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A review by constellation_library
A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
T. Kingfisher is an auto-buy author for me. She has a huge backlist that I'd like to work through, but so far, I've read the following works:
--A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking
--Nettle & Bone
--What Moves the Dead
--A House with Good Bones
I'm currently reading The Twisted Ones, and will likely follow that with The Hollow Places.
Anyway, I say all of that to say, that I hold Kingfisher's work in the highest esteem, so A House with Good Bones was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I'm pleased to announce that I enjoyed the story immensely. I gave it 4.5/5 stars. Kingfisher has a very unique voice and writing style, and you will always be able to spot a Kingfisher novel because of this. The characters are always quirky with humorous internal dialogue, and there are often animal companions or animal characters.
In A House with Good Bones, we are seeing a 32 year old woman having to live with her mother in her late grandmother's house. The house isn't old. It's in a pretty modern development comparatively, maybe only 40-50 years old. But something weird is definitely going on when vultures sit and watch the house. Her mother, normally a liberal, free-spirited lady, is acting unlike herself. There are so many bits and pieces to this tale, and it blends horror with weird fiction. I can't say much more for fear of spoiling it, but suffice it to say that this one did not go the way I expected it to.
My one gripe, and why I can't give it the full five stars is because the unexpected direction it took honestly felt like it belonged in a completely different story. It worked just fine, and I couldn't tell you a preferred way for it to go, but something about it just didn't click for me and took me out of the narrative. I'm curious to see if anyone else had a similar experience.
--A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking
--Nettle & Bone
--What Moves the Dead
--A House with Good Bones
I'm currently reading The Twisted Ones, and will likely follow that with The Hollow Places.
Anyway, I say all of that to say, that I hold Kingfisher's work in the highest esteem, so A House with Good Bones was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I'm pleased to announce that I enjoyed the story immensely. I gave it 4.5/5 stars. Kingfisher has a very unique voice and writing style, and you will always be able to spot a Kingfisher novel because of this. The characters are always quirky with humorous internal dialogue, and there are often animal companions or animal characters.
In A House with Good Bones, we are seeing a 32 year old woman having to live with her mother in her late grandmother's house. The house isn't old. It's in a pretty modern development comparatively, maybe only 40-50 years old. But something weird is definitely going on when vultures sit and watch the house. Her mother, normally a liberal, free-spirited lady, is acting unlike herself. There are so many bits and pieces to this tale, and it blends horror with weird fiction. I can't say much more for fear of spoiling it, but suffice it to say that this one did not go the way I expected it to.
My one gripe, and why I can't give it the full five stars is because the unexpected direction it took honestly felt like it belonged in a completely different story. It worked just fine, and I couldn't tell you a preferred way for it to go, but something about it just didn't click for me and took me out of the narrative. I'm curious to see if anyone else had a similar experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia