Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

59 reviews

earl_grey_without_lemon's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

2.5

I was really excited to read this book because a lot of friends have recommended me T. Kingfisher before, and I am trying to read more books in the horror genre, but I really didn’t enjoy this one, sadly. Read this on audiobook from my library.
To start with the good parts, I really liked the info dumping about insects and plant varieties. The book’s initial premise was also interesting to me (love a good haunting and the line between house and home), although I think where the book really shines is in the middle-end when there’s more action. I found that the most chilling scenes were

the ones where the Gran May rose puppet was seated at the dinner table and talking to Sam and her mother. I wasn’t expecting the rose puppet twist at all, and I thought it was delightfully horrifying imagery!

.
Unfortunately, for a horror book, there is not a lot of tension, or sense of dread. One of my issues with the book is its pacing. I felt like the twist was fairly obvious from the beginning, and I really couldn’t connect with the characters at all. Props to T. Kingfisher for making Sam a fat intelligent woman who loves her job and is passionate about bugs and the ecosystem, because those parts of her felt so real and refreshing to me! But my god, I found her insufferable as our POV character. I can’t remember the exact line, but it’s after

she’s standing in the garden devoid of all the insects, and I thought (as someone who used to keep outdoor plants)

that was such a heartfelt sad moment, and then she immediately ends the scene with some sort of quippy response. I just personally don’t like that sort of snarky POV, it felt like watching a 2010s comedy sketch. Or there’s a line about a goth girl who looks like she cries black eyeliner, and how Sam is OBSESSED with coffee - the humor just feels dated, and Sam talked like that pretty much throughout the entire book.
The

plot line with the homunculi

was bizarre to me, as if the book was in two separate genres at once (family trauma horror vs

fantasy horror

), but I DID really like the way the Underground Children were integrated and foreshadowed.
Overall, A House With Good Bones had an awesome title and intriguing premise with some interesting action scenes, but just didn’t end up being my cup of tea.
(On a much lighter note, I may have missed a lot of cultural references, too, not being from the south myself, but Sam is so wrong about Cheerwine, it’s really yummy)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Terminal illness and Dementia

The protagonist does call out racism, and it is not directed at any characters in a detailed manner.

kylieqrada's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Yup yup yup her writing works for me. Also I related to this too much and I loved reading from my first fat horror protagonist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Blood

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, and Racism

Minor: Dementia, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

otterforce's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It’s a solid read with an interesting cast and an ending that while mostly telegraphed is worth sticking around for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cannibalism and Murder

cranshrooms's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I love T Kingfisher's books! I have to admit, this one went a very different direction than I expected, and it contained a few more mystical elements than I expected in a souther Gothic. That being said, it was a delight and an easy read. As I said to a friend, it was almost like listening to a Tumblr mutual tell a story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

asmei's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Dementia, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Cannibalism

fallenquills's review against another edition

dark funny 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

3.75

another hit by T. Kingfisher; i really enjoyed the themes and her writing as always. i definitely thought that it could have done the twist differently and felt the ending crash into me like a car, but there was a lot about it i enjoyed as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Blood

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Racism, and Death of parent

Minor: Dementia and Fire/Fire injury

cardaisy's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

I saw some other reviews describing this as "cozy horror" and that's exactly what it is 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Mental illness, Racism, Dementia, and Grief

Bugs

meliacartin's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

3.75

the narration made it feel too cheeky to be a true horror book but the descriptions of the underground children were so creepy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was soooo creepy and 110% a horror book, all the bug stuff!! Eek!! Obsessed with how such a complete novel was started and ended in such a short amount of time, this author is slowly becoming a fave (I also love the new covers that have come out) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism

sai_like_sigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Blood, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis