Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Nightfire, and T. Kingfisher for the advanced copy of A House With Good Bones in exchange for my honest review.

I very thoroughly enjoyed this creepy book. I love Kingfisher's writing style, and I think she expertly weaves humor into her horror novels. I found myself chuckling often and I absolutely adored the protagonist, Sam.

I thought the climax of the story was very entertaining and the ending tied everything together nicely. Fans of Kingfisher's previous works will undoubtedly enjoy this one as well.

A House With Good Bones will be on US bookshelves on March 28!

Coming out in March 2023
3.50 Funny and clever bits of dialogue try to puncture the dread that builds and builds in this modern gothic horror as Sam goes home to stay with her mother in her nice and normal home and encounters something very weird going on. As she learns more of her family's history, she encounters vultures, hauntings, black magic, and childhood monsters. Also roses and ladybugs. So many ladybugs.
I've only read a few of Kingfisher's books, and while this was a good solid story, it was my least favorite of hers so far.

T. Kingfisher is one of my top 5 favorite authors. Her books are deliciously creepy.

The Hollow Places and What Moves The Dead will forever be my favorite books of hers (and The Hollow Places is the absolute scariest book I have ever read!!) so I was absolutely ecstatic to receive an ARC for her newest one. While this isn’t my favorite of hers, that doesn’t mean it’s not good by any means. it just doesn’t have that unique flair her other books have until 65% ish.

Sam moves back home unexpectedly with her mom, who she starts suspecting has dementia. Then weird things start happening around the house, and she starts thinking it may be haunted.

It was a fun twist on a haunted house story, but the first half was pretty long winded. The second half was MUCH better! She will forever be an auto buy author for me, it just didn’t have her usual creepy flair.

Big thank you to Netgalley and TorBooks for the advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Archaeoentomologist Sam Montgomery is on a brief hiatus while her archaeological dig is put on hold. With no where else to go, she goes to stay at her mother's house after hearing from her brother that "Mom's acting a little off". Edith, normally carefree - is nervous, skittish, and constantly looking over her shoulder despite living alone. Edith has even go so far as to restore the home back to how it looked when her mother, Sam's grandmother, lived in the home.

Sam is worried that maybe Edith is still mourning her mother's death after 20 years or maybe she's starting to decline mentally. All are valid options until strange things start happening in the house. Sam is determined to get to the bottom of it; discovering family secrets and mysteries that may have been best left untouched.

This was an entertaining southern gothic mystery novel. I really enjoyed how the author was able to go from having the hair on my neck stand straight to having me giggling at the FMC's sense of humor. The overall story, including the twists and turns, were well thought-out and written. There were some parts of the plot that were a smidge predictable but I honestly didn't mind it as there were so many other pieces of the plot that surprised me and kept me on edge. My only critique is that the end was wrapped up pretty fast after such a slow burn leading up to it.

I recommend this to both horror and mystery fans. It's magical, witchy, paranormal, funny, surprising, and everything in between. This book releases March 28th, 2023 and I'll be grabbing a physical copy to add to my personal library.

In this spooky novel, a woman returns to her childhood home and finds the ghosts of the past might not be as dead and buried as they should be. This thing has everything. Ritual magic, a creepy grandma, vultures, a Aleistar Crowley name drop, bugs…. I had a ton of fun with this one. It’s my first T. Kingfisher, which is kind of crazy. I really love her writing voice. It balances humor and horror really, really well. It has great pacing, and for its overall short page count felt like a ton happened. I liked the dynamic between all the characters, and the horror visuals were genuinely gross and scary. Great atmosphere. I’m excited to check out more of T. Kingfisher’s work after this one. It was a great place to start!

Review will be posted closer to the pub date on Insta @boozehoundbookclub

4.5 stars - I'm a big fan of T. Kingfisher and this book definitely didn't disappoint. The mix of horror and humor was balanced fairly well and it was a fun, creepy read. I enjoyed Sam as the main character and I thought the pacing was done well. Will definitely recommend this book!

It seems like haunted house horror is the latest thing, but this book amps it up a notch with a Lovecraftian twist. Sam returns home to North Carolina when she has a hiatus from the archeological dig she was on in Arizona. Warned by her brother that their Mom has been acting strange, she returns home to find that her free spirited mother has become an anxious mess, who is acting more like Sam’s grandmother, Gran Mae. From there, the creepiness slowly builds. T. Kingfisher is a master of slow burn horror, planting the seeds of what is truly going on along the way, so that when the unbelievable happens, we are total believers.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

A House With Good Bones
By T. Kingfisher
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Publish Date: March 28, 2023

What you need to know:
Samantha (Sam), returns to her late Gran Mae’s house in rural North Carolina, which she spent a good part of her childhood in, to stay with her mother Edith, while her job is on hiatus. The neighborhood is nice and normal as it was, Mr. Pressley is still spying on everyone, Gail the witch still lives at the end of the street, Gran Mae’s roses are still in the backyard, and black vultures are roosting on roofs and the mailbox. Wait, what? Vultures? And why did Sam’s mom return the inside of the house to exactly how it had looked when Gran Mae was still alive?

My reading experience:
This was a really fast read for me. I really like how Sam’s internal dialogue seemed to be speaking directly to me. She also has a pretty good sense of humor! I felt like I connected with her easily and was able to experience the story through her. I had a sense of uneasiness and eeriness throughout, but was totally unprepared for the ending! Definitely a great way to pull everything together at the end, so pay attention to early details!

Family secrets, Southern goth, prying neighbors, a witch, and vultures… exactly the spooky book I was hoping for!

Definitely recommend this book, 5/5 stars!

I was really excited to read this book. It had a great description and sounded like something right up my alley.

I wasn't disappointed, but I wish there was more. The author was very knowledgeable about the topics discussed in the book. The details about entomology, roses, and animals were great. Samantha was a great character that I could relate to and she was funny and down to earth which was nice. It was like I was talking to a friend while I was reading. There seemed to be a lot of "random" fluff and the real action didn't take place until the last 30 pages then it just ended. I didn't even really feel that intense excitement or energy I normally do at the climax. It just seemed like "this is happening" and then "now its over." This was a hard rating for me because I liked it, but I didn't at the same time. Just a strange middle ground I guess.

Overall, I think I'm going to give this one 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this title in exchange for an honest review!

I’m not sure I could ever say that I felt cozy while reading a horror novel, but I certainly did with this one! Part of it was the main character, who was funny and charming the whole way through. But it was also due to the slow build up of the tension, you never really felt afraid until the very end. This was a book that I read in one day, because I just couldn’t put it down.

I just loved Sam. She was such a fun character to spend time with and I bonded with her almost immediately. She has a very analytical mind, being an entomologist and an archeologist, and she really wanted to explain everything that was happening in a realistic and scientific way. By the end though, she does come to realize that maybe not everything can be explained rationally. I also loved her wit and humor, and her little snippets about the natural world around her were delightful. Sam was definitely someone you wanted to root for when things got tough.

I also like the secondary characters in the book. Her mom, was also a delight, even when she was acting weird. Gail, the ‘witch’ who lived down the street, was also a fun character, who helped Sam when things got tough. And Phil, the handyman who gets caught up in everything, but doesn’t back down. He was kind and gentle with everyone and an all around good person.

The story was very well paced, with a slow build up of tension as Sam discovers more about her family history and how that relates to what is going on now. There was a minor theme of generational racism, that could have been explored a bit more, but was nicely handled. The scary scenes were pretty mild compared to some horror books I have read. No flying body parts or extreme violence or blood. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t scary, you want to read this one with the lights on!

If you are a true blue horror fan that loves the gore and violence, this may not be the book for you. If you don’t read horror because they are too scary or violent, you might want to give this one a try. The characters are funny, smart, and with the slow build up to the really scary parts, you are ready for it when it finally happens. A very smart and kind of fun haunted house story that will keep you reading through the night.

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher was a quick read with an engaging story..
When we first meet our main character, Sam, she's on her way to go and spend a few months with her mother who currently lives in the house that previously belonged to her late grandmother. As soon as she arrives she quickly realizes that something is off and from there we're taken on a journey to find out just what it is that's wrong.
I enjoyed this story a lot. I liked the writing style and enjoyed the pacing.
Please find attached my spoiler free youtube review.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S80uzet1fqI

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Initially, I was excited for this book. I like T. Kingfisher, and the book summary seemed intriguing.

What went wrong?

Sam started to annoy me. It felt very repetitive. We hear about insects a lot because she's a archaeoentomologist. We are forced to hear her "comedic thoughts" which just irk me for some reason. It felt pushy, over the top. Overly sarcastic.

It's also boring. Nothing really happens. For a REALLY LONG TIME. There's not a lot of conflict or suspense to keep your interest.

Sam is visiting her mother while her job is on standby. Her mother is acting strange. Something is going on. Her brother is also worried. What is up with mom?

Strange and subtle things are happening. A vulture, ladybug swarm in her bedroom, no insects in the garden... a jar of teeth. The pacing seems off with this one for me. I don't know. I usually like Kingfisher's work.

This haunted house story fell flat for me.

Sam Montgomery's a successful entomologists between digs, so she heads for home to her mother's house in North Carolina. Her brother thinks that something is strange with her mother... and when Sam gets home things are off kilter. There are no bugs at all in the roses and there's a vulture standing watch at the mailbox.

Why I started this book: Kingfisher is one of my new favorite authors, so I jumped at reading an ARC even if southern gothic is not my usual genre.

Why I finished it: Serious creepy vibes, and the book is at its best before the monsters show up. The slowly building tension is delicious and worth reading. Plus I love that Sam's an entomologist and that her scientific training and practicality both works as a shield and a hinderance to understanding just what is happening at her mother's house.

To say that Sam is prepared for returning home to her grandmother's house in North Carolina would be the understatement of the century.

But, now that her Gran Mae has passed, what could possibly be awry in that quiet neighborhood?
Her mother, after all, has been living in the house alone for awhile now.
There does, however, seem to be something unsettling about Gran Mae's house, now that Sam thinks about it.
Why is there a vulture on the mailbox? The walls painted a lifeless white? Gran Mae's creepy and morally-problematic artwork still hanging on the walls?
Most of all, why does Sam's mom seem to think something, or someone, is watching them?

"A House with Good Bones," though marketed as a general fiction/horror novel, is really just a pile of hilarious, suspense-laden fun. Readers going into this hoping for the true horror that they found in T. Kingfishers retelling "What Moves the Dead" may find themselves let down by this one, but having caught on to the lighter, more jovial tone from the first chapter, I really loved this story.

Woven together with wit, well-formed characters, and a great sense of atmosphere, "A House with Good Bones" is a "light" horror read that readers will fly through as they grow to love Sam and work out the mystery of Gran Mae's house. What's not to love about a boxed wine-loving, woefully-sarcastic, passionate entomologist with an affinity for ladybugs?

Well this was wild. I learned a lot about bugs and roses. I’m pretty sure despite the creepy garden they’re still my favorite flower. I was not expecting what I got reading this. Kingfisher has once again made my skin crawl and race through this novel in morbid fascination. The pacing was perfect. I loved Sam’s personality and how she handled herself throughout this book. Fantastic read and definitely worth a read. I will be picking up a copy when This one comes out.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a eARC of this novel.

When Samantha’s archaeology dig gets postponed, she moves back into her grandma’s home with her mother. Although her grandma has long been dead, Samantha noticed lots of changes in the home back to how it was when her grandma was alive. Her mother also seems off, anxious as if she’s being watched. Vultures sit all over the neighborhood seemingly watching Samantha, her mom, and the house. This leads Samantha to try to figure out if she or her mother is starting to lose it, or if there’s something darker beneath the surface. This story moves at a great pace and leads the reader down an original and mysterious path. It has left me wanting more from this author!

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for the advanced copy.

This book was excellent. Suffice it to say that I will be checking out T Kingfisher and Ursula Vernon’s backlist. As a former archeologist, I enjoyed the comments to my past career.

Sam was an amazing main character and this book was surprisingly funny for a horror. I’ve already recommended it a bunch and have preordered several copies. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a good story and especially for those who love a haunted house trope!

Paleo-entomologist Sam Montgomery returns to her grandmother’s (now her mother’s) home to stay for a while. Upon stepping in she realizes her brother’s words were correct, “Mom seems off.”
This book had me hooked from the second it began. A backyard full of roses but sans bugs, neighborhood vultures, and weird neighbors. The creepy foreshadowing had me making guesses left and right. I devoured this book and I think you will too. I loved the MC and her scientific way of thinking, her inner thoughts are so relatable.

Thank you to Tornightfire for providing me with this arc!

Within the first couple of pages I loved this author’s writing. So funny and clever. I wasn’t completely satisfied with where the story went and I wish I would’ve felt the gothic atmosphere a little bit more, but overall this was a fun read!

Thank you to Netgalley, Tor Nightfire and T. Kingfisher for this ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review. A House With Good Bones will be published March 28, 2023.

*4.5 stars.

I really, really enjoyed this book. T. Kingfisher's writing style just works so well for me. I loved the main character and her internal witty banter. The anthropologist in me also really enjoyed the little drops of archaeology throughout as well. I thought the story was pretty unique; it even had me going "what the heck is happening" a few times. Overall, I had a great time with this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.