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A review by onthesamepage
A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
funny
mysterious
medium-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
3.5
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
If you read and enjoyed The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, I found this to be very reminiscent of that. The two books have a lot of similarities:
* In both books, the protagonist returns to the house of a deceased grandmother.
* Said grandmother was not a nice person.
* Cell reception is bad, so they go to a coffee shop to contact family members. Both books have a goth barista as well.
* The protagonist is a middle-aged woman. During the course of the book, she realizes that something that she has said or done is insensitive and that she was being an asshole.
If I hadn't read The Twisted Ones two months before reading this book, I doubt I would've noticed most of these similarities, but it's one of those, once you see it you can't un-see it things.
Did reading this make me worried enough about crawlies in my bed that I did a couple of extensive searches? Definitely. But as far as horror goes, this is more creepy than outright scary. The protagonist has a sense of humor which added some lightness to the story, although I did find that the jokes were often recycled and became repetitive after a while. I liked the family dynamics with her mom. The pacing was very slow for the first half, but really picked up after that. It ended up being a wild ride, which I enjoyed.
If you read and enjoyed The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, I found this to be very reminiscent of that. The two books have a lot of similarities:
* In both books, the protagonist returns to the house of a deceased grandmother.
* Said grandmother was not a nice person.
* Cell reception is bad, so they go to a coffee shop to contact family members. Both books have a goth barista as well.
* The protagonist is a middle-aged woman. During the course of the book, she realizes that something that she has said or done is insensitive and that she was being an asshole.
If I hadn't read The Twisted Ones two months before reading this book, I doubt I would've noticed most of these similarities, but it's one of those, once you see it you can't un-see it things.
Did reading this make me worried enough about crawlies in my bed that I did a couple of extensive searches? Definitely. But as far as horror goes, this is more creepy than outright scary. The protagonist has a sense of humor which added some lightness to the story, although I did find that the jokes were often recycled and became repetitive after a while. I liked the family dynamics with her mom. The pacing was very slow for the first half, but really picked up after that. It ended up being a wild ride, which I enjoyed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia