T. Kingfisher is my new go-to automatic request author! This is, by far, the best novel I've read by this author. I enjoyed this story immensely. Contemporary Southern gothic at its best!
Samantha Montgomery is an entomologist/archeologist who has time off from her latest dig. She goes back home to her idyllic North Carolina street to visit her mom for a bit. But just as her brother has warned her of something being "off" with mom, Sam starts to see other things amiss about the house itself. Plus, there always seem to be vultures watching the home.
This story has a slow build and a horror that makes you want to curl up in bed and pull the covers over you head. Thanks goodness I read this during the day!

*Special thanks to NetGalley & Macmillan Tor/Nightfire for this e-arc.

I had high hopes for A House With Good Bones - I love the haunted house trope, creepy family ties, and southern gothic vibes, but unfortunately, this novel did not work for me. I did not like the voice of the narrator/ protagonist - it made it very "cozy", and very little happened until over halfway through the novel. At that point, the narration changed, and the action started, but I was hoping for a more scary type of horror. This is a great novel for someone looking for light or cozy horror.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for an ARC in exchange for review.

I absolutely loved this book! T Kingfisher has done it again. Their horror books are so consistently amazing that they have become an auto-buy author for me.

This book has such a unique perspective on the gothic haunted (?) house narrative. It was classic and fresh all at the same time. It also had just the right amount of creepiness to keep me looking over my shoulder. This book is perfect for horror fans who aren’t too into gore, but like something that gets into your head and then isn’t afraid to surprise you. I also like that the pets/animal companions in T Kingfishers work always survive. It’s refreshing.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy of this book

T. Kingfisher is one of my faves, and I will gladly read anything she writes. A House with Good Bones is no exception. Once again, she excels at balancing humor and horror, slowly increasing the tension while lightening the mood with humor. I love her protagonists always, and Sam won my heart with her first sidebar about bugs.

Kingfisher’s writing is exactly what I like, so I’m a big fan and I have no notes. 10/10

This book is so entertaining. I loved the characters; they are fantastically written. You want to keep turning the pages to see what they are doing and how they are dealing with all of the weird things that are occurring at the house. I love how T. Kingfisher brings humor and a lightness to gothic horror. It keeps you on your toes and makes you care about the characters. I loved that Sam was an Archaeoentomologist. She studies insect remails found uncovered in archaeology site. There is a ton of discussion of bugs, but it adds a layer to the story.

I loved how Sam's family's past was so deeply hidden from her and her mom. Each chapter brings a new discovery to who they were and what that means to them. Thank you to T. Kingfisher and Tor Nightfire for having me read this chilling book.

The House with Good Bones was such a fun and creepy read! And kind of gross at times, personally?? I love haunted houses and Kingfisher’s writing and brand of humor really really worked for me here. I’m very happy to say this was another big hit from this author 😀

The thing that amused me to no end here was how rational Sam was about it all. I loved her internal monologue and how she looked for scientific explanations for everything. It was very much the opposite of what I would do and I had a lovely time reading about her trying to figure out what the heck was going on in the house.

The horror and spooky elements were also really well written and executed! I enjoyed the slow build of it and how it kept escalating as we found out more about Sam’s family. The way that tied with bugs and bones and the other twist at the end really hit me in the gross feelings and I actually grimaced through the entire final chapters lol

The ending was really good and I liked how it wrapped up the story. Phil and Gail (and Hermes!) were great supporting characters throughout and I loved their final interactions with Sam after what they went through. There were a few open questions, but I didn’t mind not having answers to them.

