Title: A House With Good Bones
Author:T. Kingfisher
Pub. Date: March 28th 2023
Genre: Gothic Horror/Paranormal
Format: eARC
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Pages: 247
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☆☆ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review☆☆
╰☆☆ “𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.” ☆☆╮
This is now my second T.Kingfisher (the first was Nettle & Bone) and I’m quickly surmising that this author can’t be boxed into just one genre. Genre blending authors have all my respect (think Silvia Moreno-Garcia), if done well you just know you’re in for a wild ride. This southern Gothic Paranormal story is centered around a house that seems to be haunted by our MC’s racist grandmother. Sam Montgomery is an entomologist returning home to visit her mom in North Carolina, her brother has given her the heads up that their mom is acting a little funny. When she arrives, she isn’t met by the warm wallpaper and cozy vibes her mother is known for. Instead, she sees plain white walls and finds a jittery version of her mom who startles easily and can’t stop looking over her shoulder. One thing hasn’t changed, her grandmothers prize-winning rose bushes. However, Sam’s whole life is the study of insects and what she doesn’t see in her mother’s garden is a single bug in site. With enough red flags to get her going, Sam begins digging for answers all the while noticing the crows circling the house at all hours of the day.
This one is a bit slow paced up until the 60% mark at which point you realize that it’s intentional. I don’t think I would’ve been as genuinely creeped out for Sam and her mother if it weren’t for how Kingfisher slowly makes the haunting seem real. I actually stopped my read overall since it was the book I chose to take with me to the mountains and I kid you not, I did not sleep well that night startling at every single creak of the wood floors. The ambiance in the book is perfection and our MC is comes across as relatable, easily someone you’d know in real life. She’s witty, funny and has a pretty cool relationship with her mom. All Sam wanted to do was come home with a box of wine and spend time with her mom on the couch solving murder mysteries on tv. What she gets instead is a haunted house and a slew of paranormal encounters thanks to the racist grandmother who has a tight grip on the house and her mom. The last 40% of the book revs up the paranormal aspects and the revelations will make your skin crawl. I honestly feel this is one author that has written books for every reader, I’m enjoying making my way through their backlist. A dedicated post ranking my favorites is definitely in the future.
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