A House With Good Bones

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

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.

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.

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!