Funny and unsettling, T Kingfisher brings us another story doing what she does best. A House With Good Bones is packed with laugh out loud moments and eerie imagery. I also found the main character relatable in many ways given that she is a similar age and fat with curly hair, which is something we don’t see often enough. While the twist is fairly obvious from the start I think anyone that’s a fan of horror comedy will enjoy this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

(4.5 stars rounded up)

A southern gothic haunted house story, imbued with religious and occult themes. Kingfisher uses the haunted house as a metaphorical representation of long-standing trauma from decades of intergenerational familial abuse and neglect. The climactic confrontation between the protagonist and the primary spiritual threat is symbolic of the emotional work that survivors do to break cycles of violence. Ghosts who still cling onto the material plane, refusing to move forward and haunting the living are a supernatural representation of the possessive nature of abuse. I was impressed by the clarity with which this theme of intergenerational trauma and the far-reaching ramifications of abuse was rendered in this book. Kingfisher somehow managed to write a story exploring such intense themes, with an immediately unsettling atmosphere to match, as well as short bursts of blood-filled violence, all with an ever-present and sparkling sense of humour.

The first person perspective works wonders for the narrative, presenting the reader with a look inside the flawed but loveable protagonist Samantha. She is an incredibly dynamic character and I was satisfied by her character arc. Her character growth is realistic, and this is helped by Kingfisher writing Samantha as a mature, reflective person. Throughout the novel, she often ruminates on her past, making connections between her personal experiences and wider sociopolitical contexts. I love reading about intelligent and ambitious women, and I love how Kingfisher interlaces Samantha’s character traits with the narrative and its driving themes. Also, it was uplifting to read a story with positive fat representation. The relationship between Samantha and her mother is another compelling aspect of the story. The way they support each other throughout the story, even at the beginning when Samantha is only just starting to suspect something is wrong with the house, is heartwarming to witness. Family dynamics are of great interest to me and this book doesn’t disappoint when it comes to intense and messy family dynamics. As Samantha does more research into her family history she uncovers major secrets about her family’s past.

The only complaint I have for this novel concerns the ending. The reveal at the end of the climactic fight is shocking and I love the transition from describing bugs and roses before each new chapter to simply stating that there is nothing. The impact was very profound at that moment. However, I found the short section afterwards to be lacking. The conflict is too big to fit into the number of pages left. As a result, the narrative is compressed and the pacing feels rushed. Ultimately it had the effect of lessening the impact of what could have been a high stakes story with a cathartic conclusion.

A+ for vultures. I loved the infusion of the everyday with the magical. I will be recommending this to customers – it has become one of my favourite horror reads and it’s a clear standout in its genre. Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for sending me an ARC.

Thanks T. Kingfisher … I never needed to sleep again anyways. 😨

Some authors understand creepy vibes and she’s one of them. When your opening line is: “There was a vulture on the mailbox of my grandmother’s house,” it probably isn’t going to become LESS creepy as you read on, and let me assure you it didn’t!

Samantha Mills is a thirty-something archaeoentomologist (they study insect life at archaeological dig sites) who’s come to live with her mom, Edie, for a few months in the North Carolina home her mom inherited from Sam’s grandmother, Gran Mae.

Immediately, Sam sees changes that her mom has made to the home that aren’t in keeping with her mother’s spunky personality. The once vibrantly colorful walls have been painted a bland ecru, a prominent painting has been switched back to one Gran Mae favored when alive, and Edie is radiating anxiety whenever Sam questions any of it or says even the least negative thing about Gran Mae. Add to that Sam’s increasingly disturbing night-time episodes, weird post-it note reminders her mom has written to herself, and a startling discovery about her great-grandfather. Then there’s the VERY unique situation in Gran Mae’s rose garden.

What’s going on? Sam’s scientific mind is finding it harder and harder to come up with a logical explanation as things become more bizarre, and her latest creepy backyard discovery is about to unleash a whole lot of unintended consequences!

As with any book, there were good points and weaker points. Kingfisher really captured the Southern gothic atmosphere, created strong characters and a compelling storyline with a dabble of historical fiction thrown in to flesh out the plot, and a deliciously intense ending (aka the reason I won’t sleep again). She also excels with her trademark humor. Where it suffered a bit was the pacing. Besides the night-time happenings, the pace felt pretty leisurely until towards the end when things went into overdrive!

