A House with Good Bones

by T. Kingfisher

Hardcover

English language

Published July 12, 2023 by Titan Books Limited.

ISBN:: 978-1-80336-433-9

(23 reviews)

A contemporary Southern Gothic from award-winning master of modern horror T. Kingfisher, A House With Good Bones explores the deep, dark roots of family.

Sam Montgomery is worried about her mother. She seems anxious, jumpy, and she’s begun making mystifying changes to the family home on Lammergeier Lane. Sam figures it has something to do with her mother’s relationship to Sam’s late, unlamented grandmother.

She’s not wrong.

As vultures gather around the house and frightful family secrets are unearthed under the rosebushes, Sam struggles to unravel the truth about the house on Lammergeier Lane before it consumes her and everyone else who stands in its way.

5 editions

enne📚 reviewed A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

A House With Good Bones

4 stars

I am a huge fan of everything T. Kingfisher writes and have slowly been working through her backlog of work. A House With Good Bones is a very southern (United States) sort of horror story. The setup is that Samantha has to go back to live with her mother in small town North Carolina, and her mom and the house have changed while she's been gone.

I love the wry tone and joking asides. There are some deeply creepy moments, both big and small that ratchet up the tension right up to the climax of the book. I love the weaponized horror of southern white racist grandmas. Also, an info-dumping entomologist protagonist is exactly what I'd expect out of Ursula Vernon.

Bonus spoilery thoughts in this post

Kat reviewed A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Gran plans

4 stars

Sam, a thirty-something entomologist, temporarily moves back to the family home to cover a housing gap. The house, where her mother now lives, was originally the home of her now-deceased grandmother, the cruel and overbearing Gran Mae. Sam notices some jarring differences in both her mum and the house, and the story unravels from there.

This book was the perfect easy and entertaining read to end and begin the year with. I enjoyed it and finished it very quickly. I could have done with more tension and a bit more length once the horror really kicked off. Also more insects! Still, T. Kingfisher remains one of my favourite recently-discovered authors and I will read every horror book she puts out.

Tindra reviewed A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

A House With Good Bones

4 stars

Horror is not usually my genre, but I like T Kingfisher. This is a really good examination of just how weird "southern" culture can be.

Very small suggestion of romance. Which mostly felt out of place because the way the narrator voiced the man was... not how I usually hear romantic interests voiced. (his voice annoyed me)

Overall, very good, despite it not being my usual fare.

Amber Herbert reviewed A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Review of 'A House With Good Bones' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Thank you to Tor for the ARC.

A House with Good Bones is a light contemporary gothic novel. Based on the blurb, I expected something more atmospheric and creepy. What I got instead was something far more bizarre.

As a narrator, Sam is fun, witty, and sarcastic. I loved her inner monologues and felt they added a lightness to the novel that it wouldn't have had otherwise. But I could have done without the entomology lessons.

I liked the build up of oddities. Without spoiling anything for potential readers, the first two acts are slow, delivering tension and unease by the teaspoonful. Then you're thrown into what reads like a fever dream and leaves you scratching your head, pondering how everything got so far off the rails.
The last 50 pages were disappointing. It all felt too odd in the context of the story, and I found none of it …

patchworkbunny reviewed A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Review of 'House with Good Bones' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I loved the main character being an archaeological entomologist meant that certain elements of horror didn't make her freak out like you would expect. Also, lots of bug facts!