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liornessa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
yappuccino's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Bugs, teethasmei's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Dementia, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Cannibalism
witcheep's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Kingfisher is great with writing multidimensional characters with flaws of their own and their interpersonal relationships. That is what shines bright in this book as well. I enjoyed reading about the difficult relationships between the different generations of the same family, and their own ways to deal with mysteries and difficulties. The neighbors offer a good place to compare with the main character's life. A House with Good Bones ponders over some hard themes, such as loss of a family member and grief, doubting one's self-worth and emotionally abusive family relationships. The book, however, offers more hopeful outlooks on the same issues in the form of caring for one's community, forming new friendships and finding new insight into oneself.
The horror elements get increasiongly more creepy, from a slight feeling of something being off up to creeping uneasiness,
"You're a scientist," said Gail, watching me. "I realize that makes this hard for you. I'm telling you, what's happening isn't something you're going to be able to put under a microscope. I'm hoping it'll go away on it's own."
"Does anything ever go away on it's own?" I asked.
"More often than you think. In this case I truly can't be sure. I don't know everything.
"I'm starting to be sure I don't know anything", I muttered.
She smiles. "That's a good place to start."
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Grief
Minor: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
leeghlee's review
- 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
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
- 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
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.zakura317's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, and Blood
Minor: Body shaming, Cursing, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, and Death of parent
plantgal_jill's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Fatphobia, Mental illness, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Dementia, Stalking, and Death of parent
aileron's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, and Fire/Fire injury
tigger89's review
- 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
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?
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.