If you enjoy Southern gothic stories with horror lite, some paranormal and fantasy elements, crazy-cakes endings and a touch of humor throughout, this should do the trick. T. Kingfisher always comes through with a highly imaginative story!

★★★ ½ (rounded to 4)

Love the cover art, very well done and definitely draws your attention.5 stars on that.
The book did certainly have several creepy elements to it but I felt I really couldn’t get into the story as much as I wanted and something just seemed lacking in general. Everything just felt more superficial as I was being told of elements without me actually feeling really into the happenings. It was an overall ok read and I feel it’s one T Kingfisher fans would enjoy.
3.5 stars

I just love T. Kingfisher, I really do.

There is something very special about T. Kingfisher's brand of horror, and A House With Good Bones captures that quality extremely well. A House With Good Bones contains fairly ordinary people in ordinary settings where nothing exceptionally outlandish happens–at first–and a slow creep of dread slowly settles in, but you are almost always caught off guard by it because of how well the story is able to incorporate humor and endearing characters that make it impossible to put the book down.

This is very classic T. Kingfisher horror and so for me that means it's brilliant and I love it. If you have read and enjoyed any of T. Kingfisher's other horror books (or even non-horror ones), then you will definitely want to check this one out as well because it is very much written in the same style and with all the trademark humor, creepiness, and intelligence as her previous books.

In A House With Good Bones, we follow Sam Montgomery as she makes her way back home during some time off from work to check in on her mom after her brothers calls and tells her that their mom seems to be... a little "off." Sam arrives home in North Carolina and soon realizes that things with her mom are, indeed, a bit odd. Things in the house also seem to be just a little bit odd, and Sam can't figure out why her mom seems to be acting a lot like her Gran Mae used to act–especially since neither her mother nor Sam herself particularly liked Gran Mae.

T. Kingfisher is an absolute master at creating the most creeping, slow burn horror. I remember when I first read The Hollow Places by Kingfisher, the first book of hers that I read, and I was so immersed and blown away by how unbelievably unnerving and creepy the story was and how her writing was able to make me feel so incredibly uneasy, and that is the case in A House With Good Bones as well. There's not all that much in the way of action in the first portion of the book, but there is still so much that happens with regard to the weirdness of Sam's mother's actions and the house itself. Not to mention the fact that there is a weird amount of wild vultures in the neighborhood that seem particularly interested in Gran Mae's house, which also lays out a perfect atmosphere for this eerie story.

Sam is an incredible protagonist, and her humor and deadpan narrative delivery remind me a lot of the protagonists in The Hollow Places and The Twisted Ones. She is an entomologist living in Arizona, but often travels for various archaeological digs, and her entomologist expertise definitely comes in handy in this book in some very surprising ways, but also in ways that I found very interesting. I love when characters are specific experts in a topic and I get to learn a little bit secondhand from their narrative, which happens quite a bit here–but I promise it's all interesting and not at all dry. Sam is the perfect horror companion because she's very rational and always looking for a reasonable explanation for things, especially since she is scientifically-minded, as well as because of her ability to have a very dry-witted remark for just about everything. I laughed as much as I felt creeped out in this book, and that is my favorite type of story because I love humor and being entertained, but I also love getting creeped out by things. I felt like I was friends with Sam in this book, and that made for an even more enjoyable experience.

I can't tell you anything that happens because it absolutely needs to be a surprise, so just know that as you form theories and opinions about what's happening, you are probably somewhat on the right track... but also a little wrong and there will be big surprises to keep things interesting. I genuinely could not put this book down. In a time when I've been struggling to get through a single book in any short amount of time, I read this book so quickly and so easily that it helped remind me why I love reading so much. Although there is a lot more I could potentially say about this book, I'm going to stop here and keep things relatively brief because I'm not sure what else I could say that wouldn't just be outright overenthusiastic gushing about it, and at this point I think my point has been made.

