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megwilli's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Death of parent
Minor: Dementia
constellation_library's review
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
T. Kingfisher is an auto-buy author for me. She has a huge backlist that I'd like to work through, but so far, I've read the following works:
--A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking
--Nettle & Bone
--What Moves the Dead
--A House with Good Bones
I'm currently reading The Twisted Ones, and will likely follow that with The Hollow Places.
Anyway, I say all of that to say, that I hold Kingfisher's work in the highest esteem, so A House with Good Bones was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I'm pleased to announce that I enjoyed the story immensely. I gave it 4.5/5 stars. Kingfisher has a very unique voice and writing style, and you will always be able to spot a Kingfisher novel because of this. The characters are always quirky with humorous internal dialogue, and there are often animal companions or animal characters.
In A House with Good Bones, we are seeing a 32 year old woman having to live with her mother in her late grandmother's house. The house isn't old. It's in a pretty modern development comparatively, maybe only 40-50 years old. But something weird is definitely going on when vultures sit and watch the house. Her mother, normally a liberal, free-spirited lady, is acting unlike herself. There are so many bits and pieces to this tale, and it blends horror with weird fiction. I can't say much more for fear of spoiling it, but suffice it to say that this one did not go the way I expected it to.
My one gripe, and why I can't give it the full five stars is because the unexpected direction it took honestly felt like it belonged in a completely different story. It worked just fine, and I couldn't tell you a preferred way for it to go, but something about it just didn't click for me and took me out of the narrative. I'm curious to see if anyone else had a similar experience.
--A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking
--Nettle & Bone
--What Moves the Dead
--A House with Good Bones
I'm currently reading The Twisted Ones, and will likely follow that with The Hollow Places.
Anyway, I say all of that to say, that I hold Kingfisher's work in the highest esteem, so A House with Good Bones was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I'm pleased to announce that I enjoyed the story immensely. I gave it 4.5/5 stars. Kingfisher has a very unique voice and writing style, and you will always be able to spot a Kingfisher novel because of this. The characters are always quirky with humorous internal dialogue, and there are often animal companions or animal characters.
In A House with Good Bones, we are seeing a 32 year old woman having to live with her mother in her late grandmother's house. The house isn't old. It's in a pretty modern development comparatively, maybe only 40-50 years old. But something weird is definitely going on when vultures sit and watch the house. Her mother, normally a liberal, free-spirited lady, is acting unlike herself. There are so many bits and pieces to this tale, and it blends horror with weird fiction. I can't say much more for fear of spoiling it, but suffice it to say that this one did not go the way I expected it to.
My one gripe, and why I can't give it the full five stars is because the unexpected direction it took honestly felt like it belonged in a completely different story. It worked just fine, and I couldn't tell you a preferred way for it to go, but something about it just didn't click for me and took me out of the narrative. I'm curious to see if anyone else had a similar experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia
jessreadreceipts's review
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Injury/Injury detail
horrorandscience's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This was a fun take on a haunted house novel. It reminded me (in vibes) a lot of Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt, where the house is haunted less by ghosts and more by the area’s past. It’s a lot different in plot, but I am enjoying the hyper specific “house haunted by bad vibes” genre.
Samantha Montgomery has to briefly move in with her mother while her archeological dig is postponed because of human remains. Instantly, she can tell something is wrong with her mom. She’s not as bright and cheerful as she used to be, and she’s embracing ideals that are very unlike her. Sam starts digging into what’s going on, and as a scientist, she finds stuff that she just does not believe.
I love a good story about familial trauma and breaking generational trauma. This definitely falls into that category. It also directly tackles fat phobia, which is rare in horror stories. It was also just… creepy. Sam is an archeoentomologist, meaning she deals with old bugs. So warning, there’s bugs. I also loved the vultures in this story. The book also takes place in North Carolina and tackles stuff like systemic and generational racism.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. My only real issue, hence the .5 star reduction, is a bit of a spoiler but it had to do with the ending. It was just kind of too easy. Otherwise, T. Kingfisher blows me away yet again.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the chance to read this advanced review copy. A House with Good Bones is available now.
CW for fat phobia, body shaming, racism, medical trauma, entemophobia, child abuse, emotional abuse, fire, injury description, blood, gore, and death
Samantha Montgomery has to briefly move in with her mother while her archeological dig is postponed because of human remains. Instantly, she can tell something is wrong with her mom. She’s not as bright and cheerful as she used to be, and she’s embracing ideals that are very unlike her. Sam starts digging into what’s going on, and as a scientist, she finds stuff that she just does not believe.
