Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

125 reviews

dokushoka's review

adventurous dark funny 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? N/A

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Gore, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

schnaucl's review

adventurous dark funny 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

5.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It was wickedly funny and I just adore Sam and all her friends.  But especially Sam.  Sam forever!  She is smart and funny and takes no shit and has a fun niche job.  

There's some loving gentle teasing about southern social customs. 

There's also some creepy unsettling bits.

But mostly this book just made me really, really happy.

My only small complaint is that it seemed very obvious to me that Edith was trying to appease the spirit of her mother, who seemed like maybe she was a poltergeist.  But it makes sense to me that while I as a reader would immediately make that connection knowing I was reading a horror novel, Sam would think her mother's odd behavior might be a symptom of dementia.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

brewingespresso's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book! My heart! This story was incredible. This is my first T. Kingfisher read and I am so impressed. I absolutely adored the main character! She felt intensely familiar and I love how much I could relate to her. As I read through this book I could not get the phrase “hurt people, hurt, people.” Out of my head. It’s so prevalent in this and as a child from a southern family that has had her share of emotional and religious trauma I really felt connected to this story. The horror was intense and graphic and vile and I loved every second of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Blood, and Death of parent

itsalina's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Fatphobia, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism

Minor: Body horror, Death, Racism, and Murder

trzcuit's review

dark funny mysterious reflective medium-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

blacksphinx's review

funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I got this book because I've seen a lot of people talk about T. Kingfisher's work but hadn't read any myself yet, and this was her latest release. As someone who tried going to school for forensic anthropology and

has a strong interest in ceremonial magick

, it felt like it was written just for me? It is a deeply WEIRD book that didn't go in the direction I originally expected, and I loved it. I wish there was more of it, or that it was longer, perhaps the pacing being a little different? Maybe a touch more explanation to really take it to the 5-star finish line.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racism, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Terminal illness, Dementia, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

ellarroz's review

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racism, and Blood

Moderate: Cannibalism

kattyenn's review

dark funny tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Cannibalism

Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, and Blood

displacedcactus's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-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? No

This is probably the weakest of T. Kingfisher's horror books, but a weak Kingfisher book is still a really good book.

While things eventually get supernaturally creepy, a lot of the first part of the book centers around the very mundane and relatable fear that comes from your parents getting older while you live far away. Our main character Sam spends a lot of time wondering whether someone is after her mom, or if she's showing early signs of dementia.

The most important thing to me about this book, however, is that Sam is an archeoentomologist (person who studies insects in archeological digs) and spends the book giving random bug facts and Latin names for the insects she sees. This immediately rocketed her near the top of my list of favorite characters ever and I could read an entire book of her complaining about pesticides and trying to identify scale insects from photos.

There's also a one-winged vulture named Hermes and he is a Very Good Boi.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Racism, Vomit, and Dementia

The racism and fatphobia are both from Sam's nasty old grandmother. Bonus TWs for insect horror (as well as insects just living their lives) and fetus-related imagery.

dogearedbooks's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Blood

Minor: Child abuse, Racism, Dementia, Death of parent, and Murder