Overall I was disappointed by this novel. I can’t say much without spoilers, but I thought the message was problematic. This novel follows Sam who’s an archeologist and her apartment is under repair, so she goes back to her mother’s house in the south. Except Sam’s mother has changed. She’s lost a bunch a weight, says grace before eating, dislikes cussing, and hangs up photos of confederate soldiers in her home. Her mother was a liberal southerner and Sam’s Grand Mae is an abusive bigot. Along we this, when Sam’s dad died her mom and brother were forced to go back to their Grand Mae’s house. This is where Sam experiences fatphobia and her brother experiences abuse (both are, but there’s not much on the brother). Anyway, in the present day the house is doing weird stuff and Sam is becoming more concerned with her mother.

My opinions:
The bigotry in this is challenged, but not well because of the ending. The ending implies that Grand Mae is abusive and a bigot because she experienced abuse in the past. I think that is a shallow take on why people are fatphobic and racist. I may write a spoilery review after this comes, but overall I didn’t like the book. I may read Kingfisher’s over novel What Moves The Dead, but only because I bought it before I read this arc.

The pacing of this story was just enough to keep me reading instead of doing everything else. There's a good dose of humor with a little family drama thrown in for good measure. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the creepy little underground children.

This was a slow start for me, but once the unsettling moments started happening it pulled me in a lot more.

Sam is an archeoentymologist who is staying with her Mom for a few weeks. Her brother tells her something is up and that's very clear from her arrival. Edie has repainted the once fun brought colors back to drab boring ecru and put back up a bunch of her mother's old and somewhat racist decor. When Sam asks questions as to why her Mom plays dumb.

As we get more into the story with a mystery unraveling as well we get hot with the paranormal aspects of this book and they amped up my enjoyment factor.

The last 75% of the story was a rollercoaster and the guest just chilling in the kitchen was amazing. Solid read again from T. Kingfisher!

I loved the creepy atmosphere that this had! I did think the pacing was a little off for how short this book was. The first half was a little slow, but the second half was really interesting although I do wish there had been a bit more time spent on the climax of the story. As with most of T Kingfisher's books, I loved her writing and sense of humor that she adds into the story. As far as horror goes, this one is pretty light on the horror aspects, although some of the descriptions did give me the creeps! I do wish there was a little more fleshing out of certain ideas, like Sam's ancestry and some of the details surrounding the underground children, but overall, I really enjoyed this and I think it could be great for people who like horror that isn't too scary!

A House With Good Bones is a gothic horror that takes place in a new-ish neighborhood house (no old creepy mansion in sight!). Our main character Sam is a recently furloughed entomologist/archaeologist who decides to live with her mom for a few months to check in on her after Sam’s brother tells her something’s going on with their mom. When she arrives, she realizes the house she’s in isn’t the house she last saw- more so looking like how the house looked when it was her grandma’s. Her mom has also changed a lot- she took down all her artwork, painted the house, and won’t cuss.

This book is my first T. Kingfisher book I’ve read and I will definitely be reading her backlist after this! It gave me the creepy crawlies with the way Kingfisher wrote about bugs and wrote some sleep paralysis scenes.

Sam is a great protagonist and I loved her inner monologue! She’s really funny and nerdy and a little self-deprecating- all of my favorite things in a main character! The cast of side characters were also well written and I wish we could’ve gotten a little bit more back story from them, especially Gail.

The ending was a tiny bit rushed for me but that could be because I rushed through reading it to find out what was going to happen.

Thank you to NetGalley and TOR Nightfire for an e-arc of this book!

T. Kingfisher's latest is a tight, fast-paced horror dealing with intergenerational trauma in the American middle-class Southern experience. Our main character Sam is incredibly likeable, with enough of a life sketched into the margins of the central plot to feel actualized on the pages. I enjoyed the way Kingfisher described characters as acting 'off', and while I didn't *think* this was check-over-your-shoulder creepy, I did get up one night somewhere around the halfway mark and close my blinds on rather a sudden impulse.

This horror skims the waters of inherited trauma but doesn't make more than a shallow pass at the idea. I would have enjoyed a more realized connection and think it could have tied in nicely with Sam's role in the climax. For a short book, however, I think it did enough!

Bug girl rep! North Carolina rep!

A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES – REVIEW

A House With Good Bones is a contemporary southern gothic tale from bestselling suspense author T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon).

Sam Montgomery is an archeologist who is assigned to a dig sight near her childhood home, but whenever her dig is put on hold, she moves back in with her mother for a few months. Upon arrival, Sam realizes something isn’t quite right with her mother. The house, which had once been warm and has been returned to the drab state it had been in whenever her mean and racist grandmother was alive.

That isn’t all, Sam realizes her mother is terrified in her own home, which causes Sam to begin digging for the truth, which makes her come face to face with her family's past.

While the publisher classifies A House with Good Bones in the genres of Gothic, Haunted House, and Horror, the book has a fair amount of comedy and is very light in the horror. The writer employs suspense extremely well, but If you come to this book looking for a ton of scares, you are going to be disappointed.

