A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher | Book Review

June 05, 2023

Finally, a five-star read. Whew, what a relief!

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Released March 2023

Source: Received for Review Consideration

Goodreads | Amazon

A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

My 2 Cents for Free!

Oh, how I loved this book. It has so many of the things I love. If I had the desire and talent to write a book, I would hope it would turn out something like this one.

It has:

☑️ Creepy house

☑️ A down to earth main character with a slightly sarcastic sense of humor.

☑️ Gross and horrifying surprises. These things genuinely creeped me out and had me going “what the heck did I just read?!” I can’t tell you how much I love it when a book can do that to my jaded ass self.

☑️️ Chapter breaks that teach me about different breeds of roses. I’m not just getting horrified with this book today. I am learning new things that I may use when I win the lottery and tell my boss to take his job and shove it and tend to my beautifully creepy roses all the live long day instead. (just kidding to my boss if he finds this but he knows how I am, lol)

☑️️ Loveable, lively and interesting secondary characters.

☑️ A slight thread of attraction that never ever takes over any of the plot. It felt normal and awkward instead of out of place and ridiculous. So well done.

☑️ The sinister atmosphere of the neighborhood, the grounds and the home were all described perfectly from beginning to end.

☑️ A man is described as “attractive enough if you have a thing for old-time Puritan preachers” and I will crack up every single time I think about it.

☑️ The insight into vultures. I still don’t want one as a pet because I have enough grumpy grumps to feed who want to snap my fingers off but I might not mind having one guard my home. They need love too and my feelings have softened towards them a little bit.

☑️ Family secrets! (my love for them will never wane, the more terrible the better!)

If you like just one of these things, you will end up loving all of these things. I just know it! But don't blame me if you don't.

Seriously though, I’ve been in a little bit of a three-star reading slump (if you can call nearly 10 books "little") and I was fearing that I might never fall deeply in love with a book again but this one? Oh, this one. It pulled me in and didn’t let me go until I discovered every weird little thing there was left to discover.

It’s a book I will probably scream about forever. GO READ IT!