed. The publisher also requested that reviewers not put up reviews until at least the day of the book's release (today!), so I want to respect what seems to be a desire to not have any spoilers. Suffice to say, Henry expands this story in a number of major and minor ways that adds a lot of depth and discussion to this book, and I think this is what really strengthens the themes and experience of the reading experience.

The atmosphere and prose of Near the Bone is easily one of the best parts about it outside of characters, and this was not a surprise at all to me from Christina Henry. The way she is able to craft scenes ranging from fast and intense to get your heart racing to scenes that are slower and filled to the brim with foreboding is so deft and well-executed. I felt deeply unsettled and personally nervous for Mattie and some of the other characters in ways that felt as though I was in danger myself. It was definitely with baited breath that I turned (or tapped) the pages on more than a few occasions.

The only sort of "negative" that I have--and really, I don't think of it as too much of a negative in this case--is that I found some of the twists slightly predictable and a few of the plot points weren't quite as surprising as they could have been. That being said, it wasn't as if I could predict everything in the book, and I had a lot of fun slowly uncovering some of the secrets that lurked within this story. The ending was also extremely abrupt, and although I don't mind when endings feel somewhat open, I still have quite a few unanswered questions that continue to bother me at times. I'm not upset about the ending by any means, but I just feel ever so slightly unsatisfied. Still, I personally wouldn't let these minor critiques turn you away from this story!

Overall, I've given Near the Bone four stars! If you enjoy your horror mixed with some more serious elements and plenty of twists and turns, then definitely give this one a shot.

*I received a copy of Near the Bone courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

Christina Henry is prolific and versatile. She is the author of the popular Black Wings series, as well as some fantastic fairy tale retellings, such as Alice, The Girl in Red, and my personal favorite, the incredibly dark Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook. Her latest novel, Near the Bone, is an all-out, original horror story. And oh boy, it’s bloody terrifying.

Our central character is Maddie, who lives in a remote cabin with her abusive husband, William. The couple live a strange, primitive life, complete with hunting, wood fires, and minimal contact with the outside world. But after a brutal discovery in a cave, and the appearance of two young men looking for a mythical creature, Maddie begins to question what she has accepted as her reality, and quickly realizes that William’s abuse is not the only threat to her safety. There is something in the woods. And it’s hungry.

Near the Bone positively races along. As soon as we enter Maddie’s world, we are rooting for the monstrous William to meet his demise. His questionable relationship with Maddie has so many twists and turns; I genuinely gasped more than once. I was on the edge of my seat as soon as Maddie’s potential saviors appeared, which is relatively early in the book, and remained there right until the end of the novel.

And that’s not even mentioning the literal monster that looms over everything. The scares come thick and fast in this book, but leave huge consequences for our characters. The horror in this book is visceral, bloody, and brutal, containing both natural and supernatural elements.

I was delighted at how much I loved this book. Near the Bone is original, surprising, and horrific. Christina Henry is quickly proving herself to be a force in literary horror.

Mattie lives in an isolated cabin on a mountain, and hasn't seen anyone besides her husband, William, since she arrived. One day, she finds a dead fox in the woods nearby, but whatever killed it hasn't eaten it, so she and William go looking for whatever creature might have done it. What they find isn't a wolf or a bear, it's something far more dangerous—but it's not the only monster lurking on the mountain.

*Near the Bone* is the newest horror/thriller from Christina Henry and it hits shelves in the US today! I received an advance copy from the publisher via Netgalley, and I absolutely devoured this book. I read it in two days, but I wish I'd read it in one—I woke up thinking about it around five am after I finished the first third! This kept me on the edge of my seat and gave me spooks that I haven't experienced with a book for a long time.

Now, I won't say the writing is perfect here; there were some stylistic choices that I'm on the fence about, and some of the prose felt a bit clunky. For me, though, the thrills more than made up for the average writing. It was a nail-biter, in more ways than one, and I think Henry did a great job creating characters that her readers could form a connection with. This was not only a creature feature, it was also a story about relationships between people, and though it was still very much a plot-driven book, I really appreciated the characters. I think some of the secondary characters did feel a little one-dimensional, but I enjoyed it even so.

This is definitely a popcorn novel, so I wouldn't go into it expecting any big literary themes or anything, but a popcorn novel was exactly what I was in the mood for, so I'm very glad I picked this up when I did. *Near the Bone* was a thoroughly enjoyable read that I'm already recommending to friends!

**Note: review will be posted at link provided at 7am April 13

Near the Bone is a quiet, slow-to-build horror story featuring monsters both human and fantastical. The main protagonist, Mattie, is a young woman living with her "husband" in the middle of nowhere. She's lived in terror of the repercussions of disobeying him for as long as she can remember, so she keeps her head down and follows her routines. Until they discover a monster on their mountain and three cryptozoologists show up to investigate.

I won't even go into content warnings, there are too many to name. But keep in mind, this is a horror novel, and expect blood, violence, and to be taken out of your comfort zone. As the story progresses readers do start to understand how Mattie came to be in the situation she is in, and how awful the man she lives with is. He is just as much of a monster as the predator in the woods they are all afraid of, maybe even more so.

The story ended as I expected it to, but I kind of wish there was just a short epilogue. I would have liked to see Mattie aka Samantha reunited with her sister. But I did enjoy this suspenseful, frightening tale and look forward to more from this author.