Overall, it's another five stars from me for A House With Good Bones. This was brilliant, entertaining, timely, and has so much to love about it. I cannot recommend A House with Good Bones (or any T. Kingfisher book, really) enough.

Ah! I always find myself feeling strangely refreshed after reading a Kingfisher horror novel. They’re witty and humorous in the kind of way that goes “it’s either crack a joke right now or scream bloody murder and screaming feels extra counter-productive” (which, let’s be honest, is exactly how I would address a terrifying situation). The protagonists are smart and a little weird and usually hard-done-by in a way that makes them both resilient and relatable. We get little passing “racism is bad” quips that fit the vibe of “I grew up white in the south and I still got out as soon as I could” - as in we don’t ignore the racist systems or histories and the white characters are embarrassed and horrified by the casual racism perpetuated by their older relatives.

Things got extra weird when the switch flipped from “vaguely unsettling” Southern Gothic to “absolute bonkers” horror (but that’s just the nature of the genre and Kingfisher still handles that better than most), but it maintains the elements of horror with a bit of that token ridiculousness. Because no one wants to be reunited with their dead racist, abusive, gaslighting grandmother.

Roses Watered With Blood

Writing under the pen name of T Kingfisher, Ursula Vernon is an accomplished story-crafter with a long list of award-winning works for young people as well as many titles of adult horror and fantasy. After reading her last book, What Moves the Dead, I expected a creepy, disturbing, pulse-throbbing ride from her latest book. I was not disappointed!

The concern that brings Sam to check in with her mother during a break from field work is, sadly, not unusual. My siblings and I went through a 'something's not right with mom' crisis, so I identified with Sam's dilemma right away. The development of brain disorders in an aging loved one can be fraught and tragic, but it is a normal problem. The changed condition Sam finds her mother in isn't as simple as a slide into dementia, however. The way her mom tiptoes around in the house, once her Grandmother's, seems much more sinister.

Sam is immediately creeped out, but she settles in, determined to find out what's making her mom act so strangely. She's practical and she really loves her job, so at first, as she and Mom settle into a routine, she tries to keep up with insect identification tasks she's been assigned while waiting for the dig site to open up. I respect those qualities in her, though I wouldn't have stayed in that house after the first incident with the ladybugs. I admire her interest in insects, extinct or otherwise, but I much prefer them extinct.

By a certain point, I wanted to shake her and warn her that anyone alive in that house should get out while they still can, so she needs to grab her mother and drag her away, whether she wants to go or not. But, of course, it doesn't work that way in books. I had to suffer along with her instead, because I had to know what was going to happen in this suspenseful thriller.

The characters were all well fleshed-out and colorful, amusing and worth rooting for, even the neighbor witch-lady and her foster-vulture. It was a fun read, and the humor was well-balanced with the frightening elements. Kingfisher is a wonderful writer with a perfect knack for giving her readers hours of immersive and entertaining terror.

Thank you to the author and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read a free advance reader's copy of A House With Good Bones. Their gift has no obligations attached and this is my honest review: it's a scary read!

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher is a fast paced gothic horror. If it's blood, guts, and gore you are looking for then this is not the book for you. It is very atmospheric and creepy and many of the bug descriptions will have your skin crawling.

This is my first T. Kingfisher novel and I will definitely be picking up more of her work in the future. I loved the comedic charm that the female main character possessed. At times I would get so enraptured in the witty thoughts of said character I would forget I was reading a horror novel until it quickly transitioned into the creepy crawlies! I would highly recommend this book to someone who might be new to the horror genre.

T. Kingfisher does it again! I loved this funny creepy ghost story so much. Sam has to live at home with her mother again due to her archeological dig being postponed. Upon arriving she immediately notices that things in her childhood home are very different than they used to be. This includes how her mother is acting which has her researching dementia. The truth is so much more sinister. I loved the blending of sarcasm, wit, creepy bug references (you will want to have Google close by because looking up the different species is so much fun!), and horror. I read this in two sittings only because I started so late the first night. I didn't want to put it down. This book feels like a mash up of her book What Moves the Dead with a dash of Grady Hendrix humor and a sprinkle of creepiness like We Spread by Iain Reid.

