A House with Good Bones by T Kingfisher is a short but perfectly formed horror read, engaging the reader from the very first page and keeping them hooked to the very end. I think much of this is due to the main character, Samantha, who really comes to life on the page , it is very easy to find yourself rooting for such a believable and often funny character. She has returned to her grandmother's house, where she spent a lot of her childhood under very strict rules , and where her mother now lives. The first sign that something might be wrong is the giant black vulture she finds perched on the mailbox, but once she goes inside the house and sees the changes her mother has made in decor, not to mention the changes in her mother's language and behaviour , Samantha is seriously worried. At first she fears that her mother may be in the early stages of dementia or some form of mental illness, but as she spends more time in the house and as more strange childhood memories start to come to the surface she begins to suspect that there may be a supernatural cause to all the strange experiences, something that she rails against as a scientist who relies on logic and knowledge . While this book explores some dark themes and has some genuinely creepy moments , my overall feeling while reading it was that I was having fun, I really enjoyed the writing and the characters , perhaps even more than I enjoyed the story with its Southern Gothic vibes.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

If you read and enjoyed The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, I found this to be very reminiscent of that. The two books have a lot of similarities:
* In both books, the protagonist returns to the house of a deceased grandmother.
* Said grandmother was not a nice person.
* Cell reception is bad, so they go to a coffee shop to contact family members. Both books have a goth barista as well.
* The protagonist is a middle-aged woman. During the course of the book, she realizes that something that she has said or done is insensitive and that she was being an asshole.

If I hadn't read The Twisted Ones two months before reading this book, I doubt I would've noticed most of these similarities, but it's one of those, once you see it you can't un-see it things.

Did reading this make me worried enough about crawlies in my bed that I did a couple of extensive searches? Definitely. But as far as horror goes, this is more creepy than outright scary. The protagonist has a sense of humor which added some lightness to the story, although I did find that the jokes were often recycled and became repetitive after a while. I liked the family dynamics with her mom. The pacing was very slow for the first half, but really picked up after that. It ended up being a wild ride, which I enjoyed.

A House with Good Bones is a horror novel about a woman who returns to her family home to find things not quite right, the house seemingly returning to how her dead grandmother would've wanted it, and uncovers some family secrets as she attempts to work out what is going on. Sam is a specialist in bug archaeology who ends up back visiting her mother, who lives in the home that was Sam's grandmother's before she died, a house they briefly lived in too during Sam's childhood. Gone are the signs of her mother's quirky personality and in their place is the severe normality of her grandmother and also her grandmother's roses in the garden. As Sam worries about her mother, things keep getting weirder, from vultures watching the house to ladybirds appearing, and Sam must work out what she believes is happening.

I've read a couple of other T. Kingfisher horror novels and I was interested to see what this one brought, even though I don't always enjoy her writing style. There were points in this one where I didn't like the style (particularly the tendency for random parentheses to make offhand comments), but the story was gripping and I enjoyed the creepy world created in the novel. The narrative has a slow lingering build up as Sam tries to work out what might be going on and then a fast paced conclusion that really twists the book from quiet family secrets horror into something more supernatural. There's some good creepy moments as roses and bugs seems sinister and though the book has gothic and magical elements, it is balanced in an interesting way by Sam's scepticism.

Though at times the writing style wasn't for me, A House with Good Bones is a gripping book that you can read quickly, centred around a house I could really picture whilst reading. I think fans of Kingfisher's other horror books will enjoy this one, with a memorable quirky protagonist who is sure of herself and a weird family to unravel.

When Sam’s latest archeological dig gets postponed she decides to give her mother a visit but finds the house and her mother completely changed. Very strange things seems to be happening at the house and Edith is determined to get to the roots of it.
I loved Kingfisher’s quirky writing style and how she manages to make you laugh out loud immediately after making your hair raise on end with some spine chilling incident. Definitely recommended!

A House with Good Bones is a southern gothic horror novel by author, T Kingfisher. This author was new to me but I’d be wanting to check out their books for some time, so was excited when I saw this new release. The book is quick and easy to read, filled with humor and sarcastic wit. The main characters inner dialogue is hilarious and is what truly sold me on this horror gem. I loved the main characters logical and scientifical rationale that she tries to apply to everything that occurs. Overall, the story itself is decent, not amazing but not bad. It wasn’t predictable as some horror can be and for the most part, I had no idea where things were going. I enjoyed this one and will be sure to read more by this author. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an arc of this book.

Sam returns to her childhood home to find nothing is how she remembers. Or rather it is: her mother has repainted and redecorated the house to how it was when her mother, Sam's cold, abusive grandmother, was alive. With no love being lost between her mother and grandmother, Sam begins to worry for her mother's health and mental state. But the roots of what is going on go deeper than she could ever have imagined.

This was a wonderfully creepy story that incorporated Sam's passion as an archaeological entomologist to brilliant effect. The neighbourhood was filled with fascinating well-fleshed out characters. I'll never look at a ladybug the same way again.

I received this arc for free on netgalley in exchange for a review.

I simply love any book that has a mysterious garden, or when magic and nature are tied together to create a story. Imagine a cursed garden holding a great secret, or generations of a family somehow being haunted by their own rose garden and you don't have a clue whether it's real, or not. I love books with elements like this. It keeps you on your feet because you're never quite sure if there actually will be some magic involved or whether we will get a totally rational resolution to the story.

The whole story takes place in one house. While you may guess that just spending a book in one place might be boring, it totally wasn't. The story was fast-paced, and the more you read & uncover, the fast it gets, so you're easily swept up to continue reading.

I liked our main character Sam. Intelligent, charming, funny academic obsessed with bugs, TV mysteries and wine. What's not to love about her? Through her, the author was even able to add a humorous touch to this otherwise dark & creepy mystery, which is always a plus for me. It felt like I was listening to a friend tell me her own story, it was that easy to follow. It also makes you get attached to the main character, so you need to keep reading to learn whether she will be okay or not. I like this kind of storytelling - where you can relate to our MC even though something like this might not ever happen to you or anyone else.

The book had elements of magic, supernatural, and even a bit of horror. I like a fusion of different elements from all kinds of genres so this was definitely a plus for me. Anyone going in with an open mind, ready for the unexpected will find this a delightful read.

I would recommend it to my friends who enjoy a good mystery, magical realism, supernatural, horror and a quick, Sunday read. Perfect when autumn or Halloween rolls around too!

This felt like repetitive nonsense. I was so distracted throughout. The attempted humour was terrible. The story was neglected and the characters unfit for purpose.