A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
💚🖤💚🖤💚🖤💚🖤💚🖤💚🖤💚
A House with Good Bones is the most recent release from T. Kingfisher, one of my favorite authors. With this being said, it’s probably unsurprising that this is by far one of my most anticipated releases of 2023.
Happily, this peculiar Southern Gothic tale didn’t disappoint for one single second. I loved it from the first sentence.
When Sam’s brother calls her, expressing concern about their Mom’s health and state-of-mind, Sam figures it couldn’t come at a better time. With her archaeological dig site temporarily shut down, there’s no time like the present to travel home to North Carolina for a visit.
It’s been a while. She loves her Mom. Why not go stay with her and see what she can see. If her brother is right, Sam wants to be able to help.
Once back in her childhood home, Sam can feel it. Something is off. It’s not just the changes that Mom has made to the house, she’s acting different. It’s slight things, but they definitely don’t go unnoticed.
Sam senses her Mom is afraid of something, but what?
The mystery is deep enough that Sam is compelled to get to the bottom of it. There’s no way she’ll be able to leave her Mom like this. Further, Sam is prepared to kick the butt of whoever is the cause of her Mom’s secret distress.
Digging into it, however, requires digging into her own past and the past of her family. You never know what you’re gonna find when you start digging.
That Sam knows is true. She’s an archaeo-entomologist after all, but even she didn’t expect the Mason Jar full of human teeth buried under the rose bushes…
With help from some new friends, Sam gets elbows deep in her sordid family history and tries her best to rid her mother and their property from its long shadow.
Y’all, this was such an intriguing and engaging story. At this point, reading a T. Kingfisher for me is like story-time with an old friend. Her writing style is so distinct.
She’s like the Axel Rose of Dark Fiction. You can tell it’s her from just a few lines.
I always connect with Kingfisher’s main characters. I think it is the sense of humor. It’s the way I think and view the world, so it’s super easy for me to fall into step with their thought patterns and choices.
This main character, Sam, was no exception. I just got her, wow. I loved how on it she was with her Mom. She wasn’t willing to look the other way. She didn’t look upon her task as a burden.
Something was wrong here, her mom had sacrificed so much for her, and gosh darn it, Sam wasn’t leaving until she helped her in return.
I appreciate how quirky and unique Kingfisher’s side characters are. They contribute so much. In this one, Phil, her Mom’s kind-of-cute handyman and Gail, the eccentric neighbor, who owns a one-winged vulture and may-or-may-not be a witch, were stars of the show.
Gail fit nicely into one of my favorite Horror character archetypes. Let’s see if I can explain this correctly…
The older character, who comes into the orbit of our protagonist and teaches them, or guides them in what they need to know to survive/defeat/overcome the obstacles/issues/horrifying creatures they’re dealing with, all whilst providing incredible comic relief.
The atmosphere was fantastic. I loved learning about the house and all the different little things that Sam was noticing. There are some fun scenes with bugs as well.
The ending got crazy. It reminded me a little of The Twisted Ones. Not so much in the content, or what happened, but just sort of how it all unfolded leading up to the conclusion. I loved that book and loved this one too.
Also, the audiobook is great. I absolutely recommend it. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. The narrator brought this story to life for me!
I would recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed T. Kingfisher’s work in the past, or anyone who enjoys Southern Gothic tales, or stories that bring humor to Horror.
Finally, if you are new to T. Kingfisher, I actually think this would be a strong place to start.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I had so much fun with this and can’t wait to read it again someday!
A House with Good Bones is available now!!!