Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

30 reviews

emilywemily6's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book was so fun- is cozy horror a thing? The main character was hilarious and relatable, and I found myself laughing out loud a lot. There were definitely creepy elements, and I really didn’t know where the story was going, though in retrospective it was a well-thought-out storyline. I enjoyed the cast of characters and their depth. I wish that there was more horror, especially for the first 3/4 of the book, but there were horror elements throughout, I just hoped for more. I think more horror earlier in the book would have helped the pacing a little bit. This is a great intro to horror, though I could see that some people may still be really spooked by it. I listened on audio and loved the narrator *except* for their Phil voice. Overall, this made me excited to read other stuff by the author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Blood, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Racism, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, and Cannibalism

ezwolf's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

4.0

This was…interesting? I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it, but I loved have a fat main character and having her fatness and the way that change how she interacts with the world and the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Racism, Dementia, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

zakura317's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

julesadventurezone's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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

I liked the creepy and mysterious beginning more than the action packed end. The narrator is very funny and relatable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Medical content, and Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Classism

cadence99's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.25

I really really enjoyed this book- creepy and familiar all at once. First of all my heart was so full having a fat main character. I also felt as if the author did a fantastic job of capturing the way in which anxieties manifest themselves in these kind of family dynamics. My one complaint is that I wish the ending twist had been more clearly tied into the underlying themes of the book, it was still deeply creepy, but felt a bit detached from the spirit of the rest of the story. But despite that minor grievance, this book is still one of the best I’ve read this year. I’d definitely recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Dementia, and Alcohol

lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Grief, and Death of parent

blewballoon's review against another edition

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

breezer's review

emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I wasn't entirely happy with the plot directions but I enjoyed it and there was some seriously creepy moments 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

nerodyne's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.0

It's been years since I've been able to read an entire book in one day, but this book was absolutely enthralling to me. I picked it up because being from North Carolina and named Sam, after seeing the premise I HAD to read it. But god, I really didn't expect for it to hit so close to home for me. It's one of those horror stories that really makes you confront your own family history. Even if nothing supernatural is in my family history, that doesn't mean the shadows of abuse don't still haunt you even when they are long dead. The slow creeping horror building up to the finale felt like watching an extremely disturbing puzzle come together. I absolutely recommend this book, but this book already feels so deeply personal to me I know I'm probably biased. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, and Grief

Minor: Fatphobia, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

boglord's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racism, and Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail