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.

I liked this one! All around a solid read. I will definitely be recommending this one, and I'm excited for my library to get physical copies!

Creepy, unsettling, and quirky! T. Kingfisher is one of a kind and I'm always excited for the next release!

There is a cutesy vibe that makes this a little too “cozy” for my taste. Creepy cool scenario, though, and the ending is an original horrible saving grace.

As soon as the book started with Sam arriving at her mother's home and finding a Vulture perched atop her mailbox I was sucked in. I love how T. Kingfisher writes such realistic characters and is able to mix humor and macabre. She puts these weird things in the most mundane of places... Like how could a 30-year-old house in a suburban subdivision have anything like this happening? (it makes me feel like if I look out my window right now something weird could be happening just out of my line of vision.) There is a sort of building tension and feeling of dread as these at first small freaky things begin to happen to Sam and slowly get weirder and creepier. And for the most part, Sam is able to just brush it aside with an almost completely logical explanation and just keep going... At least until something appears... and there is no more brushing anything aside anymore.. and while that seems like one of the most horrible things that could happen it actually just the beginning.

T. Kingfisher writes the best books, and I can't wait to see what she comes out with next!! Thankfully I have some of her backlist books to read to tide me over until then...

A House With Good Bones was exactly the right kind of spooky that I was looking for. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into it, but I loved every word of it!

Youtube Short goes up March 7th
Blog goes up March 21st
Instagram post (double slide) goes up March 21st

I am the type of person that loves the gross and unusual - so when I saw the cover for A House with Good Bones I went ‘Oh no!’. Vultures are one of my favorite birds and they’re almost always associated with bad things. I should have known better. T. Kingfisher has done it again with this fantastic horror that looks at family, the burdens you inherit and how to facing those down.
Sam is returning the the home she lived in with her brother and mother and grandmother after being furloughed from her job as an entomologist at a dig site (Hello dream job? Is that you?). She’s incredibly logical so when strange things start to happen around her she brushes them away or stretches to find a rational explanation. Logic and reason start to fray however and eventually the past comes back to haunt her and her mother.
I’ll go ahead and say I think this book is a bit slower paced than some of T. Kingfisher’s other work so it might not be quite the hit for some readers. However, for me it read like a perfectly paced horror movie - and that was just what I wanted. The book is full of the interesting, and realistic side characters you’d expect from a Kingfisher novel. The book is as clever as Kingfisher’s always are and it says things that honestly resonated so deeply with me it hurt.
T. Kingfisher lives in an area somewhat local to my own so when she started to describe the ingrained white racism of Sam’s grandmother I went ‘My god, it’s like she knows my family.’ That casual Southern Racism and obsession with class and appearance. The hit that perfect mix that made me uncomfortable and frustrated and all the feelings with the main character. I really, really connected with that.
This was just another fantastic read from T. Kingfisher. I cannot wait for more, and I can’t wait to get the physical copy of this to reread it, let’s be honest.

5 beautiful Black Vultures out of 5

As usual, T Kingfisher delivers a story that grabbed me almost immediately and didn’t let go. Full of humor and delightful characters, I could hardly stand to put it down so I could sleep.

I loved this. A haunted house story done in a way I’ve never seen before!

Sam returns to her childhood home, where her mom is acting strangely and redecorating. Sounds innocent enough, but with Sam, we uncover what is happening.
Scary, funny, and with a fun narrative style that I really enjoyed. I’d recommend this highly!

“I got into archaeology because live people were too much trouble.”

T. Kingfisher has long been a buy-on-sight writer for me. Under that name she’s written mostly fantasy but in recent years she’s moved into horror and done her usual excellent job with it.

If there is a theme across all her work, it is “sensible, intelligent person ignores tropes and just gets on with things.” Sam is an archaeologist specializing in insects who’s on leave while her current job is on hiatus so she takes the opportunity to visit her mom, a fellow wild spirit living in Sam’s late grandmother’s house.

Only all the repainting and redecorating she’s done over the years are gone now, she’s lost weight and is acting anxious. Sam’s grandmother’s oppressive, abusive spirit seems to embody the building. And there’s vultures all around the house. And swarms of ladybugs. And creepy things happening while Sam is asleep…

I love Kingfisher’s delight in writing smart people. Sam is an archaeological entomologist and her interest in insects is fun, informative and comes in handy.

This is a lighter horror book than her last couple, closer to Kingfishers’s natural bent toward humor (which is perfectly fine with me). But there is still the creeping dread as things get worse and worse. A great, fun read.

Thanks to NETGALLEY for providing an advance copy for an honest review.

This is a little outside of what I usually like to read, but figured I'd give it a go anyway. I thought the author lost me completely at chapter twenty - I'm not good at suspending belief. But dammit if chapter twenty didn't tie everything together nicely. I loved everything about this book. The cover is eye-catching, the writing is great, the author's imagination is wonderful, even the vultures are endearing. And I have things in common with a main character - I'm fat and drive an aging Subaru. This is a book that I'm going to be thinking about for a while.