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booking_along's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
this is one of those books who’s horror aspects sneak up at points of the story in ways that completely depend on the reader and what they find scary. until the actual big scary thing comes out to play and all of a sudden the little horrors just seem like cute little harmless pranks.
that is to say: this book was fantastic and i really enjoyed a lot!
i loved the entomology moments, i adored the vulture moments and the rose hate was very fun to read about because o will never understand why people romanticize those things! so that was a bit of a nice surprise to find another person also seeing roses as a bit of a monstrosity.
that all being said this book is not at all for every reader - as i come to believe non of Kingfishers works are.
you either love the specific tone she had and works with … or her books just will be either boring until they get to the point (which isn’t especially quick for a book just scraping over 300 pages) or just believe that the author keeps going on unnecessary uninteresting side notes.
i personally enjoy learning more about things. i love hearing about people and their different jobs and learning about what other people are passionate about and working in that field!
but i was also the kid at 9/10 that wanted to be a pathologist or a archaeoanthropologist (trying to identify human remains instead of those of bug remains like the main characters job in the book) and way yes, i was the 9 year old kid asking the librarian what the job was called when someone would dig up dead people and try to find out who they were and at what point in time they did (don’t ask me what the reaction was… let’s just say that my mom helped me look up what it was called and than she also was the one that helped me learn to say that because what a nightmare of a word to try to say/read/write with dyslexia!)
i loved learning a bit more about vultures and looking up even more while reading because i forgot a good bit of what i looked up the last time that particular interest for me got strong enough to look them up.
who doesn’t love big smart birds that gather in larger groups and are extremely curious and don’t understand humans and humans strange behaviors?
and the bug info was very nice too.
being someone that was bitten by a ladybug before and told i was imaging things because ladybugs don’t bite… thank you kingfisher!
it’s nice to see it confirmed!
that is to say: i enjoy reading about things some people might not!
so for this book; be prepared to bugs and good amounts of them, so don’t like bugs or get freaked out by them and don’t enjoy that? don’t read this book!
was this “review” helpful so far?
guess not.
let’s try again:
this is a fantastic horror book that combines different aspects of life, especially suburban life of the typical usa american tv show version with horror aspects of different kinds.
i enjoyed that throughout this book there is a lot of questioning of what’s really going on and logical answer searching because who would believe something supernatural crazy right away right now?
but i loved how even though Sam (main character) didn’t want to believe the crazy stuff, she always believed her mom and was very sure that what ever was going on she would try and help her mom.
it’s always lovely to see a good parent/kid relationship as well as a realistic sibling relationship represented with everyone being an adult.
the horror elements of this book are more of the supernatural elements instead of the true horrific kind and while towards the end of the book i was not able to put the book down and just had to find out where this was going and how it would end… i don’t think it ever reached the point of true horror for me where i felt horrified, scared or repulsed in some way.
this reminded me of the kind of horror in the same way that supernatural tv shows are lumped in with horror. like “supernatural”, “buffy”, even “charmed” this book has that kind of horror.
so if you jump scares or bloody horrors? not the book for you.
if you want “what is going on?!” supernatural spooky creepy things? i think this is a good one.
that is to say: this book was fantastic and i really enjoyed a lot!
i loved the entomology moments, i adored the vulture moments and the rose hate was very fun to read about because o will never understand why people romanticize those things! so that was a bit of a nice surprise to find another person also seeing roses as a bit of a monstrosity.
that all being said this book is not at all for every reader - as i come to believe non of Kingfishers works are.
you either love the specific tone she had and works with … or her books just will be either boring until they get to the point (which isn’t especially quick for a book just scraping over 300 pages) or just believe that the author keeps going on unnecessary uninteresting side notes.
i personally enjoy learning more about things. i love hearing about people and their different jobs and learning about what other people are passionate about and working in that field!
but i was also the kid at 9/10 that wanted to be a pathologist or a archaeoanthropologist (trying to identify human remains instead of those of bug remains like the main characters job in the book) and way yes, i was the 9 year old kid asking the librarian what the job was called when someone would dig up dead people and try to find out who they were and at what point in time they did (don’t ask me what the reaction was… let’s just say that my mom helped me look up what it was called and than she also was the one that helped me learn to say that because what a nightmare of a word to try to say/read/write with dyslexia!)
i loved learning a bit more about vultures and looking up even more while reading because i forgot a good bit of what i looked up the last time that particular interest for me got strong enough to look them up.
who doesn’t love big smart birds that gather in larger groups and are extremely curious and don’t understand humans and humans strange behaviors?
and the bug info was very nice too.
being someone that was bitten by a ladybug before and told i was imaging things because ladybugs don’t bite… thank you kingfisher!
it’s nice to see it confirmed!
that is to say: i enjoy reading about things some people might not!
so for this book; be prepared to bugs and good amounts of them, so don’t like bugs or get freaked out by them and don’t enjoy that? don’t read this book!
was this “review” helpful so far?
guess not.
let’s try again:
this is a fantastic horror book that combines different aspects of life, especially suburban life of the typical usa american tv show version with horror aspects of different kinds.
i enjoyed that throughout this book there is a lot of questioning of what’s really going on and logical answer searching because who would believe something supernatural crazy right away right now?
but i loved how even though Sam (main character) didn’t want to believe the crazy stuff, she always believed her mom and was very sure that what ever was going on she would try and help her mom.
