A House With Good Bones

CW: discussions of racism, fatphobia

After reading three T. Kingfisher books, one thing I knew is that I would definitely be reading more of her works. But I'm unsure of which ones to choose because a lot of hers are horror or adjacent and it's not a genre I try to read much. But when I got the opportunity to get an audiobook of this one, I couldn't resist. And what a surprise that I finished the whole thing in one day.

As expected, this maybe gothic horror but the signature Kingfisher is ever present. We get the narrative through the single POV of Sam who is an archeoentomologist, and she is a hilarious character whose internal monologue kept me smiling through most of the book. Her quips about the low budgets her work departments have or about her experiences with working on bugs were all both illuminating and fun. But she is also a fat woman and that's mainly what endeared me to her - her sarcasm about how she gets treated by healthcare professionals who don't see anything beyond her weight, family members' obsession with how she looks and how she'll never find a man if she can't look normal - it all hit pretty close to home for me because these days most conversations with either my doctor or my parents seem to be about my weight which is endlessly frustrating. I could just feel her totally in these moments, though I also loved how she didn't let any of these comments get to her, which I usually do as well but currently having a bit of difficulty handling.

The setting is a creepy factor in itself because it's an old house in a small southern town with a significant vulture presence around, weird feeling garden which has no bugs, Sam's grandmother's wedding photograph with the groom in a confederate uniform, dubious family history and more. While there's a constant unsettling feeling through the book, it's only towards the last few chapters that it takes a full horror turn, which is probably why I blew through it so fast. The cast of characters is also quite intriguing - I loved Sam's scientific brain trying to reconcile with the weird things happening around her, her mom's erratic anxious behavior being very unlike her usual strong and liberal self, Phil the gardener who is a sweet guy helping around with an extremely paranoid gun-toting grandfather, and another neighbor Gayle who seems to know much more about the whole situation but is being tight lipped. Ofcourse, Sam's racist grandmother may have been dead for two decades but her presence is very much felt throughout the book. I did feel that Sam tried to excuse her Grand Mae's racism a bit towards the end and that left me uncomfortable, especially because Sam was pretty forthright about it before that.

Overall though, this was a funny, creepy, Southern gothic horror novel with a very eclectic cast of characters and I loved how it felt more like a slice of life kinda story until it all went upside down. The author does an awesome job keeping the proceedings light while also upping the creep factor bit by bit ultimately leading to a very earth shattering final act. It definitely helped that the audiobook is superbly narrated by the very popular Mary Robinette Kowal, who brings out the laughs and scares in equal measure. Now I can't wait for the author's next, Thornhedge releasing in August.

Two thirds of the way through the book I felt like the obvious thing had finally happened and the book could get going. Then 20 pages later, I put the book down and said, “I didn't expect that.” The last third was fast paced and thrilling. It really left me feeling excited about the book. I am glad I kept reading and didn't give up during the slower parts.

I'm sorry, but I really really disliked this one, so DNF at about 50%. Normally I form my opinions and that's it, but this time I had to search online if I was just seeing things. Nope, apparently not, the main character in this one is virtually indistinguishable from the one in [b:The Hollow Places 50892288 The Hollow Places T. Kingfisher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600022295l/50892288.SY75.jpg 75788139]. 30s, sarcastic, works in some city, but needs to go back to her family home, boo hoo. A huge part of my problems started out with that. I don't like her. She isn't funny, she isn't interesting. This one (Sam??) is even worse with her CONSTANT mentions of how she is fat, therefore doctors would let her die because of that. At one point she even does the “I am fat, but I am healthier than anyone” thing. She also claims her mother, a known, politically active liberal is suddenly a racist white person. Even when the Latina her mother was supposedly racist to says it wasn't racism. Yet she keeps bringing it up, because of an old painting of a couple, where the man wears a confederate uniform, that is a piece of heirloom. Oh, we also have a really eyerolling paragraph about how the patriarchy is oppressing women through... leg shaving. With all the Current Year comments and lame attempts at jokes, there isn't even much buildup for the mistery. It just feels boring and annoying, really. Halfway in, I was trying to rush through the book, then I realised I didn't care about anyone in it. So then why not just stop and find something better?

