You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
princesspumpkinhead10's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Racism and Cannibalism
ktv's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Cursing, Fatphobia, Gore, Blood, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Racism
albaface's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Racism and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Fatphobia
just_one_more_paige's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Blood
Minor: Racism
cwerber's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming and Terminal illness
I liked this book.the first 3/4 felt slow but ramped up in the last quarter of the book. I enjoyed it and would like to see more of Gail, Hermes, and Edith.emglange's review
- 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? No
4.5
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Fatphobia
I tagged this for fatphobia but to clarify, the main character faces fatphobia but does so with clear understanding that she is worthy at whatever size and that fatphobia is wrong.rysperez's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.75
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Fatphobia
crownoflaurel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racism, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
waywardskyril's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Yes, Sam Montgomery, the MC, IS relatable and a decently-crafted character, which is how this book gets its second star. Unfortunately, for me, anyway, that's where the quality ends. Honestly, that second star barely scraped by anyway because Sam is, at times, an enormous idiot.
A House with Good Bones has a painfully slow moving story in which very little happens for an actual 75% of the book. There are occasional strange occurrences, but these are too unrelated, far apart, or simply dismissed to grow in me any kind of lurking horror or dread. If I think back on the book as a whole, there were two scenes in the entire book that made me feel any type of that good-horror dread.
One lasted a couple of pages and before being dismissed and leaving me disappointed that the creepy horror I was hoping for from Kingfisher wasn't "finally starting" like I had thought.
The second was in the final climax in the last 15%ish, but again, only lasted briefly before falling away because, as I said, this book had failed to grow a creeping dread before now, so whatever I felt briefly in the final climax had no legs to stand on. It almost transformed into silliness instead and a lackluster push to get the book over with.
Overall, the plot followed the mechanics of the other two Kingfisher books I read but with fewer scares, a stupider main character, and much less mystery-horror building to make me excited to finally discover all the answers in the end.
I'd call A House with Good Bones a watered down The Twisted Ones and a flavorless stone soup compared the The Hollow Places. Will I read another Kingfisher book? I don't know. I've been asking myself that question since finishing this book. Part of me still wants to try to find something of hers that thrills and excites me as much as The Hollow Places did, but, truth be told, had I read this book first I doubt I'd ever have picked up another by her.
Let's just say I'm glad I borrowed this book from my library's digital system. Perhaps The Hollow Places was a one-off for me, and I should quit before Kingfisher and I continue disappointing one another.
Moderate: Child abuse and Fatphobia
Minor: Animal cruelty
"Child abuse" TW is from in the past by a grandmother, and is mostly verbal/emotional abuse with one recalled instance of physical abuse. "animal cruelty" TW is for insects and is more accidental than intentional. The MC actually loves bugs but does, inadvertently, kill some a couple of times, though she tries not to.pbeeandj's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting