Thoughts: A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Source: NetGalley – Many thanks to the publisher!
TL;DR: 100% Yes. Vultures and bugs and I loved this.

Plot: This was a bit slower than some of Kingfisher’s other works, but that lent a slow horror movie feel to it.
Characters: I loved the characters in this, exactly what you’d expect from Kingfisher. Quirky but realistic.
Setting: Think a touch of Stepford Wives, but also Southern absurdity
Spooks: This had a ton of those creepy moments that make your skin crawl (and me giggle nervously). The final big scare had me very uncomfortable with the fact I was reading it BEFORE BED. Very good.

Thoughts:

   I am the type of person that loves the gross and unusual – so when I saw the cover for A House with Good Bones I went ‘Oh no!’. Vultures are one of my favorite birds and they’re almost always associated with bad things. I should have known better. T. Kingfisher has done it again with this fantastic horror that looks at family, the burdens you inherit and how to facing those down. 

     Sam is returning the the home she lived in with her brother and mother and grandmother after being furloughed from her job as an entomologist at a dig site (Hello dream job? Is that you?). She’s incredibly logical so when strange things start to happen around her she brushes them away or stretches to find a rational explanation. Logic and reason start to fray however and eventually the past comes back to haunt her and her mother. 

    I’ll go ahead and say I think this book is a bit slower paced than some of T. Kingfisher’s other work so it might not be quite the hit for some readers. However, for me it read like a perfectly paced horror movie – and that was just what I wanted. The book is full of the interesting, and realistic side characters you’d expect from a Kingfisher novel. The book is as clever as Kingfisher’s always are and it says things that honestly resonated so deeply with me it hurt. 

T. Kingfisher lives in an area somewhat local to my own so when she started to describe the ingrained white racism of Sam’s grandmother I went ‘My god, it’s like she knows my family.’ That casual Southern Racism and obsession with class and appearance. The hit that perfect mix that made me uncomfortable and frustrated and all the feelings with the main character. I really, really connected with that. 

    This was just another fantastic read from T. Kingfisher. I cannot wait for more, and I can’t wait to get the physical copy of this to reread it, let’s be honest.

     5 beautiful Black Vultures out of 5