“A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.“

Gah. This book came at the perfect time.

I needed something twisty and turn-y and wonderfully creepy.

This book was all these things AND a WHOLE BAG OF ALL DRESSED CHIPS.

First off, the cover is fantastic. I love the tiny skulls hidden in the wallpaper, and the shadow.

The main character has my undying devotion. I love that she’s got a weird job she loves. I love that she communicates with people around her (no Misunderstanding Tropes here). I love her skepticism, and her hilarious inner dialogue.

I loved the setting. Normally, you get a good, old, gothic house for a good, old gothic tale. Nope. It’s cookie-cutter housing in the ‘burbs for this tale.

I loved the quirky neighbours. I loved the galloping vultures. I loved the post-it notes. I even loved the mewling fetuses.

I might have liked a final showdown with Gran Mae, but other than that, sign me up for this author’s entire back catalogue.

I’m here for it.

9/10

Thanks to NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group, and Macmillan Audio for this ARC.

A great premise but unfortunately not such a great book. The storyline started out with a bang but ended in a whimper.

I love gothic horror. I’m not a huge blood and guts fan, but I love the uncomfortable uneasiness that comes with gothic horror. There’s also the element of suspense that usually comes into play that also keeps me engaged.

As Sam steps through the doors of her mother’s home, she keeps hearing her brothers words “mom seems off” in her mind. Nonetheless Sam is excited for her extended visit. She can’t wait to enjoy some boxed wine while watching murder mysteries. But the moment she steps through the door, things just feel off. Her mom is jumpy and seems to think something is watching her. One day, Sam ventures to the backyard and finds a jar of teeth beneath her deceased grandmothers prized rose bushes Sam starts to wonder what is going on. As Sam keeps digging, will she realize that some secrets are better off left buried?

I love a good gothic horror and this one delivered! I have read one other T. Kingfisher book (What Moves the Dead) and have loved them both! They are exactly what I look for in a horror book, lots of suspense and lots of dark, twisty details. This book was so fun! I absolutely loved the ending of this one – just wow! This book kept me engaged throughout and I was rewarded with the delightful ending. I loved all the characters and I really enjoyed the blurbs before the chapters – it was fun to see how they played into the upcoming chapters. I can’t say enough good things about this one. If you love gothic horror, then you will love this one.

T. Kingfisher is now an auto-buy author for me. Check out this book March 28th!

Tons of thanks to the publisher, Tor Publishing, Tor Night Fire, @tornightfire, and Netgalley, @Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this book didn't work for me. I read a lot of great reviews about Kingfisher's books and this one sounded right up my alley. I'm a huge fan of the Haunted House horror trope. But the book didn't deliver on its premise. The characters are shallow and even boring, there's no tension building and the ending was quite predictable. I generally appreciate when humor is introduced in a horror book but in this case It felt like being in an English class with a bunch of teenagers trying to impress the classmates with hilarious puns. Sometimes (always?) less is more. I still want to try another of her books because I know she's a great genre writer.

Sam Montgomery travels to see her mother expecting a certain kind of visit. One that involves some quality time between the two of them in her mother's cozy and cluttered home. From the moment Sam enters the house things seem off. Her mother's house is oddly clean, organized, sterile, and her mother is acting skittish, strange. As Sam notices more and more of her mother's stance behavior, she experiences unexplainable things, making her wonder if this change in her mother has something more to do with something paranormal in the house.

I am a sucker for haunted house stories. I love a good gothic tale. T. Kingfisher does a nice job of including chilling moments with a good dose of humor. It's a nice bit of tension and then release. Sam is a great narrator. Her voice is clear and unique. Her wit is exactly what this story needed.

The only reason I'm giving this story a 4 and not a five is because of the pacing. It took me a while to get into this story, but once I did, it was a solid creepy tale.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review.