Kingfisher has a great command of telling a spooky story and this was no exception. Lots of actually humorous moments and dialogue! Reminded me greatly of Svengoolie type chills and thrills.

A House with Good Bones follows Sam, a bug archeologist (who knew that was a thing?), who returns home to her quiet suburban neighborhood in North Carolina to find that her mother, who lives alone in the house that belonged to Sam's deceased grandmother, is acting strangely. By strangely we mean suddenly prudish, pious, and maybe a little racist (sound like anybody else's ornery Southern grandparent)? On top of that, Sam is plagued by a number of strange occurrences, including ladybug infestations, disorienting dreams, and a creepy discovery while digging in her dead grandmother's opulent rose garden.

This all sounds like a recipe for something really interesting, but I'll be blunt: this book didn't live up to my expectations. The setup just doesn't follow through to the ending. I feel like this happens sometimes with horror and paranormal mystery; in an effort to create something dark and creepy that’s also new and original, the author veers too far into bizarre scenes and plot points that become disjointed and don't land well in the finale. Without going into spoilers, the final quarter of this book is weird. I love weird, but this ending raised more questions than it answered, and not in a good way.

T. Kingfisher gets points for setting a story in central North Carolina that genuinely feels authentic to the area. Overall though, A House with Good Bones doesn't rank high on my recommendations list.

Disclosure: I received an e-ARC copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sam is going to her mom's house while she is on furlough from her job as an entomologist. She finds it odd that the house is now starting to look like her grandmother's house even though her grandmother has been dead for a number of years. And her mother is acting very skittish. And there are vultures surrounding the house. Sam goes digging for the truth and uncovers her family secrets that would have better left buried.
I loved this book. It was creepy and weird in the best way. Kingfisher knows how to build the tension and make you wonder what the hell is going on. I highly recommend it if you like creepy and maybe a little scary.

The writing in this book was witty and made for a compulsive read. At times it felt silly and like it was going circles, but I stuck with it and found the story to be entertaining, overall. The main character’s internal monologues were fun and the book was filled with banter although the repetitive thoughts of bugs was overkill at times. This isn’t a particularly scary story, but has some unsettling moments and a mystery element that I enjoyed. The MC drank a lot of boxed wine and made me wish I had a glass in hand too as I read.

Barnes & Nobles review is pending approval, and Amazon review will be posted as soon as the option is available.

Instagram post and review will be posted on 28 March.

Review:
Thank you to the publisher for a review copy.

Welp, she did it again. T. Kingfisher wrote another horror story that is incredibly loveable and so funny. And also approachable. Like usual.

This is an eerie yet hilarious haunted house story that uses family secrets, generational trauma, and a rose garden to craft a very entertaining read. Scary in the way that I avoided reading it at night yet funny enough to startle my kid with my random guffaws of laughter.

And would you imagine that my favorite character was a vulture?

I recommend reading this under an intimidating family portrait with a glass of boxed wine.

ARC Review

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
Pub date March 28, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sam is a temporarily out of work archaeoentomologist (she studies bugs) who heads home to small town North Carolina to spend some extended time with her mom. Her brother warned her that their mom seemed off, but Sam isn’t prepared for just how off things are. Her mom is anxious, the brightly colored walls have been repainted white, and the house is being watched by vultures. Sam decides she has to get to the bottom of what’s going on, but she finds out some secrets should stay buried.

The book starts out as a slow burn with lots of character building, but once it ramps up, it really ramps up and doesn’t slow down. The best part of this book was the fabulous cast of characters. Sam is smart and witty, and I really enjoyed her! The supporting characters were also fun, especially a really adorable vulture named Hermes. As far as the story, I can’t say too much without giving spoilers, but things get real weird real fast and it is super creepy! Maybe a little bit too weird and creepy for me, but I am not always a fan of horror so take that with a grain of salt. Kingfisher does a great job of taking the ordinary and adding a layer of eeriness to it.

Read this one if you like:
🖤 southern gothics
🖤 HP Lovecraft
🖤 magic

Thanks to @netgalley and @tor for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this haunted house story. As usual, Kingfisher creates understandably flawed and unique characters. The story is engaging and the author adds her unique twist to the genre. I highly recommend reading this book!

T.Kingfisher’s books are known for the weird and bizarre followed by horror.

A House With Good Bones explores the roots of a house previously belonging to Sam’s Grand Mae but is now owned by her mom Edith. When Sam visits her mom, she seems off in an unsettling way. She’s repainted the wall from fun and bright to ecru. Shes leaving questionable sticky notes on her bathroom mirror. Then, Sam finds a jar of teeth in the backyard.

This book had an intense element of roses involved and I really enjoyed the pairing of two revolting themes - horror and roses. Every few chapters was broken up by a type of rose and the description of it. I found this to be a different way to connect to the current story but also educate the reader on real life. I found myself looking up the flowers each time for a visual. I love when I book offers more than just a story.

I must also pay homage to Hermes who was my favorite character, the pet vulture. He deserves a shout out.

All in all, this book had SUCH potential However, I was going through the story and at 72% (according to Kindle 😂) the “action” began. Right away, I was turned off. It just was to put it bluntly… very unreal. I understood the tie-in of the garden and what the author was going for but I just couldn’t get behind it… they lost me.

Nonetheless, I did finish the read but I wasn’t left with the satisfying I LOVE IT, like I’ve experience with T.Kingfisher’s previous books.

Solidly entertaining horror - scary, funny, a great setting, and I loved the character specificity which was also tonally totally consistent with the rest of the story.

Ursula Vernon does mundane-to-utterly-terrifying so brilliantly. Excellent characters, a story that starts off slow, with little moments of dread, and then launches itself into full-blown terror. I absolutely loved it.

“Which was ridiculous, of course. Creepy is for old Gothic mansions and run-down cabins out in the woods, not cookie-cutter houses in the middle of a subdivision.”

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher


QUICK SUMMARY 🖊️
Sam is on a break from work and since her apartment is being subletted she’s gone to stay with her mom until it’s time to head back.
Sam quickly is surprised and suspicious of the changes to her mother and their house. She believes there’s something more behind it.

FINAL THOUGHTS 💭
Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
I’ve been a fan of T.Kingfisher since discovering The Twisted Ones, and what that book was lacking for me A House With Good Bones had it. It was a quick read with a great story of a mother / daughter relationship the climax didn’t leave me disappointed.

I do really like this book, it's scary when it wants to be, the story is interesting and the humor is cute and funny. My only problem is that while I was reading it I kept thinking it was weirdly similar to How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. There were a lot of similarities that kept popping up in it. I don't think it was intentional but it soured it for me a little.

This was my first book I have read of T. Kingsfisher and I'm so glad I was able to read it. I will be reading more books. This gave me a creepy and gothic horror vibes. Which is definitely a nice change for me. If you are looking for a haunted house story then this is a must read. I will be recommending this book to my friends.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillian-Tor/Forge for allowing me to read this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

A House With Good Bones is like sitting with your best friend and having them tell you a scary story- if your friend was incredibly witty and had banter so sharp it almost hurts. And so I started this book heavily invested! I was really hoping for a horror comedy novel. Which I think this was, if not also a little flat?
I enjoyed reading it, but I also didn’t feel overwhelmed by it.
In short, this is about a woman who goes home to visit her mother, while her job is temporarily on hold, and finds that something is different. The house, her mom, is different.
It’s pretty easy to figure out what’s happening, though I’ll admit that a few parts still surprised me. I’d read something from this author again!
Thank you for the early read, social media review to come in the next few days.

"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.

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn't what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she's the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what's got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried."

Did someone say Southern Gothic as a pop out from behind the rose bushes hiding the teeth?

A House With Good Bones was definitely a fun time. It had the humor and cozy vibes that a few of T. Kingfisher's other recent works have had, while still incorporating the horror throughout. I would say that the author excels at horror through language. Although this isn't necessarily the scariest horror I have read, Kingfisher integrates the creepiest language into mundane tasks the characters are experiencing, which really makes it feel real.
I personally struggle with placing this into a genre, as it is subtle and the horror plot does not come into fruition until the last 80% of the book. That being said; however, the subtle scary moments throughout the entirety of the novel does definitely make the overall atmosphere uncomfortable.
I enjoyed the characters and the setting, the horror aspects were really fucking weird (which I loved) and it was occasionally very funny. Not totally memorable and I do feel that the pace was slightly off but I did have fun, therefore my rating is a 3.

Bone chilling novel, nicely written, a bit of a slow start but picked up nicely. Enjoyed the read but didn't 100 percent love it.

This is a book for someone else. Kingfisher has a distinct style, balancing humor and vaguely gothic (I use gothic because it was vaguely adjacent to horror but never landed).

However, for me, the humor also didn't land. The dialogue and internal monologue in the beginning felt forced and out of place. Again, this humor might be exactly your cup of tea, but I prefer coffee.

The novel also circled the point for the first third of the book like the vultures next door. It was clear what was happening, but there are so many chapters of that hook, "Mom seems off." After a few pages of it, you realize why mom seems off and are just turning pages waiting for it to happen.

I will also say that the main reveal felt very... unscary. I preferred the earlier chapters focused on atmosphere and foreboding, because I was decidedly not impressed with the twist and how it materialized.

I would say that if you're interested in horror and gothic but don't actually like being scared, this might be a read for you. It has the flavors of something scary without the same tension of others in those genres. Also, the main character's sense of humor cuts the tension and grounds the story in a very unique way.

Thank you to T. Kingfisher, the publisher, and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my review.

Is there such a genre as cozy horror? If so that's what this book reminds me of. Its very low stakes, loveable hilariously relatable MC, and a cozy setting (a suburban house).
The main character, Sam, is what kept me reading this book, and her humor. The first half of the book not a lot is really happening. The second half of the book picks up more speed and gets into a bit more of the scary parts of the story.

A woman returns to her childhood home to visit her mother and finds things amiss. The house appears to have gone back in time to before her grandmother passed, the whole neighborhood is acting suspicious and vultures are lurking around every turn. Great setup but pretty predictable plot wise. The writing was humorous and used unique imagery in the horror aspect.