Thank you to the publisher for the copy - all opinions are my own.

This book is INCREDIBLE - it is the exact perfect mix of mystery/horror/paranormal and is so uniquely done that I could not set this book down if I tried.

I loved everything about this book - the characters (a lead character who is a socially awkward nerd who studies bugs?? Possible witches? Crazy conspiracy theory neighbor? Yes, love it), the pacing (steady build up to explosive conclusion), the intensity (things aren't quite right, but you don't quite know why), the twists....its all so wonderfully packaged together, and executed to perfection.

Paranormal horror can be a bit hit and miss for me, but I was 100% in to how this story unfolds. It has all the right elements without being insanely over the top and wild. I would pay good money to see this book made into a movie - it would be phenomenal on screen.

Overall, this is a must for winter reading lists - its the perfect story to escape into on a cold wintery day.

T Kingfisher has quickly become my favorite horror author. I found this book so mysterious and haunting…not quite knowing what was happening and then BOOM huge plot twist that was so wild I beg of everyone not to spoil it! Fantastic, wild read.

T. Kingfisher's novel "A House With Good Bones" builds beautiful tension from the very first page. Sam's world and family seems to just be completely and fully formed from the first word. The overall building of suspense is accomplished with such skill that you can almost feel the hairs on the back of your neck standing up one by one. The journey that Sam takes through this story to discover if there's something going on with her mother is an absolute roller coaster that is worth every twist and turn.

T. Kingfisher's novels have been a hit or miss for me so far, only read two though, so I was a bit hesitant going into this one. But, right off the bat, I was completely enthralled by this one. As an archeological student (both ancient and biological archaeology), I immediately took a liking to Sam. I have never read a novel that includes my career and it made me so excited to continue reading to see how Sam includes her skills in the horror. Overall, I was thoroughly impressed and almost giddy whenever it came up.

Gothic ghosts stories are some of my favourites, but they rarely live up to the hype in my head. But this one did not disappoint and I found myself reading well into the night because I could not put it down. Kingfisher's writing style is always full of humour and coupled with the creepy atmosphere, I was always left on my toes as I didn't know what was coming next. Should I be calm because of the humour? Scared because of the horror? Both? How does she makes those feelings mix SO WELL? I'm not sure, but I can say that she did it phenomenally.

I can now say I am a T. Kingfisher stan and I will be purchasing this book when it comes out (I need the physical copy too!)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of A House With Good Bones by T Kingfisher!

I loved this book. The building of dread was very well done. I also loved the main character Sam. This is a ghost story told from the view of a character who believes in science and hard facts, which was really interesting. This story was very well written and I couldn’t put it down once I started.

Every time I read a book by T. Kingfisher I love it a little bit more than the last. This book was absolutely no exception.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest and fair review.

If you’ve been following me for a while, then you know that my love for T Kingfisher is nothing new. Everything the woman writes is pure gold so as soon as I got a copy of her newest work, A House With Good Bones, I immediately began reading.

Sam Montgomery is on leave for her job as an archaeologist in Arizona and heading to North Carolina to spend time with her mother. As soon as Sam steps foot into her childhood home, she quickly realizes something is off, not just with the house but also with her mom. The house is constantly surrounded by vultures and the homey charm that the house once held now contains sterile white walls with alarming decor. Her mother always seems like she's on edge looking over her shoulder while she’s alone and forgetting important things. Sam is determined to discover what is going on when she soon learns that some mysteries are best left undiscovered.

Steeped in southern gothic, A House With Good Bones is another highly entertaining read by the brilliant mind of Kingfisher. Along with most of her works, we again get a delightfully charming female protagonist full of quick wit. Sam was a highly relatable main character who I immediately fell in love with. I also loved all of the well written sub characters. The plot was incredibly original and full of depth.

The story goes from a slow-burn character and setting an introduction to something truly otherworldly. I'm not going to say much about the story because I'm afraid I would give too much away. The horror elements were reminiscent of HP Lovecraft and were nothing short of terrifying. The ending perfectly wrapped everything up and left a lasting impression.

A House with Good Bones both exceeded and lived up to all of my expectations! I highly recommend this one to horror fans. A House With Good Bones by T Kingfisher will be available on March 28, 2023. A massive thanks to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the gifted copy!

there are no flowers in this
place only the roots of
roses and the things that
move between them
only roots and runners
only thorns
This has the bones of a better story, but takes a distressingly long time to get going. I tend to like more credulity from my narrators (Dr. Faraday, I am looking in your direction, o you disbeliever), Kingfisher's Sam is an entomologist who likes science and ration and reason and so looks for answers within those realms when it is obvious to the reader that Sam's mother's house is haunted. But I can't necessarily blame Sam for searching for less supernatural explanations, since so few things actually happen to <i>her</i> to justify any belief in a haunted house; most of what has caused Sam's mom's eerie behavior happens off-page (and here is where I will mention that I hope some of the more obvious errors will be corrected before publication, which is a long ways off! so there's time), and even though I'm a seasoned horror reader, if I'd experienced <spoiler> </spoiler> any of the very few things that Sam actually does, I'd probably chalk it up to more reasonable explanations myself. Which is all well and good, it's just not very interesting to read about. Sam and her mom drink boxed wine and watch British mysteries, something kind of odd happens and they drink more boxed wine. There are no bugs in the garden, a fact that gets mentioned many, many times, and there's some reading aloud of internet research, which advances the plot slightly, but in a dull fashion. Events pick up satisfyingly three-quarters of the way towards the end, but it was too little, too late of a payoff for this reader. Two and a half stars rounded down for all the times Sam says, "Heh."

“Anywhere there’s people, there’s a possibility of evil, wouldn’t you say?”

A House With Good Bones is everything you want in a horror/thriller/gothic book. Creepy, weird, mysterious, fast paced, and did I mention, weird! Throw in hilarious dialogue, a hugely likable cast of characters, and great setting and you have a 5 star book. Kingfisher made it impossible to put this book down and had me thinking about it when I was not reading it. I did not expect it to go where it was going and I loved the weirdness of it all. Do yourself a favor and pick this up!

If you’ve ever had the privilege of living for a time in a haunted house, then you’ll be pleased to know that T. Kingfisher does a superb job of perfectly capturing what it is like. If you are like me, scientifically minded and quite skeptical regarding supernatural occurrences than you will completely relate to the protagonist of A House With Good Bones, Sam - an archeologist specializing in insects who ventures home to live with her mother in her grandmother’s house in between digs. Sam quickly realizes that all is not right with the house or her mother who starts to exhibit signs of being nice and normal, mimicking the personality quirks of her deceased grandmother.

A House with Good Bones is a cleverly written horror story with enough snappy wit to keep things real and enough action and creeping horror to keep the pages turning. Kingfisher’s newest novel is sure to delight fans of Grady Hendrix and anyone who grew up watching The ‘Burbs. Highly recommended!

Huge thank you to NetGalley, Tor Nightfire, and T. Kingfisher for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

One thing I love about this author is that she can tell a heck of a story without rambling on into 400 plus pages. She is able to get right to the heart of each book efficiently and while still giving you the full experience. I loved the southern setting and gothic atmosphere. This novel was original and thought provoking.

Once again, T. Kingfisher has written a spooky book that makes your heart race from page one, full of dread and the fear of awful consequences (while light on violence.). The supernatural threat - while present - takes a backseat to family fears in this one. Beginning with a daughter's sudden realization that her mother isn't herself (and the creeping, paralyzing fear of dementia, which robs us all of our loved ones), it circles into realizing how the effects of terrible parents can trickle down through the years, and how we choose to express those effects can stretch beyond the grave.

I can't recommend her work strongly enough.

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
Standalone
Horror
Publication Date: March 28, 2023

Sam returns to her childhood home for an extended stay but it quickly becomes evident that her mother is acting strange and Sam can’t let it go. There is a buried jar of teeth in the garden and vultures circling overhead and she is desperate to find out the rationale behind these rather odd occurrences.

What to say about a book where I really think the less you know, the better your reading experience will be? I guess thank you to the author for unlocking a new fear… GARDENING. I will not be sticking my hands anywhere near a flower or worse… into the ground *shutters* anytime soon. Kingfisher has managed to take the mundane and twist it into this creepy crawly tale releasing just in time for gardening season in the northern hemisphere!

Written in her usual twisted but charming manner, Kingfisher tells a tale about an intergenerational trauma in a family home. Snarkier and more sarcastic than her last novel, it still packs its punch.

If Kingfisher writes it then I will read it (and during so frequently question her sick and twisted brain and then mine for picking it up and enjoying it)!

Thank you to Tor for providing an advanced reading copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was another great T. Kingfisher novel! I really enjoy Kingfisher's ability to create and entire cast of likable characters and her ability to weave them into complicated and increasingly-weirder situations. A House With Good Bones was a perfect combination of humor, horror, and the supernatural.

Based on the ratings, I may be one of the few that had a terrible time reading this. “A House With Good Bones” was a bore and once I reached the halfway mark, I just couldn’t find it in myself to finish the remainder.

The synopsis checked off everything I enjoy in a suspense/horror novel. Like who doesn’t like to read about haunted houses, possible ghosts/demons and with creepy vultures thrown in? Nonetheless, the pacing was too slow and the passages seemed drawn out. Maybe it was just me but a whole lot of nothing happened beside the small photo capture of a hand after the 60% that literally did nothing for me. I quickly dropped the novel after that.

Additionally the characters were bland AF. Sam, the main character, of the novel had a very interesting background, but personality-wise, very one-dimensional. The grandmother, mother, and gardener had more depth and caught my interest.

I can’t pinpoint if I am being affected by the reading slump or I am being picky, but this doesn’t live up to the hype but considering how the author is a fan favorite, I may go back to read other works to see if it’s really me or this novel in general.

A House With Good Bones is wonderfully done. A southern gothic firmly set in present day featuring strange familial ties at the heart of horror. It's one of my favourite tropes, that vaguely unsettling, something is wrong in the family feeling. Sam is a wonderful main character and I fully appreciated her lack of belief of the more fantastical horror moments, attempting to play them off just as one does in reality. While the set up felt a bit slower than need be, everything else really came together and the ending was gruesome and wonderful.

4⭐

Man this was such a wild, crazy, entertaining ride. This is my 4th read from T. kingfisher, and she is becoming a favorite. This story, like her others, is so out there. You just have to enjoy the ride she takes you on. This story starts as a haunted house story, and goes into a crazy direction. I will say, the first half of the book has such creepy descriptions. You are really unsettled reading it. I didn't at all mind where the story went. I really enjoy her writing, and the way she tells the story. I know this won't be for everyone, but if you have read another of her books you will enjoy this one as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for an copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Sam who specializes as a bug archaeologist, returns to her hometown in North Carolina to her mother’s house. But she realizes right away that her childhood home has no longer same charm and everything starts to feel off. Then she ends up seeing more bizarre things in and around the house and even finds her mom acting weirdly. Now, it’s on her to investigate and come to face the horrors unleashed by this house that seems to have become an entity by itself.

I liked the subtle creepy and the whole spooky vibes the author has managed to maintain throughout the book. There is some mystery, history, bit of horror and humor all weaved into this one. Overall, a neat atmospheric read with some chills and thrills, a perfect Halloween read!

I have found myself continuously recommending T. Kingfisher's books to fans of folk horror and this books will be no exception. There are moments in this book that were deeply scary and I am glad I wasn't home alone when I read this title. And like the other books that I have read by this author A House with Good Bones is filled with warm humor, excellent character development, and obscure information that you can use to impress your friends (in this case, archaeoentomology).

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC!

I love T. Kingfisher so I was excited to read this book! Some of the writing felt a little off, maybe rushed, but I was able to overlook it because the story was great. Our main character, Sam, is witty and spunky, the atmosphere is creepy and eerie, which I think the author does well. Also...insects. if you know you know.