Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

77 reviews

sylvestra's review

dark informative mysterious fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Death of parent

blewballoon's review

dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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

5.0

A fun yet spooky horror story with a small cast of interesting and lovable characters. I enjoyed the relationship between the main character, Sam, and her mother and brother. I think the small neighborhood type setting fit the type of horror going on very well. I also had a good time learning so much about bugs and plants! T. Kingfisher always works for me, it felt like a breath of fresh air to be reading one of their books again.

I was amused by the Chekov's Doily. I did have a few questions that went unanswered, like what changed in the last year that caused the grandmother to get more dramatic with her haunting? It's possible the info is there but I missed it and didn't put it together.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Racism, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death of parent

booksthatburn's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

In A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES, Sam is visiting her mother in the home they once shared with her now-deceased grandmother. However, most of the ways Sam's mother had decorated to make the place her own have been undone, and she doesn’t seem to understand or acknowledge why this would be disturbing. Little things start to add up, eventually going beyond what’s merely bizarre - transforming into something downright creepy. 

Because as a reader this is my introduction to Sam’s mother, it’s harder to immediately know how she ought to be acting, but Sam’s thoughts provide that context in a way that feels natural. It feels like Sam working through it in her own mind, and not just for the benefit of me as a spectator. This is one of those cases where the things that I like best about the book are the ways that my understanding of of what's going on suddenly shifted as new information became available. It's short enough that to discuss most of what I loved in the latter half of the book would spoil many of the best parts of the experience. In general, I like the way that this played with my expectations of what a horror novel could or should be. There were several layers of revelations that didn't really feel like plot twists, as much as they involved realizing the meaning of information that had been said previously, but was transformed by new events. 

I love the ending, that ramps up the pace and the stakes to be suddenly exciting just as everything looked like it was going to wrap up more calmly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Vomit, Dementia, and Alcohol

jaedia's review against another edition

dark funny 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

paronomaniac's review

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia and Gore

Minor: Death of parent

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

huntress's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Dementia

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

brittanyalexa's review

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Dementia