Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - A House with Good Bones

Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

97 reviews

waywardskyril's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

I read a book by T. Kingfisher called The Hollow Places. It was my jam; it was my flavor. I soaked it up and savored it. Since then I've read the mediocre The Twisted Ones and, now, A House with Good Bones, chasing that good storytelling with relatable heroes and indescribable, cosmic horror that The Hollow Places gave me. And I haven't really found it.

Yes, Sam Montgomery, the MC, IS relatable and a decently-crafted character, which is how this book gets its second star. Unfortunately, for me, anyway, that's where the quality ends. Honestly, that second star barely scraped by anyway because Sam is, at times, an enormous idiot.

A House with Good Bones has a painfully slow moving story in which very little happens for an actual 75% of the book. There are occasional strange occurrences, but these are too unrelated, far apart, or simply dismissed to grow in me any kind of lurking horror or dread. If I think back on the book as a whole, there were two scenes in the entire book that made me feel any type of that good-horror dread.
One lasted a couple of pages and before being dismissed and leaving me disappointed that the creepy horror I was hoping for from Kingfisher wasn't "finally starting" like I had thought.
The second was in the final climax in the last 15%ish, but again, only lasted briefly before falling away because, as I said, this book had failed to grow a creeping dread before now, so whatever I felt briefly in the final climax had no legs to stand on. It almost transformed into silliness instead and a lackluster push to get the book over with.

Overall, the plot followed the mechanics of the other two Kingfisher books I read but with fewer scares, a stupider main character, and much less mystery-horror building to make me excited to finally discover all the answers in the end.

I'd call A House with Good Bones a watered down The Twisted Ones and a flavorless stone soup compared the The Hollow Places. Will I read another Kingfisher book? I don't know. I've been asking myself that question since finishing this book. Part of me still wants to try to find something of hers that thrills and excites me as much as The Hollow Places did, but, truth be told, had I read this book first I doubt I'd ever have picked up another by her.
Let's just say I'm glad I borrowed this book from my library's digital system. Perhaps The Hollow Places was a one-off for me, and I should quit before Kingfisher and I continue disappointing one another.

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pbeeandj's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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trips's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

First off, if you can't handle insects/bugs: don't read this book!

For those that can, this is a haunted house horror book about family bonds, bugs, vultures, and gardening. And some creepy stuff too, but that's up to you find out what it is!

Overall I enjoyed this book, T. Kingfisher's writing is again, just a really nice reading experience. Her way with words is entertaining and also inspiring. I was thinking this story was going to be quiet? horror? but no, its not, just wait till the twist lol.

If you like horror, give it a try!

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aedoran08's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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robyn_eileen's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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creaturereader's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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ireadinbed's review against another edition

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emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I heard a bad review for this book but then my book club picked it And I'm so glad they did because I wouldn't have picked it up if they hadn't. And I really liked this book.

In all honesty, I sometimes found it so on. The notice accurate to my own family experiences that I found a little trite. But I think the supernatural elements kind of save it from that.

In the end I didn't wanna put it down. And I really loved the way things resolved. Gran mae was a perfect villain, even just in memory.

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