I got this audio from NetGalley for review. I figured I'd give the author another shot. If you check out my review of The Twisted Ones, you see that I haven't had the best luck so far. 
This story is pretty short. However instead of feeling concise, I thought it was very rushed. While there are some nice tidbits dropped through the story that pay off in the end, the end is super abrupt and has far too much going on. 
The author has a very distinct voice. Which is good for an author to have, as it becomes their brand, however it does not agree with me. The witty, banter-y first person shtick comes off as very forced and also dry to me. Personally I just think it isn't for me. It made the two separate novels bleed through as very similar to me. I did however really like the use of an overweight main character. Their weight is in no way the main focus, so it's nice to see. 
I just personally found this falling very short as an attempt to recreate the gothic haunted house feel. I am thankful for the opportunity to give the author another shot, but it's not for me. Personally a 2/5*

I liked the broad outlines of this one, but I have a number of gripes. Most immediately, it's overwritten, in that "trying too hard" way some authors have of trying to be too clever in their prose. It takes me out of the story, but either it got better as it went on, or I stopped caring as much about it. Probably more importantly, it was too predictable by half, and I anticipated basically every major story beat.

I think the book is at its best in its first act or two, when everything is pleasantly unsettling and before more details are revealed. Although I could still predict where we were going, the horror — like all horror — is much more effective when exactly what's happening isn't spelled out for you.

The initial few chapters were slow, a lot of setup towards the juicy bits of the book. However, when it did finally get interesting with the plot, it felt a little sudden and unexpected. The idea was there, but the execution wasn't as well done as it possibly could be, which was unfortunate because I really learnt a lot about insects and vultures.

I also wasn't too big a fan of the bracketed thoughts/inserts of Sam. They kind of broke the flow of the book a bit, like it was her recounting something that happened rather than it happening presently for her.

Nevertheless, it was an overall enjoyable story, but it did take some time to get into.

Kingfisher continues to be an interesting author for me, will I quit the book, think it's fine or love it? In this case I thought it was overall fine. I think it follows a sort of formula I saw in The Twisted Ones and The Hollow Places. You're in the head of the MC following a very train-of-thought writing style while Kingfisher does the set up and then half way through, bam! - weird, mildly disturbing creepiness unleashed. This falls behind The Twisted Ones for me. Even though I thought it was fine I continue to be haunted by the imagery of that book.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I just finished reading A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher and let me tell you, I'm wondering why I haven't read anything by this author before!! This book was seriously amazing from start to finish. The writing was top-notch and had me laughing out loud. The pacing was spot on, keeping me hooked the whole time. And can we talk about the plot? It was funny, engaging, original, and had just the right amount of creepiness.

But let's not forget about the characters! They were so likable and well-developed that I couldn't help but get invested in their lives. Seriously, this book has to be one of the most entertaining reads I've come across this year.

By the way, if you're curious about the story, it follows Sam Montgomery as she visits her mom in North Carolina. But things aren't quite right when she gets there. The house has lost its cozy charm and her mom is on edge all the time. As Sam digs deeper into what's going on, she discovers a jar of teeth hidden under some stunning rose bushes in the backyard and vultures circling above. And that's when things really start to get interesting.

Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this gem of a book!

ARC Via NetGalley

A House with Good Bones is about an insufferable protagonist who passively floats through the story drinking boxed wine and eating pizza while talking about bugs. Okay, maybe I'm being a little unfair. I really wanted to like this book but this protagonist made me wish she'd disappear and the story would be told from her mother's perspective instead.

For a story that's about generational trauma, the person who experienced most of that trauma is gone from the plot most of the time and instead, we are left with Sam, who spends most of the book trying to pretend nothing supernatural is happening. I get that denial is a normal reaction, but did she really have to be in denial until basically the very end of the book?

There are a lot of things I could tear into this book over but I'm just going to approach Sam's character “arc”. Aka, there is none. Sam never changes throughout the entire story. When she has her final showdown with her grandmother, the way she “defeats” the old hag is basically by saying “you should have bullied me over my thesis, not my weight, cause I don't care I'm fat!” which is great and all but we already knew Sam didn't care about body image. It just made that whole final confrontation so lame. If we'd seen Sam slowly come to appreciate her body over the story, it would have been way more impactful.

Or better yet, make Sam's mother the protagonist, since she actually had a character arc.

Sorry, this book is just not for me. I couldn't stand the quirky attitude. I couldn't stand the humor. I doubt I'll pick up a book from this author ever again.