Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

29 reviews

emmonsannae's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This was such an excellent quick read! The plot was a catch from minute one, the pace is quick but not rushed, and the characters are a delight. What really makes this story is the narrator’s voice and personality—she is so real, deadpan, and well rounded as a character, and she really sells the story. It was so refreshing to have a narrator for whom being fat is a prominent characteristic while not being a consuming or a worrying one (her being an entomologist was a huge bonus).  If anything, I feel like the book could have been a little longer with a little more lead-up to the ending—I wasn’t completely sold on the resolution, but I think I might have been with some more buildup. This is a minor qualm. A great spooky October read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Fatphobia, Death, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Blood

purplepenning's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Cursing, Alcohol, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, and Fatphobia

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

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

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

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

Minor: Dementia, Alcohol, and Child abuse

leguinstan's review against another edition

I was excited to read this because I like T. Kingfisher as an author and I do love me some southern gothic literature but... this was sooo friggin BORING!! The pace is molasses slow and I was not remotely spooked. This is the first time I have ever DNFed a work by this author :(

I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU T. KINGFISHER WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!!!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Fatphobia, Alcohol, and Racism

If you're extremely squeamish about insects you should probably not read this. As for the fatphobia warning the main character is subjected to fatphobia and talks about fatphobia A LOT. But I don't think the book itself is fatphobic.

plantgal_jill's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Alcohol, Mental illness, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Minor: Child abuse, Dementia, Physical abuse, Racism, Death of parent, and Stalking

btrz7's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, and Child abuse

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

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

tigger89's review against another edition

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

4.0

Anything by T. Kingfisher is an auto-request for me, at this point. I love that woman's imagination. A creepy southern gothic, while less fantastic than her previous stories I'd read, is still right up my alley. And I loved the narrator! She was a joy to ride around with, whether she was snarking about the wifi or nerding out about bugs. As someone who's around the same age as Sam, I could relate heavily to her anxieties regarding her aging mother. The finale was also incredible, keeping tension high from the moment Sam stepped back into the house until the matter was resolved.

Unfortunately, overall I didn't like this book as much as Kingfisher's other two. Perhaps it was the genre shift, the addition of teased romantic tension between our intrepid protagonist and the sexy gardener, or the fact that a large part of the story's build-up could have been skipped if the protagonist and her mother had just had That Conversation at any point before the story was two-thirds of the way over. But that doesn't mean it's bad! The bar was just set very high, is all.

Now, the most important question: do the vultures and/or ladybugs die?

There is a committee of vultures, one named and many unnamed. All survive to the end of the story. There are also many, many ladybugs. Unfortunately, some of the ladybugs get squashed in the course of the story, but the majority of them survive.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia

Minor: Racism, Animal death, Child death, and Dementia

Anyone with a fear of bugs should be aware there's multiple scenes involving swarms of ladybugs crawling around and on the point of view character.

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