A House with Good Bones

Reviews

1. 

   Sadie Hartmann – August 14, 2024

   The Perfect Blend of Horror with Heart & Humor
   The narrator did an excellent job voicing all the different characters. There were a lot of female protagonists but it was easy to keep them all straight because of their distinct voices. The MC has a bright, funny, and insightful personality. Her humor, even when she was experiencing some pretty unbelievable paranormal activity, was endearing and funny.The only character’s voice I didn’t care for, was Phil. But that’s ok–he was the only dude and didn’t have THAT much to say.I love the story–3 generations of feisty women, family secrets, and some leftover emotional baggage all converging–the climax was AMAZING! I was on the edge of my seat for the last 50 pages.

2. 

   Berni – August 14, 2024

   Short, Sweet, and Creepy
   Everyone has a creepy, perhaps abusive, relative. We kind of grit our teeth and avoid them as much as possible. That’s possible when you’re an adult, but when you’re a kid and it’s your grandmother and you live with her, you’re stuck.Sam, short for Samantha, has moved back in with her mother temporarily as the the dig where she was supposed to spend the summer was not available. This is the same house originally owned by her maternal grandmother. She arrives there to find that her mother, who had painted it in a palette of vibrant colors years earlier, had returned it to the boring off-white shades originally chosen by the grandmother. Worse, Gran Mae’s painting of a Confederate wedding had been reinstalled in a place of honor.This puzzles Sam greatly, as does the lack of insect life in the lavish rose garden on the property. Sam is an entomologist by training and this is a glaring issue to her.Sam’s mom’s job involves a fair amount of overnight travel so Sam is often in the house alone. She starts to experience weird things: a flood of ladybugs in the house, sleep paralysis accompanied by some very disturbing dreams, etc.All this is classic horror stuff. What makes T. Kingfisher’s books different and special is that her characters always act as if they were real people and not actors or plot devices. Her characters are never beauty queens. They look like a lot of us: fat, dumpy, and happy to stay that way, comfortable in their own skin. I am amused by Gran Mae’s constant harping of things being classy and being nice and normal, for those are things you’re never going to get in a T. KIngfisher novel! You get verisimilitude in a fantastic setting. Her characters use the toilet, sweat, and have boobs that get in the way. It’s a refreshing change from so many books.

3. 

   Camille – August 14, 2024

   The book is great, the quality is legit.

4. 

   Froschk̦nigin РAugust 14, 2024

   Es gibt in dieser Rezension ein paar kleinere Spoiler.Ich bin noch unentschieden, ob ich dem Buch vier Sterne geben will – wenn es schon leider keine fünf werden. Natürlich bin ich ein bisschen voreingenommen, denn nachdem ich im letzten Jahr “The Hollow Places” gelesen und enormen Spaß dabei hatte, war T. Kingfisher auf dem Weg, vielleicht meine Lieblingsautorin zu werden.”A House with Good Bones” stand lange Zeit auf meiner Wunschliste, ich wartete drei unterschiedliche Ausgaben und Cover ab, bis ich eine fand, die in mein schmales Budget passte, und orderte dann gleich ein druckfrisches Exemplar. Nun. Es hat leider nicht so ganz meine zugeben sehr hohen Erwartungen erfüllt. Der Erzählstil ist ganz ähnlich wie in “The Hollow Places” (und vermutlich den anderen Büchern dieser Autorin aus dem Horrorgenre).In scheinbar harmlose Alltagssituationen schleicht sich allmählich das Grauen, subtil zunächst, dann heftig, und die verständlicherweise völlig überforderten Protagonisten durchleben und überleben das Ganze vor allem durch ihren zynischen Humor und ihren unerschütterlichen Pragmatismus. So kann man es vielleicht zusammenfassen.In diesem Fall war es mir an manchen Stellen etwas zu “snarky”, die Protagonistin etwas zu cool. Am Ende – das ist ein kleiner bis mittlerer Spoiler jetzt – entwickelt die Protagonistin, eine Entomologin namens Samantha, gar übernatürliche Kräfte, wahrscheinlich, weil es sonst überhaupt kein Entkommen aus dem ganzen Schlamassel gegeben hätte, in das sie geraten war. Sowas passt für mich aber eher in den Bereich YA (in dem die Autorin auch unterwegs ist), hier hat es mir weniger gefallen.Es gibt allerdings eine Szene, bei der mir tatsächlich der Kiefer nach untern gerutscht ist, das war schon erlesener Horror vom Feinsten (womit ich meine: nicht blutig, nicht brutal, aber umso mehr “creepy”).Und vermutlich werde ich Rosen in der nächsten Zeit auch mit gemischten Gefühlen ansehen, obwohl ich sie (im Gegensatz zur Autorin) liebe. Es lohnt sich übrigens, das Nachwort zu lesen, das nicht nur aus einer runtergeratterten Danksagung besteht sondern eben typisch T. Kingfisher ist.Reicht mir das jetzt für vier Sterne? Und die putzigen Geier vielleicht noch dazu, die eine zentrale Rolle spielen und zumindest Vogelliebhaber zu neuen Fans machen? Ja, okay, vier Sterne also für einen originellen Plot mit einer “Gemütlichkeit”, die einen frösteln lässt.Und bis zum nächsten Buch von T. Kingfisher, zumindest aus diesem Genre, vielleicht etwas länger warten, um nicht so sehr den Wiederholungseffekt zu haben.

5. 

   Kayla – August 14, 2024

   3.5 rounded downThis book was alright. I felt I wasn’t as invested in it as I was her previous books. It still had a good creepy vibe and creepy monsters, but I just couldn’t get into it. For how short it was, it took me a bit to read it.A House with Good Bones was more of a lighter tale in regards to creepiness but had a few dark aspects to it. I will say it is a unique “haunted-house” story and was interesting and fun. The FMC was a relatable and witty character, though I did get a tad bit annoyed with her skepticism towards things but that’s just something that bugs me with characters (when they refuse to believe anything that is obviously right in front of them).Honestly, the vultures made this book for me. They are such an interesting bird and I loved that they were a part of this book, albeit a smaller part.All in all, it was an alright weird fun book.

6. 

   Rh̩al Nadeau РAugust 14, 2024

   While this is not my favourite book by T. Kingfisher, it didn’t disappoint. An engaging protagonist and an interesting setup, well executed. The ever-present vultures were my favourite part. 🙂