Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

42 reviews

dazzle_spider_reader_1212's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely the kind of book I've been looking for! I'm also an entomology lover and have been looking for books that are in the SF/F and speculative genres that have bugs in, that aren't viewed negatively.
I also love the vultures and how they tie in.
The story and the plot twists aswell are so creative, and T Kingfishers writing is so comical and made the characters really relatable.
Overall, one of my all time favourite books I think, and I'm excited to read more of her work!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Blood, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Body horror, Body shaming, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, and Dementia

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

T.K. always entertains me. This book is creepy and funny.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Violence, Blood, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Classism, Death of parent, and Death

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: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Toxic relationship

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

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

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

cathuluu's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Emotional abuse

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, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Dementia

trzcuit's review against another edition

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

blacksphinx's review against another edition

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

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

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

enchantressreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was a fun take on a haunted house novel. It reminded me (in vibes) a lot of Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt, where the house is haunted less by ghosts and more by the area’s past. It’s a lot different in plot, but I am enjoying the hyper specific “house haunted by bad vibes” genre. 

Samantha Montgomery has to briefly move in with her mother while her archeological dig is postponed because of human remains. Instantly, she can tell something is wrong with her mom. She’s not as bright and cheerful as she used to be, and she’s embracing ideals that are very unlike her. Sam starts digging into what’s going on, and as a scientist, she finds stuff that she just does not believe. 

I love a good story about familial trauma and breaking generational trauma. This definitely falls into that category. It also directly tackles fat phobia, which is rare in horror stories. It was also just… creepy. Sam is an archeoentomologist, meaning she deals with old bugs. So warning, there’s bugs. I also loved the vultures in this story. The book also takes place in North Carolina and tackles stuff like systemic and generational racism. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. My only real issue, hence the .5 star reduction, is a bit of a spoiler but it had to do with the ending. It was just kind of too easy. Otherwise, T. Kingfisher blows me away yet again. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the chance to read this advanced review copy. A House with Good Bones is available now. 

CW for fat phobia, body shaming, racism, medical trauma, entemophobia, child abuse, emotional abuse, fire, injury description, blood, gore, and death

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Medical trauma, Blood, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

maryellen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Ursula Vernon does mundane-to-utterly-terrifying so brilliantly. . Excellent characters, a story that starts off slow, with little moments of dread, and then launches itself into full-blown terror. I absolutely loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Alcohol, Body horror, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury