T. Kingfisher has managed to write another fantastically unique book. Sam Montgomery goes to stay with her mother during a break in her work plans. While at the house, formerly owned by her stern southern Gran Mae, Sam tries to figure out why her mother is acting strange. For a scientist being faced with things that don't make logical sense, Sam is confused by a string of odd occurrences. This was a very distinctive haunted house mystery with a unique addition of nature themed horror. T. Kingfisher's classic addition of humor is again present in this novel. Overall, this was a compelling read that had me hooked from the beginning. Thank you to netgalley and Tor Nightfire for providing me with a digital copy for review.

Another engaging read by Kingfisher. I really enjoyed the spunky, humorous protagonist and the interesting twist on the haunted house sub-genre. I would recommend this to readers who like more laughs than chills in their horror novels.

Witches and sorcerers and vultures. . . oh my!

I love a good Southern Gothic horror and T. Kingfisher can write them with such style! She can write characters who are going through the absolute thick of it and they are still trying to explain it away with rational thinking, exactly how I see a real life scenario playing out. Confused and perplexed while trying to figure out how to handle something so off beat.

Sam was such a relatable character, using humor and rational thinking to figure out what was happening. I felt like she responded in a way that made me feel like my friend was telling me some off the wall thing they experienced.

A unique twist in Kingfisher style that you don't see coming. Eerie and creepy and horrific and perfect for people who enjoy the gothic horror genre. I definitely recommend!

This was a solidly delightful read. Fresh take on a gothic haunted house and a relatable sarcastic mc. There’s something about the writing that makes it easy to read- there’s a familiarity and a charm to it- starting off 2023 right!

Will be reviewing a physical copy of this one. Thank you again for the ARC and hopefully this opens up a space for someone else.

Sam Montgomery is an archaeological entomologist visiting her mom in between digs. Her brother had warned her of changes but she is startled to discover how off things are. As a scientist she seeks a rational explanation for things but there are supernatural elements at play. The creepy gothic overtones are perfectly cut with flashes of wit. An excellent read.

Atmospheric, so much so I could nearly smell the roses. Some authors have a special talent and command of setting, Kingfisher is one of those. This time in a small southern town with old southern rivalries and neighbors with history and drama to spare - but even they don't know the half of it.

What sold me as a southern-gothic horror and maybe a haunted house turned into a creepy tale of ancestral magic, disgusting creatures, and family secrets that even a haunting can't make right. Our heroine is real, relatable flesh and bone with insecurities and endearing quirks. Her path of discovery is full of oddities and strange realizations, spine-tingling encounters with something unidentified but very real. It was refreshing to see her remain in the spotlight and not be overshadowed even by some helpful neighbors with special talents.

Recommend to read with the lights on. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, this is my honest review.

In 2022, T. Kingfisher became one of my favourite authors.  I love her creativity and creepiness so much, and the fact that I can never predict what she’ll write next.  

A House With Good Bones is addictively weird. I thought I knew where it was going, but each page revealed more strange and creepy twists.  

The book begins with Sam Montgomery, an archaeological entomologist (or is that entomological archaeologist? either way, get ready for lots of cool facts about bugs) arriving at her mother’s house for an extended visit.  Sam’s surprised when she walks in to see the house restored to the way it was when her grandmother still lived: the walls have been repainted from colourful to white, there’s a creepy old portrait above the mantel, and her mother is clearly scared of something. There are a bunch of vultures perched outside watching the house, and strangely no insects anywhere to be found.

I adore Kingfisher’s protagonists and Sam is witty, smart, nerdy, and wonderful.  The novella had me laughing on one page and squinting my eyes in fear on the next. I won’t say more because it’s too fun going into A House With Good Bones without any previous knowledge.

Kingfisher fans will love this book, and it’s a great entry point for new fans, who will be quickly won over by her humour and imagination.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for my review copy of this book.

I had mixed feelings about this one. I did find the story fun, and I appreciate the skill it takes to include so much scientific detail in a light book meant for the general public.

However, I just plain hated the main character. I'll accept half the blame here - not all personality types mesh, and this just wasn't a person I enjoyed (fictionally) spending time with. The rest of the problem, though, was the narrator's endless inner thoughts (fine), dream descriptions (cringe), and description of google searches (unbearable).

This was fun enough to finish, and I didn't resent having spent the time on it. It wasn't quite for me, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to others.

The main thing I will say is that this novella reads really similar to T. Kingfisher's "The Twisted Ones." At one point I wondered if I had accidentally started re-reading it. But even though it hits some of the same elements (terrible grandmother) it has some different ones (main character is a bug doctor). The novella jumps around a lot I thought. Things didn't really gel for me til about the 30 percent mark and then it just got really good. I did like how the novella ended, pretty much on a ominous, but [swear word] it note.

"A House With Good Bones" follows Sam Montgomery. Her recent dig gets cancelled, and she returns to her mother's home to stay. But when she arrives home, Sam notices her mother seems different, the house looks like it did back when her grandmother was still alive, and something seems to be reaching out to Sam to make her notice them. 

Sam feels a bit...I don't know, bland at times. She honestly reminds me a lot of the main character from "The Twisted Ones" which is why I said above it was messing with me to read this book. Her being a paleo entomologists was pretty interesting. The novella comes alive when describing bugs and what they do. I think that would have been a nice break up things instead of the chapters being broken up by descriptions of roses. I get why T. Kingfisher did that, but I think the bugs would have been better. Or just combine together in some way.

The other characters are cool, the good witch, Sam's mother, the general Southern Gothic nature of the neighborhood was awesome. Like I said, the novella gets better once Sam starts to branch out of trying to figure out whether her mother is suffering from nerves or something. 

The writing is typical T. Kingfisher, horror with dashes of messed up humor and also straight out humor. The pace though was an issue. Like I said above, not until you get to the 30 percent mark does this one get cooking. 

The setting was very cool and spooky. 

I liked the ending and that things didn't end in a neat way.

This was really good but not quite to the level of Nettle and Bone, where the form, the style, the imagery, and the themes were all pitch perfectly matched. The sense of dread and anxiety is excellent, there are some really original horror images, and the narrative voice is absolutely perfect, as is characteristic of all of her books, but it's a few drafts shy of being the powerful commentary on domestic violence and inherited trauma it wants to be.

Fast-paced, short, and entertaining- this is the perfect book to pick up if you want to dip your toes in the genre of horror for the first time. The concept of "adult returns to childhood home to find something is wrong" isn't new, but the way T. Kingfisher weaves together the story made it incredibly fun to read and difficult to put down. Sam was a fairly likeable main character, and the close bond she had with her mother and brother was one of my favorite aspects of the book- her love for her family being her driving motivation throughout the story. The side characters that accompanied her were delightful as well- although I would easily identify my favorite to be Gail along with her one-winged, spoiled vulture- Hermes. I highly reccomend this book if you're looking for something fun to read that you could get through in a single sitting.

When I picked this book off NetGalley I just thought ‘Oh yes, I’ve been meaning to read T. Kingfisher,’ and didn’t really read the description of the book. I wasn’t expecting the story that I got, but I loved it. The way that the atmosphere slowly developed, starting slightly off and getting creepier little by little was fabulous.

It was a strange experience, reading a book where I would agree with the main character’s actions so much in real life, but on the meta level of knowing I’m reading a novel thinking that she’s making the wrong choices. In her place I would do the same thing, Sam’s approach is rational and makes sense, it just doesn’t fit the world she live in which created some interesting cognitive dissonance.

Thank you to Tor and Netgalley for providing me with the ARC!

This book is the first book in a long time to make me laugh. The amount of horror is balanced so well with a light amount of comedy. I often don’t like comedy mixed with horror, but Kingfisher managed to plan out punchlines so well that at one point toward the end, I was actually crying with laughter.
The story was suspenseful, but I wouldn’t have minded if it had been more fast-paced. I found it odd that the blurb mentions Sam finding a jar of teeth when that doesn’t happen until over halfway through the book. It caused her discovery to be a bit anticlimactic and not as bone-chilling as it could have been. I didn’t expect a lot of the twists - especially toward the end. The vultures added an eerie effect that I enjoyed and helped up the creepiness.
I found Sam’s character to be very endearing but was a bit bored when she’d ramble on about something that had nothing to do with the plot. I skimmed a lot of her random “shower thoughts,” as well as the random sidenotes that were in parentheses.
This ended up being a very refreshing spooky story! Kingfisher continues to live up to the hype, and I’m so excited to see what she does next!

What a fun, clever, and completely engrossing book this is. This can best be described as a Southern gothic ghost story but it's much more than "just" that.

Our protagonist is an entomologist and, for perhaps the first time in a horror novel, the author nails this field of work for what it really is. The bugs here aren't used as a source of terror but a fascination for both the character and the reader. I've always loved insects and bugs, so reading this made me happy.

But there are plenty of scares here as well. Underground children, vultures which have a strange attraction to the house in question, and of course, a ghostly presence. .

This is all written about with an underlying sense of humor which will make you laugh but never to the point where it detracts from the scary stuff.

I definitely recommend this book!

Another T. Kingfisher masterpiece. A House With Good Bones had all the unease,dread, and Southern/Appalachian Gothic of The Twisted Ones.
Sam was an MC I could relate to wonderfully in good and sad ways. I will always love the author for making older, fat MCs that still can be heroes.
Wickedly fun and clever dialogue.
Magical, creepy world buildi g made all the scarier for how real it felt. I was lured in by the real scien e and historical figures until it felt like I was reading something that could happen next door.
I did not dare glance out my window or investigate a strange noise last night.
Highly recommend.

Sam is an archaeoentomologist, she studies insects in archaeological remains. When her dig is postponed, she decides to spend some time with her mother who lives at her deceased Grandmother's house in North Carolina. When she arrives, there is a vulture on the mailbox and she notices her mom has lost a lot of weight. As she explores the house, she notices her mom has also changed the paint colors. After several nights there, she experiences strange things happening at night. One night, she wakes up and her room is filled with lady bugs! What is happening? Is it her imagination? Or is this house really haunted?

This was my first book by T. Kingfisher. It has a very slow start but once it picked up, I was able to get into the story. I felt bad for Sam and her mom really but I don't want to say much more and give anything else away. If you enjoy, paranormal, horror, fantasy novels I think you will enjoy this one a lot.

Many thanks to NetGalley and MacmiIlian-Tor/Forge for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

A fast and fun read. T. Kingfisher always delivers an interesting story. I loved the twists in this book and have a newfound respect for vultures.

I guess every rose has its thorns.

Kingfisher has quickly become my author of 2022—after languishing on my tbr for years, I finally picked up her latest (Nettle & Thorn) was was immediately swept away by the fairy tale nostalgia that was dark and humorous. This is my third Kingfisher since then (fourth overall), and I've noticed a few things that keep popping up:

-unusual animal side-kicks/companions
-old women who are witches and will help but not save the day
-creepy, unknowable magic
-gentle/slow-burn romance plots

And lay me down in a bed of roses, but I love it (yes, I'm using that completely wrong, but whatever).

Anywho, while I love the title of this one, I don't know that it really fits with the book itself (would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? [can't stop, won't stop]), but it does work, and I love that Kingfisher's haunted house is a thirty-year-old cookie cutter lurking in a subdivision. Because the greatest evil always lurks wherever things are nice and normal.

Sam was a wonderful MC, with realistic and rationale reasoning behind thinking that her home isn't haunted (she is an entomologist) and her mom also had a rationale reasoning behind how she was acting. Gail was great, Phil was cute as hell (and the guy who gets roped into things and goes along with it because at that point he's stuck), and Hermes is the best boy (or girl, who's to say).

Which is all to say that this book came out smelling like roses (in a good way, promise!).

I am a big fan of T. Kingfisher. When she comes out with a new book, I read it, immediately. I first came across her work when I listened to "Jackalope Wives" on the LeVar Burton Reads podcast and the combination of folklore and myth and family dynamics and the little twist at the end just sucked me right in. I've listened to that story so many times and I've been really chasing that high with this author ever since. Some of her books are better than others, and this was a solid one.
Pros:
- a protagonist over the age of 25. LOVE this about T. Kingfisher.
- a slow build-up to the creepiness that keeps you guessing
- a VERY creepy story
- a realistic ending

Cons:
- The protagonist is plus sized and this has absolutely nothing to do with the plot except that it's mentioned for no reason
- the protagonist has an interesting job, which is one thing I like about Kingfisher's books, but there was way too much info in this about bugs. I just don't care that much about bugs.
- a little sad at the end because who wants realistic? But obviously, it worked.

Overall, a really solid gothic/horror/creepy book that I recommend.