I loved this, it was so much fun! Fun isn't something I usually expect from a horror book, so I want to be clear that this was also very creepy & spooky, but something about T. Kingfisher's writing is just always such a pleasure to read, I can't help but describing the experience as "fun" every time I finish one of their books (of any genre).

I've been on a big "bad moms" kick here, and I'm going to have to broaden that scope to "bad grandmas" because WOW. Gran Mae really takes the cake as a terrifying grandma in this! I just love creepy old people and witchy, sorcerer-y ancestors. Bad vibes, 10/10, loved this.

Many thanks to Tor/Forge Books and Netgalley for this ARC!!!

Wow, where to start? I guess at the very beginning.

So, Samantha (Sam) is an archeo-entomologist (she studies bugs at archeological sites), but after her latest project is put on hold, she decides to travel from her home in Arizona to visit her mother in South Carolina. After making it through the nation that is Texas and traveling a bit more, she returns home to find that things aren't quite right with her mother. Long gone are the vibrant colors that she had painted the walls when she lived, as is the normal picture that was placed above the mantle (it's been replaced by a man in Confederate clothing with a woman who Sam refers to as "Rasputin"). Her mom scolds her for swearing when she use to join Sam in the use of colorful language, and her brother says that their mom told him "it's not safe" for his wife to visit with him. This isn't even mentioning the fact that the gorgeous rose bushes don't even have bugs on them. Not even ladybugs!! This is compounded by the fact that Sam has weird dreams and often awakens to find rose petals around, even when no one is there...

T. Kingfisher is back with another creepy, three-spoopy-five-me story that will definitely raise the hairs on the back of your neck when reading. What delights me about this book is that Samantha is extremely relatable: she's the daughter of an activist mother and a very overbearing and often demanding grandmother with whom she did not see eye-to-eye often. She was a grad student, and a bit awkward, but what resonated strongly with me and was the bane of her grandmother's existence, was she wasn't petite. To put it plainly, she's fat. Like me. Also, like me, her grandmother did not have a problem pointing that out at every chance. T. Kingfisher really portrays the annoyance and often the frustration of a grandchild who doesn't meet their grandparent's expectations and also, doesn't care. Yeah, she's fat, but it's a *you* problem, not a *her* problem, which I love. I love MCs who are plus-sized, chubby, fat, and still hold the story up because often in reading, I feel erased often when reading horror because they often kill off the plus-sized characters or make them comedic material, but T. Kingfisher doesn't do that. She crafted a very witty and capable character and I loved that. Her inner dialogues had me giggling throughout the night.

The horror is also more psychological and slow-building, like that feeling of walking into an abandoned house, where you know something is wrong, but you just can't quite place your finger on what. There is a little bit of gore, but not so much as to be off-putting. It's almost pleasant.

One thing that I did not comes around the climax with a particular character, but due to spoilers, I won't mention who. I just wish it was a little bit more drawn out, but this is bordering on novella/short novel territory, so I truly understand.

If you're looking for a somewhat short and shivery tale of roses, bug girls, and creepy pictures, I would definitely recommend this book, much like I would recommend most of T. Kingfisher's other works...and I'm not saying that because she gave me a hug at Anthrocon and signed my niece's book for me, either. ;P

T. Kingfisher always knocks it out of the park. A House with Good Bones is about Sam who returns home after a job at an archeaological site is delayed. However, the house isn't what she remembered and something her mom seems...off. Sam tries to ignore her mom's strange behavior, but soon it's impossible and she starts trying to discover the truth.
This was so creepy and so good. I love the way T. Kingfisher does horror.

This book was fantastic! I've enjoyed Kingfisher's other works, but this is probably my favorite of them all. This was a dark southern gothic book, and it was interspersed with a scientific main character. So there was a nice juxtaposition between the more gothic/creepy/mysterious elements and the more scientific ones. I very much enjoyed that.

It was an entirely creepy book, and I think is a PERFECT summer read. Read it on a hot night with something to drink and it'd be the perfect atmosphere for this book.

Sam is such a great and relatable character. She is a fat woman in her thirties, who comes home because her job is on furlough. Also her sense of humor. Absolutely hilarious.

The mystery revolves around family secrets and I loved the way that it entertwined ancient family drama with current family drama. It also tackled current social issues as well.

Overall, this was a well done book that anyone who is a fan of horror will love!

A haunted house story with a botanical twist, hilariously narrated and full of fun. This would definitely be a great match for fans of Grady Hendrix and readers looking for comedic horror.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
T. Kingfisher is a new favorite of mine. She is great at building worlds and creating characters who are very believable. I did like the characters in this story, and it was a great use of first-person POV. I wish there was a little more character development, and I found it sorta hard to understand all that was going on, but it was creepy and kept me guessing.

This was exactly what I want from a T. Kingfisher story. It’s creepy and atmospheric and I love that she’s not afraid to get weird. Overall this is really fun and I’ll be recommending it to others.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the galley!

I love T. Kingfisher's What Moves the Dead, so of course when I saw this available here on Netgalley, I had to request the opportunity to read it. While I loved the writing and the main character, I felt underwhelmed by the plot. Definitely planning on rereading this when it gets published.

A very enjoyable Southern Gothic story about mothers and daughters, and the sometimes twisted roots of a family. I like a story of ordinary people experiencing creepy, supernatural things and coming to terms with it, and loved the little touches: the local witch, somewhat stereotypical neighbours, and the many vultures. At times, I wished for a little more character depth and a little quicker speed, but it's still a great story and one I'll recommend.

I am a big fan of T. Kingfisher. I find her writing to be poignant and succinct. I appreciate her ability to create vivid stories without going overboard with page length. The main character in A House With Good Bones is likable and relatable and the overall story was entertaining. I did think that the story could have moved quicker into the horror portion and while I found the main character to be interesting, the side characters were a bit lacking. Much of the story was based on miscommunication or side characters just flat out keeping information from the main character, which would have been fine, but there was never a clear reason given for keeping that information secret. Overall, the story was entertaining and my library will be purchasing it.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is only the second T. Kingfisher book I have read, but I absolutely loved it! This book was a southern Gothic tale, reminiscent of Rasputin and Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein. I made myself try to read this book within the timeframe of the book (it was written over the course of approximately 10 days). It was so good that I continually got ahead of myself. This book made me laugh while also leaving me slightly horrified. This was probably the most irreverent eldritch horror book I’ve ever read. I loved all the vulture facts that I learned and I’ve already been telling people more than they want to know about vultures because of this book! I thought it was interesting: the actual villain of this book isn’t even in the book. It kind of speaks to the impact that we have on the world around us even after we are gone. However, that did leave me feeling some kind away about the supposed villains that were left behind. I’m not gonna lie. I kind of feel like they were victims themselves and I wish they could have some closure. Reading this book has made me decide to read T. Kingfishers backlog because I love their writing style and the character development. The other book I read of theirs also had excellent character development so that seems to be consistent for this author. I will be recommending this and already have been recommending this while I’ve been reading it to everyone. I will also be requesting that my library purchases this book.

A House With Good Bones is a wild, intoxicating, confusing, addicting story. I sat and read it in almost one sitting. It felt so original, and even when I thought I knew where it was going, I was never correct. It's been a long time since I've come across such an excellent use of foreshadowing.

(warning some parts might be a little uncomfy if you're squeamish)

4.5 stars - I would describe the tone of T Kingfisher's horror as normcore; she's not going to create a creepy atmosphere with flowery prose or elaborately described settings. Rather, she uses very ordinary people in very ordinary settings and then allows the dread to grow. I LOVED what this did metaphorically; basically a take on the white millennials' growing horror that their parents are being taken over by racism via alt right sources. There are some technical critiques I could make but this was just 100% for me

4.5!
I really liked this one! It was odd and different and totally unique! I saw it going somewhere else entirely but I appreciate the unique and new storyline this took on. Thank you NetGalley and TorNightfire Publishing for this ARC.

This is my first read by this author so I did not know what to expect. I appreciate the way the author created a great setting from the get-go without overselling the suspense. The story slowly unfolded from just a scratch on the head wondering what's going on to holding on to the edge of the seat still wondering what's going on. It's a page turner that I would recommend for anyone that enjoys a little southern gothic suspense!

I don’t think I’ve read a book by T. Kingfisher yet that I haven’t really liked. This quick read is a Southern gothic horror. An archeological entomologist goes to stay with her mom, who lives in the house that was her grandmother’s. Her mom is acting weird and super anxious. And then…stuff. I don’t want to say anything that would spoil it. But there’s stuff. And then there’s creepy stuff.

There are some great personal touches that I appreciated, like how the main character likes British mystery shows. (I do, too!) There are funny parts, and overall, this was a great book. I really liked the characters. It comes out March 28! Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for my copy.

Woof. I wasn’t sure what to expect with a full-length horror novel by one of my favorite authors. I knew firsthand how good Kingfisher is at making you scared, and I was more than a little terrified to see what she did inside A House With Good Bones. Like, I’m a wuss, and I don’t handle being scared very well, but honestly? This book was awesome. Kingfisher is a master at work here, guys. She knows exactly how to make you wish the protagonist was somewhere else entirely, but also how to make you wonder what exactly is going on. Allllll while laughing a little bit. Yeah, she’s a favorite author for a reason.

I will never get over how relatable Kingfisher’s main characters are. They’re almost always out of their twenties, and almost always sarcastic and wildly intelligent. Sam fits every one of those bullet points to a T, and and she’s fat. Excellent representation here — Sam doesn’t care about her appearance very much in the book — she’s much more interested in figuring out what the hell is going on at her mom’s house. Her need to figure out what is going on with her Mom was just…really nice. Sam tried just about everything she could to help her mom.

I loved how much I wanted to know what was going on, but also dreaded reading the next word on the page. There was exactly one point in the book where I set it down for a few minutes because I had to nope out for a minute. (Teeth!?!?) I took a breather, ate a piece of chocolate, and hopped right back in. The mystery at hand was way, way too interesting for me to give up the book. NOT that there was ever a danger of that happening. I trust Kingfisher too much to step away from one of her books. Though I may have nightmares about our backyard now? Thanks!!!

ANYWAY, what I’m saying is that if you like horror even a little bit, please try this one out. It was creepy, and suspenseful, but I don’t know that it ever dipped out right into horrifying. I felt dread rather than fear for 90% of the book. The book ends nicely, too, which was a relief. I wanted there to be a solid reason behind everything, and there is! To no one’s surprise, this was five stars.

Now, excuse me while I never plant roses ever.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy to review.

Oh my gosh! I just finished this book and I am not sure I can find words to do it justice. I absolutely love T. Kingfisher's writing. She is able to create a world and characters you care about in such a short amount of pages. She truly has a gift for writing.

Sam, an archaeoentomologist, knows almost everything about bugs. Her latest dig gets put on hold and she decides to go visit her mom, who lives in her deceased mothers house. As soon as she gets home she can tell something is not right. Mom is too thin and anxious, she has reverted the once vibrant paint colors back to Gran Mae's boring ecru colored walls and hung up the Confederate Wedding painting. Gran Mae was abusive and cared about nothing but her roses and even after her death they have thrived without care. And what it with the committee of vultures that watch the house?

You will not be disappointed with the latest gothic horror from Kingfisher.

A thrilling escapade through a house haunted by old magic and familial secrets, T. Kingfisher does not disappoint with “A House with Good Bones.”

I snapped up this ARC based exclusively on the author-- I *adored* A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking AND Nettle & Bone. This book immediately jumps in to a contemporary US setting, though. The writing also has a very different feel-- quicker paced and more irreverent. The narration is nonstop funny asides and one-liners, and then the horror starts to dip in. Some vibes of Just Like Home, although a bit lower on the horror scale. Body horror, maybe? Suggest to readers of Grady Hendrix.

eARC from NetGalley.