I love a good story about familial trauma and breaking generational trauma. This definitely falls into that category. It also directly tackles fat phobia, which is rare in horror stories. It was also just… creepy. Sam is an archeoentomologist, meaning she deals with old bugs. So warning, there’s bugs. I also loved the vultures in this story. The book also takes place in North Carolina and tackles stuff like systemic and generational racism.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. My only real issue, hence the .5 star reduction, is a bit of a spoiler but it had to do with the ending. It was just kind of too easy. Otherwise, T. Kingfisher blows me away yet again.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the chance to read this advanced review copy. A House with Good Bones is available now.
CW for fat phobia, body shaming, racism, medical trauma, entemophobia, child abuse, emotional abuse, fire, injury description, blood, gore, and death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Racism, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
ninjamuse's review
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Fatphobia and Racism
onthesamepage's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
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? No
3.5
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
If you read and enjoyed The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, I found this to be very reminiscent of that. The two books have a lot of similarities:
* In both books, the protagonist returns to the house of a deceased grandmother.
* Said grandmother was not a nice person.
* Cell reception is bad, so they go to a coffee shop to contact family members. Both books have a goth barista as well.
* The protagonist is a middle-aged woman. During the course of the book, she realizes that something that she has said or done is insensitive and that she was being an asshole.
If I hadn't read The Twisted Ones two months before reading this book, I doubt I would've noticed most of these similarities, but it's one of those, once you see it you can't un-see it things.
Did reading this make me worried enough about crawlies in my bed that I did a couple of extensive searches? Definitely. But as far as horror goes, this is more creepy than outright scary. The protagonist has a sense of humor which added some lightness to the story, although I did find that the jokes were often recycled and became repetitive after a while. I liked the family dynamics with her mom. The pacing was very slow for the first half, but really picked up after that. It ended up being a wild ride, which I enjoyed.
If you read and enjoyed The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, I found this to be very reminiscent of that. The two books have a lot of similarities:
* In both books, the protagonist returns to the house of a deceased grandmother.
* Said grandmother was not a nice person.
* Cell reception is bad, so they go to a coffee shop to contact family members. Both books have a goth barista as well.
* The protagonist is a middle-aged woman. During the course of the book, she realizes that something that she has said or done is insensitive and that she was being an asshole.
If I hadn't read The Twisted Ones two months before reading this book, I doubt I would've noticed most of these similarities, but it's one of those, once you see it you can't un-see it things.
Did reading this make me worried enough about crawlies in my bed that I did a couple of extensive searches? Definitely. But as far as horror goes, this is more creepy than outright scary. The protagonist has a sense of humor which added some lightness to the story, although I did find that the jokes were often recycled and became repetitive after a while. I liked the family dynamics with her mom. The pacing was very slow for the first half, but really picked up after that. It ended up being a wild ride, which I enjoyed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
readtheroomjess's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Fatphobia
caseythereader's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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? No
3.75
Thanks to Tor Books for the free advance copy of this book.
- A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES is pitched as a modern Southern gothic, and it's exactly that, mixed with Kingfisher's signature offbeat humor and deeply unsettling imagery.
- I feel like I was primed to love and/or be extra affected by this book, given that I grew up with grandparents who kept an immaculately tended rose garden, just like Sam's family. Even if that's not your history, though, there's still plenty to be horrified by here.
- The book takes awhile to wind up. But even with some off kilter pacing, I'm still happy to be inside T. Kingfisher's mind.
- A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES is pitched as a modern Southern gothic, and it's exactly that, mixed with Kingfisher's signature offbeat humor and deeply unsettling imagery.
- I feel like I was primed to love and/or be extra affected by this book, given that I grew up with grandparents who kept an immaculately tended rose garden, just like Sam's family. Even if that's not your history, though, there's still plenty to be horrified by here.
- The book takes awhile to wind up. But even with some off kilter pacing, I'm still happy to be inside T. Kingfisher's mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Dementia
runlaurarun's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia and Racism
Minor: Death
acwhite's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
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
I simply could not put this book down. I read the back 1/2 in a single sitting. Very little I can say except that it was engrossing, expertly woven, and extremely fun to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury