Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

87 reviews

trips's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

 First off, if you can't handle insects/bugs: don't read this book!

For those that can, this is a haunted house horror book about family bonds, bugs, vultures, and gardening. And some creepy stuff too, but that's up to you find out what it is!

Overall I enjoyed this book, T. Kingfisher's writing is again, just a really nice reading experience. Her way with words is entertaining and also inspiring. I was thinking this story was going to be quiet? horror? but no, its not, just wait till the twist lol.

If you like horror, give it a try! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Death of parent

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Grief

whimsicalish's review

adventurous informative mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Sadly I did not enjoy this one as much as T. Kingfisher's What Moves the Dead.

This one felt lacking the mystery. You figure out early on what is happening in the house. The set up with the main character and her family is appreciated but it's a slow pace in the first half. Before any hauntings have happened, you're learning more about Latin names to insects than anything else.

I did enjoy most of the characters. They felt like real people. I'm not sure why the book had to flirt with the idea of a budding romance. It didn't have anything to do with the story or characters. It's just kinda there.

The thriller was the climax at the very end. Bummer that it ends so quickly when you get a taste of the creepiness.

It's not a bad book. It didn't enthrall me like her previous one. I'm still interested in her future stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Toxic relationship

Minor: Body horror and Child abuse

jessicalarson125's review

dark funny mysterious

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Racism

axel_p's review

adventurous challenging dark funny informative medium-paced

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

5.0

I love bugs.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Blood, Dementia, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

thebankofbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Gore, Blood, and Death of parent

leeghlee's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Cursing

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Dementia, and Stalking

vixenreader's review

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

An unsettling yet enjoyable read, this Southern Gothic story reflects on how nasty traditions and rotten ideologies can be lurking beneath the sweet-smelling rosebushes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Vomit and Abandonment

Be warned that this book addresses generational trauma, C-PTSD due to abuse from a parental figure, abuses with the occult, parental neglect, swarms of insects, and one mention of semen in the occult ritual.

emilywemily6's review

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was so fun- is cozy horror a thing? The main character was hilarious and relatable, and I found myself laughing out loud a lot. There were definitely creepy elements, and I really didn’t know where the story was going, though in retrospective it was a well-thought-out storyline. I enjoyed the cast of characters and their depth. I wish that there was more horror, especially for the first 3/4 of the book, but there were horror elements throughout, I just hoped for more. I think more horror earlier in the book would have helped the pacing a little bit. This is a great intro to horror, though I could see that some people may still be really spooked by it. I listened on audio and loved the narrator *except* for their Phil voice. Overall, this made me excited to read other stuff by the author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Blood, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Racism, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, and Cannibalism

emmonsannae's review

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was such an excellent quick read! The plot was a catch from minute one, the pace is quick but not rushed, and the characters are a delight. What really makes this story is the narrator’s voice and personality—she is so real, deadpan, and well rounded as a character, and she really sells the story. It was so refreshing to have a narrator for whom being fat is a prominent characteristic while not being a consuming or a worrying one (her being an entomologist was a huge bonus).  If anything, I feel like the book could have been a little longer with a little more lead-up to the ending—I wasn’t completely sold on the resolution, but I think I might have been with some more buildup. This is a minor qualm. A great spooky October read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Blood, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

ezwolf's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was…interesting? I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it, but I loved have a fat main character and having her fatness and the way that change how she interacts with the world and the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Racism, Dementia, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury