Reviews

I feel I am being generous by giving this book three stars. My first T. Kingfisher experience was with What Moves the Dead, which is phenomenal, so I immediately jumped on the chance to read an advanced reader copy of A House with Good Bones. I had high hopes. Unfortunately, I found the plot to be formulaic and entirely predictable. This, coupled with several major flaws in the writing (particularly in the dialogue), pacing, and character development (or lack thereof), makes for a story I had to force myself to finish.

While I liked the main character for her interest in insects and her snarky internal monologue, I found that her personality fell flat throughout most of this story – a shame, since she seems to be written with the intent of being a strong leading character. The first two-thirds of the story is a slow burn reminiscent of Gothic revival literature, but many of the omens fail to evoke a true sense of dread (at least for me). What follows is a climax and conclusion that feel rushed and sloppy, with too much information, supernatural happenings, and action to absorb and too many revelations on the characters' familial history packed into just a few pages. I did appreciate the exploration of generational trauma and the subsequent dismantling of the hold it has on the present generation.

Overall, this story suffers from a case of great ideas/concept, but poor execution. This story didn't completely work for me, but I can see how the conversational writing style and the pacing – which both make this book read like a movie – will appeal to other readers!

Thank you to NetGalley and TOR for the digital ARC.

thatferalreader's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative 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

5.0

mstevenson212's review against another edition

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2.0

I was hoping this would be more psychological, but it turned into supernatural, which I was not a fan of.

flourpwr's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

kahkmyers's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

While very dark and author was
able to include a layer of sarcasm and humor throughout the story with their lead Sam. Some of the scenes throughout the story definitely had me wishing I was reading it during the daytime instead of right before bed. It did get to a certain point where I thought the plot
got a little hokey and the sarcasm became very repetitive and overdone, but for the most part, this was a good fall read.

definitelynotacarrot's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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