Reviews tagging 'Racism'

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

119 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

2.75

I enjoyed this book enough, but it was too superficial. It would’ve been better if it had leaned into the grandmother’s backstory instead of explaining her personality in a couple of sentences. It would’ve given the book more depth and rationale as to her internal motives. Instead, the focus was on the mother, who was a plot device at best. Also, the conflict and denouement were anticlimactic in comparison to the buildup to the story climax. Felt like a good first effort, except the author is prolific and has been published since 2009.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

starglitters's review against another edition

funny 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

3.5

A pretty enjoyable read. Not so scary, in my opinion, and the plot does take you to an unexpected place. The characters are lovely, though, and I really enjoy the MC’s narration style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Fatphobia

Moderate: Racism

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

'A House With Good Bones' by T. Kingfisher is a creepy horror about familial expectations. 
When Sam comes to stay with her mother in her grandmother's old house, she senses something is off. Her mother is a kind woman but suddenly she is starting to mimic Sam's grandmother, an overbearing woman with high expectations for her family. As more and more strange things start to happen around the house, Sam suspects that something more is going on. 
Kingfisher does a great job of creating a creeping sense of unease that slowly permeates the story. We quickly come to understand Sam as a person as well as her mother and her grandmother. It's clear that their relationship with the grandmother was fraught and that same energy is returning to the house. The unease continues to increase throughout the book until we reach some more startlingly revelations. Ultimately, I think Kingfisher does a great job of exploring familial expectations and trauma through a horror lens but without getting too gory. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Fatphobia

Moderate: Body horror and Racism

Minor: Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

layflock's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-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

Now i wanna get a vulture tattoo 🤪

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Blood

Minor: Racism

yappuccino's review

challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

A fun, creepy read 

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Content Warnings

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, teeth

mjverrall's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Fatphobia

Minor: Racism

magikorbert's review

dark funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

altogether good and quite sweet actually; but i'll be honest this kinda dragged for me. not even a slow burn really, mostly just nothing and then EVERYTHING BAM. newfound love for vultures activated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Grief and Alcohol

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Murder

kaneebli's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Blood

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, Gore, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

peachmoni's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

bronbaewr's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

Genuinely fantastic book, can't recommend it enough. As someone with an awesome mom and a shitty grandmother, the plot rlly hit home. It did unfortunately (via a throwaway line) introduce to me the existence of eyebrow mites, but that's my one and only gripe (my life was better before I knew.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Self harm, and Death of parent

Minor: Racism and Dementia