That being said, I thought T. Kingfisher’s prose and voice as Sam were so great. I thoroughly enjoyed the main character and felt for the situation she found herself in. I think the author did such a wonderful job of depicting what it’s like to have to deal with your family members and your family’s less-than-desirable past and a troubled legacy in a believable way that did not feel heavy-handed.

This may sound weird, but this book left me with 1998’s Practical Magic–yes, the witchcraft movie that stars Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman–vibes. It may just be me, but for whatever reason, as I read this, it kept conjuring up that movie in my mind.
This was a 4.5-star read for me. I read it in almost one sitting and could not put it down. I highly recommend, if you go in understanding you are in for a light/fun gothic horror read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy for an unbiased review.

Quite often when reviewing something, I use the term BONKERS, which refers to a complete inability to properly chart the vein of the narrative. This does not mean that a story is either well written or not - it just does not fit or compare to anything that I have consumed in the past.

In A House With Good Bones is bonkers, but I wish it was a better read.

Sam Montgomery is an archaeo-entemologist who is making a last minute stay with her mother after an unexpected pause in her worklife. Her mother, a semi-retired widow, has redone the place, almost in an eerily exact tribute to how her Grand-Mere had kept the house. It is a human truth that we all tend to revert to old dynamics and routines when we visit family and our childhood home - but this is even more creepy!

This first twist of this title is something that any seasoned lover of recent horror will see coming from the very first chapters. The second twist is when it feels like everything gets derailed and we ender Bonkers-ville.

BONES gives the reader enough breathing space to take in setting and family history; I wish the 2nd phase took the same time in its conclusion

Comparables: Hereditary; When Darkness Loves Us

Sam goes to visit her mother after some remains are found on her dog and her brother states their mother has been acting strangely - and she definitely is. It almost seems as if she’s reverting back to how she used to live when her own mother (Sams Grandmother) was alive.
If cozy horror were a thing, I feel like this would be it. It was fun and interesting and weird. I feel for Kingfisher’s writing and genuinely want to read more from them. It got a bit goofy, which took me out of the story a bit, but there were some genuinely creepy moments.

This was my second encounter with T. Kingfisher, and it certainly won’t be my last! She’s managed to thoroughly creep me out, and I loved every minute of it!

In A House With Good Bones we follow Sam, a 32 year old entomologist who’s decided to move back home with her mother while waiting for her stalled archeological dig to reconvene. But once Sam arrives back to her rural North Carolina town and her childhood house, she notices that her mother, and the house itself, are wildly different. The house has been stripped of all the color and kitsch her mother once loved, and so has her mother. What has been left behind is a shell, a shell that seems eerily related to her late overbearing grandmother. In a Southern Gothic tale full of ladybugs, roses, and teeth, Kingfisher tackles themes of generational trauma, racism, and power seized by the powerless. This book was truly creepy, and I’m glad I did not experience it on audiobook because there are some sounds I just don’t want to hear! When you get to the last 10% of the book you’ll know exactly what I mean!

All in all, I really enjoyed this and I can’t wait to dive into Kingfisher’s backlist!

"The problem with family is that they know where all the levers are that make you move. They're usually the ones who installed the levers in the first place."

When Sam goes to stay with her mother after being laid off, her brother warns her their mother has been acting off. Sam doesn't know what he means, but she's prepared for the worst. Or so she thinks. As she puzzles out what's happening, more questions than answers arise. Something is off, and maybe it's not just with her mother.

I always enjoy anything Kingfisher publishes. This has the right amount of offbeat and horror, with humor mixed in. I love the relationship Sam has with her mother, Edie. While I figured out a few things early on, it didn't deter my enjoyment because the way Kingfisher builds dread keeps the reader engaged and anxious to watch it all unfold.

Thank you, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, for sending this along.

This is my first T. Kingfisher book, and it won't be my last. I know without question that this will be a book I will think about for years to come.

We follow Sam, a ancient bug expert who's next job is unexpectedly cancelled prompting a visit to her childhood home. Noticing some weird changes in her mother, Sam initially thinks her mother is sick. But after further investigation, and some unexplained new symptoms for Sam herself, Sam uncovers far more sinister and other-worldly explanations for the newfound quirks within her mother and the house she lives in.

This book was very reminiscent of Mexican Gothic, by Sylvia Moreno Garcia. I found the vibe to be very similar and yet somehow also very different. I found myself extremely interested in the story early on, and it absolutely held my attention throughout. I would say it was a medium pacing and things were happening just often enough to keep me engaged.

This was a fun little horror novella that can easily be finished in a day. A haunted house, vultures, and manicured lawn suburbia. What more could anybody ask for?

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for providing an Advanced Reader Copy of this book!

A House With Good Bones is a tight novella with short chapters that made it easy to finish in one sitting. The story is a mix of southern family drama, Southern Gothic, witches, horror, and humor. The characters are easily relatable and you come to care for them. Fans of Kingfisher’s previous work, gothic, or horror novels should not miss this one!

