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tigger89's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Anything by T. Kingfisher is an auto-request for me, at this point. I love that woman's imagination. A creepy southern gothic, while less fantastic than her previous stories I'd read, is still right up my alley. And I loved the narrator! She was a joy to ride around with, whether she was snarking about the wifi or nerding out about bugs. As someone who's around the same age as Sam, I could relate heavily to her anxieties regarding her aging mother. The finale was also incredible, keeping tension high from the moment Sam stepped back into the house until the matter was resolved.
Unfortunately, overall I didn't like this book as much as Kingfisher's other two. Perhaps it was the genre shift, the addition of teased romantic tension between our intrepid protagonist and the sexy gardener, or the fact that a large part of the story's build-up could have been skipped if the protagonist and her mother had just had That Conversation at any point before the story was two-thirds of the way over. But that doesn't mean it's bad! The bar was just set very high, is all.
Now, the most important question: do the vultures and/or ladybugs die?There is a committee of vultures, one named and many unnamed. All survive to the end of the story. There are also many, many ladybugs. Unfortunately, some of the ladybugs get squashed in the course of the story, but the majority of them survive.
Unfortunately, overall I didn't like this book as much as Kingfisher's other two. Perhaps it was the genre shift, the addition of teased romantic tension between our intrepid protagonist and the sexy gardener, or the fact that a large part of the story's build-up could have been skipped if the protagonist and her mother had just had That Conversation at any point before the story was two-thirds of the way over. But that doesn't mean it's bad! The bar was just set very high, is all.
Now, the most important question: do the vultures and/or ladybugs die?
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Racism, and Dementia
Anyone with a fear of bugs should be aware there's multiple scenes involving swarms of ladybugs crawling around and on the point of view character.jessereadsthings's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.0
Interesting concept, but was unfortunately just not that interesting in execution.
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Racism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
In A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES, Sam is visiting her mother in the home they once shared with her now-deceased grandmother. However, most of the ways Sam's mother had decorated to make the place her own have been undone, and she doesn’t seem to understand or acknowledge why this would be disturbing. Little things start to add up, eventually going beyond what’s merely bizarre - transforming into something downright creepy.
Because as a reader this is my introduction to Sam’s mother, it’s harder to immediately know how she ought to be acting, but Sam’s thoughts provide that context in a way that feels natural. It feels like Sam working through it in her own mind, and not just for the benefit of me as a spectator. This is one of those cases where the things that I like best about the book are the ways that my understanding of of what's going on suddenly shifted as new information became available. It's short enough that to discuss most of what I loved in the latter half of the book would spoil many of the best parts of the experience. In general, I like the way that this played with my expectations of what a horror novel could or should be. There were several layers of revelations that didn't really feel like plot twists, as much as they involved realizing the meaning of information that had been said previously, but was transformed by new events.
I love the ending, that ramps up the pace and the stakes to be suddenly exciting just as everything looked like it was going to wrap up more calmly.
Because as a reader this is my introduction to Sam’s mother, it’s harder to immediately know how she ought to be acting, but Sam’s thoughts provide that context in a way that feels natural. It feels like Sam working through it in her own mind, and not just for the benefit of me as a spectator. This is one of those cases where the things that I like best about the book are the ways that my understanding of of what's going on suddenly shifted as new information became available. It's short enough that to discuss most of what I loved in the latter half of the book would spoil many of the best parts of the experience. In general, I like the way that this played with my expectations of what a horror novel could or should be. There were several layers of revelations that didn't really feel like plot twists, as much as they involved realizing the meaning of information that had been said previously, but was transformed by new events.
I love the ending, that ramps up the pace and the stakes to be suddenly exciting just as everything looked like it was going to wrap up more calmly.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Vomit, Dementia, and Alcohol