it’s always lovely to see a good parent/kid relationship as well as a realistic sibling relationship represented with everyone being an adult.
the horror elements of this book are more of the supernatural elements instead of the true horrific kind and while towards the end of the book i was not able to put the book down and just had to find out where this was going and how it would end… i don’t think it ever reached the point of true horror for me where i felt horrified, scared or repulsed in some way.
this reminded me of the kind of horror in the same way that supernatural tv shows are lumped in with horror. like “supernatural”, “buffy”, even “charmed” this book has that kind of horror.
so if you jump scares or bloody horrors? not the book for you.
if you want “what is going on?!” supernatural spooky creepy things? i think this is a good one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cannibalism
bugstigger89's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Anything by T. Kingfisher is an auto-request for me, at this point. I love that woman's imagination. A creepy southern gothic, while less fantastic than her previous stories I'd read, is still right up my alley. And I loved the narrator! She was a joy to ride around with, whether she was snarking about the wifi or nerding out about bugs. As someone who's around the same age as Sam, I could relate heavily to her anxieties regarding her aging mother. The finale was also incredible, keeping tension high from the moment Sam stepped back into the house until the matter was resolved.
Unfortunately, overall I didn't like this book as much as Kingfisher's other two. Perhaps it was the genre shift, the addition of teased romantic tension between our intrepid protagonist and the sexy gardener, or the fact that a large part of the story's build-up could have been skipped if the protagonist and her mother had just had That Conversation at any point before the story was two-thirds of the way over. But that doesn't mean it's bad! The bar was just set very high, is all.
Now, the most important question: do the vultures and/or ladybugs die?There is a committee of vultures, one named and many unnamed. All survive to the end of the story. There are also many, many ladybugs. Unfortunately, some of the ladybugs get squashed in the course of the story, but the majority of them survive.
Unfortunately, overall I didn't like this book as much as Kingfisher's other two. Perhaps it was the genre shift, the addition of teased romantic tension between our intrepid protagonist and the sexy gardener, or the fact that a large part of the story's build-up could have been skipped if the protagonist and her mother had just had That Conversation at any point before the story was two-thirds of the way over. But that doesn't mean it's bad! The bar was just set very high, is all.
Now, the most important question: do the vultures and/or ladybugs die?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Racism, and Dementia
Anyone with a fear of bugs should be aware there's multiple scenes involving swarms of ladybugs crawling around and on the point of view character.wrestleacademic's review
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Blood, and Murder
Bugs, like so many bugsdazzle_spider_reader_1212's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Absolutely the kind of book I've been looking for! I'm also an entomology lover and have been looking for books that are in the SF/F and speculative genres that have bugs in, that aren't viewed negatively.
I also love the vultures and how they tie in.
The story and the plot twists aswell are so creative, and T Kingfishers writing is so comical and made the characters really relatable.
Overall, one of my all time favourite books I think, and I'm excited to read more of her work!
I also love the vultures and how they tie in.
The story and the plot twists aswell are so creative, and T Kingfishers writing is so comical and made the characters really relatable.
Overall, one of my all time favourite books I think, and I'm excited to read more of her work!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
sasisaskia's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Racism
ptaradactyl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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
4.75
So good and weird and readable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Death of parent
Moderate: Fatphobia and Racism
thrntnja's review
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Blood
Moderate: Fatphobia and Racism
sylvestra's review
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Death of parent
jessereadsthings's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.0
Interesting concept, but was unfortunately just not that interesting in execution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Racism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
In A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES, Sam is visiting her mother in the home they once shared with her now-deceased grandmother. However, most of the ways Sam's mother had decorated to make the place her own have been undone, and she doesn’t seem to understand or acknowledge why this would be disturbing. Little things start to add up, eventually going beyond what’s merely bizarre - transforming into something downright creepy.
Because as a reader this is my introduction to Sam’s mother, it’s harder to immediately know how she ought to be acting, but Sam’s thoughts provide that context in a way that feels natural. It feels like Sam working through it in her own mind, and not just for the benefit of me as a spectator. This is one of those cases where the things that I like best about the book are the ways that my understanding of of what's going on suddenly shifted as new information became available. It's short enough that to discuss most of what I loved in the latter half of the book would spoil many of the best parts of the experience. In general, I like the way that this played with my expectations of what a horror novel could or should be. There were several layers of revelations that didn't really feel like plot twists, as much as they involved realizing the meaning of information that had been said previously, but was transformed by new events.
I love the ending, that ramps up the pace and the stakes to be suddenly exciting just as everything looked like it was going to wrap up more calmly.
Because as a reader this is my introduction to Sam’s mother, it’s harder to immediately know how she ought to be acting, but Sam’s thoughts provide that context in a way that feels natural. It feels like Sam working through it in her own mind, and not just for the benefit of me as a spectator. This is one of those cases where the things that I like best about the book are the ways that my understanding of of what's going on suddenly shifted as new information became available. It's short enough that to discuss most of what I loved in the latter half of the book would spoil many of the best parts of the experience. In general, I like the way that this played with my expectations of what a horror novel could or should be. There were several layers of revelations that didn't really feel like plot twists, as much as they involved realizing the meaning of information that had been said previously, but was transformed by new events.
I love the ending, that ramps up the pace and the stakes to be suddenly exciting just as everything looked like it was going to wrap up more calmly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Vomit, Dementia, and Alcohol