I read this book during a major thunderstorm and blackout, which was maybe not the best choice, but it certainly enhanced the mood. Horror is not my go-to genre, but I enjoy it every now and then, and this is the exact kind of horror book that I love. It has layers of meaning and metaphor, gets inside your head, and definitely provides that sense of impending doom that makes you jump at any little noise. It’s also funny. The humor is just enough to break the tension and bring out more of Sam’s personality. This book also contains just enough gross, creature horror to distinguish it and give it a unique quality without making me ill.

This book also has big “good for her” vibes. The women in this story are breaking generational curses and stepping into their power, and I am here for it. I very much appreciated that Sam is a fat single woman in her 30’s who is a scientist and is happy with her life. This is a character type that I haven’t seen much outside of romance, so it was especially great to see in a horror novel. Sam’s mom and neighbor are also strong women and their friendship, while understated, is really sweet.

Rating: 4.5 stars (rounded up on Netgalley)
I absolutely loved this book. It strikes the perfect balance for me in a horror novel between humor, fear, tension, and deeper meaning. On a personal note, I related to this story more than I have related to anything in a while, which feels a bit odd to say, considering the genre. Sam reminded me a bit of myself, and her mother and grandmother reminded me of my grandmother and great-grandmother, respectively. For me, a 5 star read is something l loved, found impactful, will recommend to others and revisit time and again. I’m not 100% sure about revisiting, unless I have space during the spooky season. Or during the next blackout.

*2.5 rounded up to 3 for Goodreads scoring*
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for my arc in exchange for my unbiased review.

"A House With Good Bones" by T. Kingfisher (I've read "Nettle & Bone" and "The Twisted Ones", both opposite experiences for me) is a Southern Gothic tale about what hides beneath the created façade of normalcy in Sam Montgomery's childhood home. After returning home for a brief visit, Sam finds that not everything is fine and normal with her mother. Sam's mother moved her and her older brother to her mother's home after the sudden death of her husband. It is this house that Sam returns to and what lurks here is not all roses and thorns.

I have to say that I was SO excited to get approved of this ARC and get to read it. I LOVED "Nettle & Bone" but hated "The Twisted Ones" but the plot sounded spooky and creepy and Southern Gothic tales are so fun to read in the Spring/Summer. I was sorely disappointed. Granted I read this over a long period because of graduate school readings, but god was it SO slow moving. Not suspense building slow, just SLOW. And Sam as a main character was not great. I identified with her for maybe 25% of the book (I too am a fat academic with a niche interest) but my goodness was she just so one note. She remains pretty stagnant throughout about 98.5% of the book until shit hits the fan and she's forced to adapt but other than that? No character growth. The narrative itself is also pretty boring until you get to the last 3-5 chapters and even then, I found my eyes drifting to my phone and checking the time. This absolutely didn't feel like Southern Gothic to me. It was just boring and nothing really happened and I basically cared more about the "side characters" over Sam.

I am not sure if it's just Kingfisher's writing but I find it so inconsistent and annoying because they have such cool ideas, I just feel like they aren't always the best at execution.

Thank you Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for this ARC. T. Kingfisher does it again! This was an obvious 5 star read for me. The characters were all interesting, the main characters inner dialogue through out the story was super funny, while the plot itself was creepy. I could not put this book down!

T Kingfisher is a master of dark fairy-tale style writing. This book is an excellent mix of horror and family trauma. Plus, it makes you absolutely fall in love with vultures.

Yes, yes, and yes!
Kingfisher has done it again. I will literally read anything Kingfisher writes.

In true T. King' fashion, this book was a unique horror story with the absolute best commentary/thoughts from the characters. I always find myself laughing and creeped out all at once while reading a T. King' book.

I love how there is always some kind of "creature/s" that is not what you expect. Always something that makes you think and appreciate the creativity that goes into the story. In this case, there were a few, but I wont spoil anything. I will say though, I loved the vultures! Again, such a unique aspect to add in.

Can't wait to see what comes next from this brilliant author. T. Kingfisher is in my top 3 authors of all time.

T. Kingfisher is a little hit and miss for me, but A House with Good Bones was definitely a hit! It's smart, Southern gothic horror about a house that seems to be haunted by the main characters racist, emotionally abusive grandmother. Sam is a scientist and a skeptic, but coming home to stay with her mom for awhile something seems....off. And things devolve from there.

While this has humor and light, quirky narration style, it also has scenes that are truly creepy and disturbing. But Sam is pretty unflappable for much of the book, always seeking a logical explanation and that balances things quite well. She's also a fat woman who is comfortable in her own skin and I LOVED how this tackled fatphobia in the medical industry among other things. I don't know that I've seen this kind of thing included in a book casually like that before and I was so impressed.

So yeah, definitely among my favorite things I've read from T. Kingfisher. I seem to do well with a lot of her horror and that's certainly what this is. With a side of family trauma! It's also worth noting that Sam's job is studying insects from archaeology sites, and there are a fair amount of insects in the book in both creepy and non-creepy ways. The audio narration is also excellent. I received an advance copy of the audiobook for review via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.